Up, Up and Away...
A Beautiful HELIUM Balloon Ride with Mary Timony
by Miles Wood

(from Fizz #7, July 1996)

Ever since I first saw Helium, I've tried to keep track of their progress, so when they played at The Garage in London as part of a Matador package I jumped at the chance for an interview. The band was due to leave for a festival in Belgium directly after the gig and, though she was pretty frazzled, singer/songwriter Mary Timony agreed to a pre-gig Fizz interview. As we retired to the cafe next door, I found her to be genial and self-effacing, quite different from what I assumed she'd be like, judging from her serious on-stage demeanor and Helium's spiky brand of pop.

Fizz: I thought this was your first time here in England, but it's actually your second.

Mary: We came over to London to do two shows last year.

Fizz: ...which happened to be when I was in the US; bad timing. The only time I've ever seen you was in Boston in 1993 at TT the Bears. I immediately tracked down your single "The American Jean."

Mary: I don' think we sound like that anymore. We kinda came back around to sounding similar to that style; we changed and became more weird, but now we're more accessible.

Fizz: What's the song about? It has some intriguing lyrics.

Mary: It's pretty goofy and sarcastic; it's just kind of a joke.

Fizz: So what is "the American jean?"

Mary: Levis. Apparently there's a big dispute in the country-music world between people who wear Levis and people who ear Wranglers. All the conservative old guys wear Wranglers and all the new ones wear Levis.

Fizz: When was Helium formed?

Mary: Summer of '92

Fizz: You were in another band before that.

Mary: Yeah, Autoclave.

Fizz: Which was based in Washington.

Mary: Yeah, I met the girls in Autoclave in high school and then went to college at Boston University, and did this long distance sort of thing. And then we broke up, and the next few months I started playing in Helium.

Fizz: Did you do any odd jobs?

Mary: I bummed around a lot. I painted houses and worked in an art gallery when I got out of college. I worked in the National Gallery in DC. I boxed up records in a warehouse and did telemarketing -- that was the worst, and I'm probably going to go back to it. I'm pretty broke.

Fizz: So you don't make a living out of the band?

Mary: Only when we're doing shows.

Fizz: Do you gig a lot?

Mary: We don't tour like a lot of bands do. We did a month-long tour in the States and we did some shows on Lollapalooza in the summer. And then we did this tour for a month, and we're going to do some shows when we get back with Sonic Youth.

Fizz: How would you compare Boston with Washington?

Mary: Washington's really weird 'cos a lot of people work for the Government, but actually it's kind of cooler in a way because it's more like a little town. Whereas Boston has a bigger scene...

Fizz: Is it close-knit, and do bands all support each other?

Mary: They're more like that in DC. There are pockets, but there's a problem in Boston in that a lot of people move there to get signed.

Fizz: What's the best place you've played in the US?

Mary: I actually liked the place we played in Seattle. I think it's the Crocodile Cafe or something. I like San Francisco, the Kilowatt Club maybe.

Fizz: Do reactions vary?

Mary: In big cities we get a good crowd. Not in Canada, though.

Fizz: How do the English gigs compare?

Mary: Shitty. There were like 20 people in Leeds. Germany and Holland went really well.

(The cafe owner wants to close so we head down the road to the pub)

Fizz: Favourite food and any new discoveries?

Mary: Salad and milkshakes; not really. I've had a lot of good beer though.

Fizz: How long have you been away and do you enjoy touring?

Mary: About a month. Usually, but this one has been really hard 'cos we're touring all together in a van and a car and we don't get nice places to stay.

Fizz: What have you been reading on tour?

Mary: I've been reading Bill Wyman's autobiography and something by Nat Winterston-- which is really good, but takes a lot of concentration -- so I keep going back to Bill.

Fizz: Which doesn't take any concentration at all.

Mary: It's so bad!

Fizz: Is he in love with himself?

Mary: It's so pathetic. Every other paragraph is about how much money he had in his bank account. He wrote the book to prove he didn't have money.

Fizz: Is there anywhere in the world you would like to go?

Mary: Japan. Its not really in my personality to travel a lot, but I do like the shock of different cultures. And one thing about being away from the States is the different values: not being bombarded with commercials, not wanting the biggest car and the biggest house.

Fizz: People are friendlier in the States though.

Mary: They're more open and talkative but at the same time I don't think it's such a friendly environment. If you're really poor, you can slip through the cracks. People in Boston are far more reserved the in any other parts of the States, and it really is similar to England in that way. I don't like that.

Fizz: The architecture is also quite English.

Mary: The oldest city in the US.

Fizz: Back to the music. After Pirate Prude the line-up changed.

Mary: Brian left. We had different ideas for the band. (Now he's managing bands.)

Fizz: "Pat's Trick" has that line about "the most beautiful thing."

Mary: That chorus is talking about things that run through a lot of the songs. The idea, "the flower of life" which sounds so corny, embodies a perfect thing like an angel that brings you to heaven. I'm like imagining a perfect state of being and trying to get there.

Fizz: Do you think you can get there?

Mary: No, it's impossible.

Fizz: Angels and vampires feature prominently.

Mary: I guess a lot of the songs are about death and living in heaven, and vampires symbolize things that are taking the life out of you. I don't study vampires or anything.

Fizz: That picture on the sleeve with the blue eyes, is that you?

Mary: Yeah, that's computer-enhanced. It's not so serious.

Fizz: Do people take you too seriously?

Mary: Yes. I tend to be afraid of people not understanding it and explain it in a serious way, but most of the songs are sarcastic.

Fizz: What's the first record you bought?

Mary: I think it was a Howard Jones 12-inch dance mix. My brother bought me the greatest hits of The Kinks.

Fizz: So do you think there's a healthy music scene out there in the world?

Mary: I think that there's some really good bands, but there's a lot that suck that are getting more attention than they deserve.

Fizz: Favorite TV shows and movies.

Mary: Seinfeld. The Simpsons. Crumb was kind of disturbing. I can't remember the name of the director, but I saw this really weird French movie about architecture; there was no talking in it. It was made in the '60s and had people in all these ridiculous situations in the city doing all these meaningless things (can anybody identity this? -- Miles) I don't know what my favourite movie is. I don't feel inspired by film. I don't understand it as an art form.

Fizz: A film has to work emotionally.

Mary: That's what it is. I can't think while I'm watching a movie. You have no control. Do you remember the scratch 'n'sniff movies?

Fizz: Yeah, Polyester. I have that at home. It's an interesting concept. The pizza smell is especially good.

Mary: In Amsterdam I went to this art gallery, and it was pictures of people sitting in their homes, but I couldn't read what it was all about. Then someone told me it was people watching TV and it totally changed the whole thing.

Fizz: Music works emotionally.

Mary: Not for me though. It's supposed to. I remember when I was little, hearing songs and being sad, and when I hear them now I still feel sad, but it doesn't have the same effect on me anymore.

Fizz, 1509 Queen Anne Ave. N. #276, Seattle, WA 98109. Fizzmag@aol.com.