HELIX mainman Brian Vollmer has issued the following update:

Over the past several years Helix has been keen to keep up with the new technology and social media tools now on the market to stay competitive. In the early 90's we set up our own website, and then after a few years my old high school buddy Ron Kingyens, who worked at radio shack for as long as I was in Helix, approached me about re-doing the site and re-naming it Planet Helix. Afterwards we also set up a Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube site. Facebook and YouTube have been a boon to the band, helping to get out the word as to where we're playing, what new releases we have in the offering, and to stay in contact with our fan base. In the early days of the band we used to physically answer our fan mail, so this is just a 2000 version of what we've always done.

Technology has also greatly affected the way we record our CDs. Back in the '70's and '80's bands recorded on analog 2" tape. This was very expensive, with some of the albums we recorded during the 80's (Wild in the Streets in particular) costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nowadays I try to bring each CD in around $15,000. Without digital recording and advances made in the recording field, this would be impossible. I guess what I'm saying is that technology has been a good thing for us and allowed us to survive through the years. Technology aside however, I must also stipulate that to record a CD for 15 grand you have to surround yourself with talented people to ensure top notch quality. Not only are my players seasoned musicians, but I've found a gem in producer Aaron Murray, terrific mastering from Tim Branton of Carvalho Mastering and amazing artwork with Babyjack Design. No amount of technology will make up for a talented team.

Things have been changing in regards to live dates as well. Back in the '70's, before video and a thousand other distractions, there was a healthy bar/concert circuit right across the country. Bands could literally 'live on the road' and never go home. In fact, some bands I knew did just that. They'd start at one end of the country, tour to the west coast, turn around and tour right out to the east coast! Bars typically ran six nights a week with accommodations for the band right at the bar. You didn't get rich, but you did get to live the life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll!

Nowadays clubs only run Thursdays to Saturdays with entertainment (if that). There are some exceptions to that rule, but generally that's the case. It's hard (but not impossible) to get fans out to the shows. Liquor laws are much stricter, drink prices much higher, and competition for ticket goers at all time high. In previous updates I've explained how late set times have also hurt bands like Helix. After all, who wants to get up for work at 6A.M. all week long and then suddenly stay out until 3 or 4 AM on the weekends? Not the crowd that comes out to see us. That's why I've taken to promoting some of our shows myself.

My first 'self-promoted' show will be in Woodstock at the Moose Hall on May 11th. It's a small 200 seat room in what I would call a 'safe' market for the band. By "safe" I mean that we have a good following in that area. (Last year when we played Woodstock we drew 450 fans to the arena.) Opening the show will be the local act THE SMASHTONES, fronted by Jeff Kikut, who used to play guitar for the weekend band I was in, Alyson Flyte. Jeff is a great guy and is also helping to sell tickets for the show. Realizing that it's hard to compete against the glitzy shows coming into theatres/arenas nowadays, we're going to try and kick things up a notch by using multimedia to our advantage. That is, two screens positioned on each side of the stage onto which are projected pre-ordained images. Last year Brent and Daryl put together a five-minute film with a Helix 'overture' as the soundtrack to bring the band onstage.

Essentially it's collage of pictures of famous people we've played with or met over the years plus newspaper/magazine write-ups. I got the idea when I went to see CHER at the ACC in Toronto several years ago. The film packs a powerful punch. After the intro the screens will be used to project different Helix album/CD covers and various other pictures to accentuate the show, as well as on-the-spot live shots fed from six different cameras positioned around the stage. This is a work in progress; one we'll be expanding on from show to show. We've hired Gavin Brix from Rock Show Productions to handle this. You can check out his company at Rockshowproductions.com."

For more info on Helix and their upcoming tour schedule visit Planethelix.com.