Flights of Helios expect to rattle a few picture frames when they play at an art gallery, as TIM HUGHES learns from the Oxford five-piece

A MUSEUM of art is perhaps not the first place you’d expect to encounter mind bending psychedelic space rock. A grungy club maybe, perhaps even the back room of a pub or a festival marquee,

but not a gallery.

All of which makes a forthcoming performance at Modern Art Oxford all the more exciting. More commonly the haunt of art and coffee lovers, the St Ebbe’s exhibition space is once again playing host to a performance by one of Oxford’s most exciting new bands – Flights of Helios.

Taking their name from an experimental solar-powered space plane, the band have earned a reputation for their unique blend of shoegazing drone-pop, delicate folk and anthemic acid-rock. And while the punchy cocktail has gone down well at festivals and regular gig venues, how do the band expect to charm an intimate art gallery?

“We will certainly rattle a few picture frames,” laughs Chris. “But, because we have an arty approach, it will work well.”

Eschewing the usual conventions of the standard rock band, the group operates as a collective with no frontman. Indeed the most prominent member is the guy most bands confine to the back of the stage – the drummer. In Helios, sticksman James Currie occupies centre stage, while singer and guitarist Chris Beard (formerly of Harry Angel), synth, sax and electronics man Sebastian Reynolds (previously of Sexy Breakfast, and Keyboard Choir and now The Epstein); guitarist James Maund (We Aeronauts and Cat Matador); and guitarist Phil Oakley (Sexy Breakfast, The Evenings and Borderville) shun the spotlight. Between them they construct complex soundscapes based around simple melodies and poetic lyrics – the whole heady concoction topped by Chris’s ethereally beautiful vocals, usually against a projected backdrop of astronomic phenomena (nebula, solar flares and cosmic goings-on).

So how does Chris describe the band’s sound? “We have trouble defining it,” he confesses after a thoughtful pause. “But I’d say psychedelic drone-pop with electronica and folk comes closest. It’s a melting pot of different influences.

“We have all got separate projects outside of Flights of Helios, but there is a big crossover, and some exciting stuff. There are lots of ideas flying around. To quote Jason ‘Spaceman’ Pierce, we are ‘filling in the gaps between our influences’. It’s intentionally not easy-listening. The music is meant to make the audience feel uncomfortable, but then resolves itself in a different direction. We like to challenge people a bit.

“It could be seen as anti-rock,” he says. “We all have ideas about how we want to present ourselves but it’s all about the performance – and no one person is the centre of attention.

“We don’t talk too much on stage and try to make the music speak for itself without detracting from it. Everything on stage should add to it and be a cohesive aesthetic.”

The show, on Friday, October 18, will celebrate the release of their debut single Star/Crows.

“We are excited about the launch,” says Chris. “You can do all the live shows you want, but it’s the record in people’s hands that they will listen to.”

 

No strangers to unusual venues, the band have previously played Truck and Wilderness festivals, St John the Evangelist Church, in Iffley Road, a boat on the Thames, and, last week’s LiveFriday event at the Ashmolean Museum, co-curated by the Oxford Mail’s sister paper, The Oxford Times.

“We have been getting used to playing live and playing off each other,” says Chris. “It’s a different kettle of fish being in front of people. I just zone out and concentrate on making music that is as real and honest as possible, without worrying how the audience perceives us.

“We are a happy bunch and get on well but performing is all about letting it go in a kind of pagan ritual.”

Chris reminds me that the band’s name also relates to Greek mythology – Helios being the sun god who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky each day. According to the tale, Helios’ son Phaëton eventually stole the chariot, crashing to earth and setting the world on fire. Chris’s band, however, have no intention of crashing and burning.

“We may be all lying in the gutter, but Flights of Helios are aiming for the stars,” he grins.

The band will be joined by Cardiff sonic experimentalists Islet, who launch their own LP Released By The Movement, and After the Thought.

For keys man Sebastian, it couldn’t be a better bill. “It will be a really good match,” he says. “Islet are a full-on psychedelic rock band and After the Thought are more ambient, so we sit perfectly in between.

“It’s a coherent bill and will work nicely. We’ll also be playing in the basement, so we’ll be able to get away with quite a bit of noise. It will be all-standing in a low-ceilinged space and lots of fun.”

“We try to offer something which is also different to other bands,” adds Chris. “I’m as much a fan of three-chord Ramones-style rock or bands like Underworld as anyone else, but we just like to do things our own way. Our shows are intense. When I see bands I want to see them go for it. After all, the more you put in, the more you get out of it.”

  • CHECK IT OUT Flights of Helios, Islet and After the Thought play Modern Art Oxford on Friday, October 18.
  • Tickets are £7 (£6 concs)
  • modernart oxford.org.uk