Metal Anarchy

During an interview with Q101’s Lauren O’Neil, Helmet’s Page Hamilton discussed his upcoming solo album. The frontman is currently planning to release the effort in 2026.

Hamilton said the following when asked about new music:

“Well, HELMET-wise, not right now. I’m working on my first-ever solo album. It’s called ‘Companion Peace’, and I’m still debating whether it will be P-E-A-C-E, a play on words, or P-I-E-C-E. [It will] probably [be] P-E-A-C-E.

Obviously, ‘Left’ is fairly political, and as I’ve gotten older, so many disturbing events have [happened]. I never thought, at the age of 65, I would see our country deteriorate to this extent. And it’s why I held my peace sign for the audience for a long time.

One of the greatest things about our country is the diversity. And I’ve always felt that, I’ve always known that. And I live in Los Angeles; it’s 60% Hispanic. And so the solo album is kind of a combination of a lot of stuff I’ve done on film soundtracks for a million years. I’ve played on the movie ‘Heat’, ‘In Dreams’, ‘Titus’, ‘Across The Universe’ and ‘Final Fantasy’.”

He continued when asked about the musical direction of his upcoming album:

“I do sessions, and I work with a composer currently in Los Angeles, Patrick Kirst, who’s a professor at USC, University of Southern California. And I’ve always had this kind of sort of alter ego to do this sound sculpting stuff with feedback, guitar feedback, creating these soundscapes that are very non-guitaristic. And our label is so damn cool, in Germany, Edel/earMUSIC. The president came to the HELMET show in Hamburg. He came to the ‘Left’ tour, but he came to the ‘Betty’ [30th-anniversary] show with about 10 people from the label —kids, I call ’em, ’cause they’re about 20 — and they were so supportive. And he said, ‘I want you to do whatever you wanna do. Don’t compromise.’ And I’m, like, ‘Wow. How often do you hear that from a record label?’ So I’m really excited about this album. It’s not accessible. There’s no punk rock singalongs. It’s music I’m really excited about.”

He also explained what inspired the record:

“It sort of came together from a few movies that I’ve scored and sessions I’ve done. And Elliot Goldenthal, the great film composer who I’ve been fortunate to do many movies with — and all the movies I listed, for example — his wife is Julie Taymor, who created ‘The Lion King’ on Broadway. They’re these two geniuses. I love them. They’re like my big brother and big sister. He said, ‘Your guitar is like an orchestra. You create these orchestral textures.’ And it kind of made me think about that. And so that this album is that. It’s weird, but I’m really proud of it. My co-producer’s a guy named Jim Kaufman. He co-produced ‘Left’… I produced Gavin Rossdale’s first solo album, and I’ve done probably 20 or 25 albums. So it’s kind of another thing that I do. But when you work on other people’s music, it kind of inspires your creative process. And so for me, that’s been really fun… So I’ve learned so much, and to be able to do something that’s one of my pet projects is really exciting.”

He also added the following about release plans:

“Well, I need to finish it. What happens is I get home and then I get called for a gig. So I just produced [an] album [from another band], and now I have a movie. There’s a new movie with this really cool director… So this kind stuff kind of sidetracks you for a minute. So, in between I’ll have two weeks and I’ll work on my album. So it’s, like, I love being busy, but at this point I really want to get my album done. It’s gonna be in 2026, it’ll come out. And then … I signed a one-album jazz deal with MPS Records as well, so that’s [the jazz album] gonna probably be [out in] 2027, to be honest.”

[via Blabbermouth]