Chris Helme was lead singer of The Seahorses, the band formed by guitar great John Squire following his acrimonious departure from The Stone Roses in 1996.
While Squire could've had his pick of lead singers when forming The Seahorses, such was his musical clout in the mid-nineties, he still opted for the unknown Chris. Legend has it that Chris was discovered by Squire while busking outside a Woolworths store. Speaking to Chris last week, the Chronicle had to find out if this was true, or yet another myth not uncommon with John Squire throughout his music career.
"It's true and then it isn't," Chris laughs. "John didn't actually see me busk. It was more a case of a friend of a friend of his called Denis who saw me. He asked if I could give him some recordings if I had any. It built from that. I was doing steady gigs at that time too and John, after hearing my tapes, came along and watched me a few times. After a couple of gigs he came up and asked if I wanted to sing in his new band. I gladly accepted of course."
Squire's psychedelic flavoured guitar innovations assisted in making The Stone Roses one of the most important bands of their generation. His departure from the band was mourned by a devotional tribe of fans. An outpouring of shock ensued among the 'baggy' generation. With his iconic status, whatever Squire planned to do next was certain to be watched with eager eyes. Was Chris ready to go under the unavoidable microscopic lense?
"It was a bit scary. I never even had a record contact before, never mind being in a band with John Squire. It was all quite bizarre to be suddenly on stage with the guy who opted to leave The Stone Roses but there was no point feeling nervous about it. No matter what we did we were never going to please that faction who never got over John leaving The Stone Roses. To be honest, they were only a minority. They used to come to the early Seahorses gigs and just shout for Stone Roses tracks. We called them 'Liam Browns' on account of them all looking like a cross between Liam Gallagher and Ian Brown. All we could do was ignore them, they eventually went away and what was left was the people who wanted to hear what we had to offer right there and then," he says.
In April 1997, The Seahorses released their debut single, the anthemic 'Love Is The Law'. With a big chorus and more traditional guitar approach by Squire, it became clear that The Seahorses would not be dabbling in the dance and rock fusions of Squire's former band. Two months later, the band's one and only album, 'Do It Yourself', was released and it featured hit singles 'Blinded By The Sun' and 'Love Me and Leave Me', which was co-written by Liam Gallagher. The album was produced by Tony Visconti, who worked on classic albums by David Bowie, T-Rex and Thin Lizzy. What was it like to be working with the guy who produced classic albums like Bowie's 'Heroes', T-Rex's 'Electric Warrior' and Lizzy's 'Bad Reputation'?
"It was great to work with someone like Tony Visconti," recalls Chris. "I'm a huge fan of the records he worked on with Bowie. He's an amazing string arranger and really knows what he's doing in the studio. He's got an advantage over most younger producers because they've learned their craft with modern digital techniques whereas Tony comes from the old-school recording process but is also well versed in the modern ways. He has an amazing musical knowledge."
To promote the album, The Seahorses toured extensively for three years, playing alongside The Verve at Slane Castle in 1998 and also supporting acts such as The Rolling Stones, U2 and Oasis. How did Chris feel mixing rock's aristocracy?
"It all got a bit mental. I was in the kitchen having a cup of tea one day and I got a phone call asking if I fancied playing with The Rolling Stones. Well I've never really wanted fame, I don't think 'celebrity' is a particularly healthy thing but when The Rolling Stones come knocking you can't say no - it's a one in a million chance," he stresses.
In 1999, John Squire pulled the plug on The Seahorses in the middle of the recording sessions for their second album. The results of those sessions are widely available on a bootleg album called '2nd Album Recordings', alternatively titled 'Minus Blue'. Squire would eventually retire from the music business completely and return to his first love of painting. Chris went on to form a band called The Yards.
"For a while I didn't know what to do," he recalls. "I just bought a house. I was about to become a dad. I started to do a few gigs - nothing big. It was all really chilled out and I started to be joined on stage by people I knew. What was first a series of solo gigs developed into full band gigs. Eventually we all decided to become a band. We called ourselves The Yards and split things five ways."
The Yards' self-titled debut album was released in 2005 and they're currently busy at work mixing their follow-up. Alongside his work with The Yards, Chris keeps busy as a solo performer. He released a solo album called 'Ashes' in May. He also helps run an acoustic night in York called The Little Numb Numb Club and believes that his home city is currently becoming quite the musical hub.
"There's a great scene in York at the moment and people are really starting to take notice. People like Mark Wynn, The Runaway Sons and The Sorry Kisses are all worth looking out for. There's a lot going on and I'm just glad to be in the middle of it, keeping busy and doing things the way I like to do them," he says.
The Seahorses, with the Chris Helme penned 'You Can Talk To Me'
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