One thing that sucks for bands in small towns, is that there’s a noticeable lack of correspondence with other garage bands. While isolation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, what I’m talking about is a little different from isolation.
I’ll explain what I’m talking about through example. To Helen was a high school band from Etna, CA that was at the time more-or-less the only rock band in town. What this means is that the band wasn’t able to take inspiration or opportunities from other bands around them, so the band took its inspiration from what they saw on MTV. I can probably stop right there, because I think the problem has been pretty sufficiently explained by this point. To Helen wasn’t motivated by the kind of music that I tend to think of as pure and honest in ways that big name bands aren’t able to be, but maybe I’m just being snarky.
To Helen was fronted by bassist and vocalist Alex Cardoza, who to his credit took huge inspiration from Rush. I remember him being very serious about his music, and he often saw himself as the victim of being low on the high school totem pole. I’m a little skeptical about his, because I know for a fact that myself and a number of other students thought he was totally rad for having a band. Also, he had a really cool girlfriend. On guitars was Nick Osa, who was decidedly the quiet member of the group, but seemed like a nice enough guy. The trio was rounded out be Ryan Bayard on drums. Bayard was very influenced by awful nü metal and had a very big personality. The clown-looking sculpture on the album art was a Blue Meanie made by Bayard after watching Yellow Submarine as a kid.
To Helen was almost able to stay together after Cardoza and Osa graduated. Bayard, being two years younger, stayed in Etna, and the graduates moved the relatively short distance to Redding, CA, allowing the band to stay together a little longer. They changed the band named to Holding Fire for a while, and hired a fellow Etna High alumnus named Owen Macintosh as a vocalist. However, Holding Fire apparently did eventually slowly fizzle out, as the band is no longer around. I know Cardoza and Osa went on to start a band in Redding called Common Ground for a while. Bayard stayed in Etna after graduating and joined another band called Redubbed in Velvet. I’m not up to speed on the current location or musical endeavors of any former To Helen members.
Sanitarium is an okay record I suppose. There’s one song on there that gets stuck in my head a lot. Remember earlier how I was talking about taking inspiration from mainstream music? Where it really shows is the album booklet, which is eight pages and printed in full colour, and includes information about what brands of musical equipment the members use, a list of people who the band thanks, a dedication, and an additional ‘To Helen would like the following people to go to hell’ list. I think that’s unwarrantably pretentious. How do you feel about it?