Helio - ProfilesArchive

About Me

..
energy is contagious.
helio, a gutsy young band pushing at the seams of normal and traditional, leaves no stone unturned as they set out to redefine and renew rock music. the saint cloud, minnesota quartet looks to influences such as paramore, breaking benjamin, jack's mannequin, and fellow saint john's university rock band quietdrive, all the while continuing to push familiar ideas and sound to extremes.
the concept of the band was conceived in saint louis, missouri when high school sophomore benjamin jude and junior justin manion began playing acoustic guitars together, writing their own music, and developing a unique energy and sincerity that caught the attention of all within earshot. it began in church parking lots, progressed to garages and basements, and in the summer of 2007 exploded into an exhilarating reality in benjamin's "blue room studios" with the recording of the (bs) band's debut record, BLUE CAN SPEAK.
"the writing and recording of that record was a unique experience," comments front-man benjamin jude, "in that it was the first time i had ever seen a group of my songs come together in a single theme to essentially tell a story of a year or so in my life. even now i can listen to that record and remember exactly where i was when i wrote a certain song, say 'shades of blue,' or the feelings that brought about 'sunsets.' pain, sadness, loss, all those are things you can't escape, and while i don't want my listeners to feel that pain, i know as a lover of music myself that oftentimes it's just feeling that energy, knowing that you're not alone in that feeling, that sort of solidarity that can get you through."
upon arrival at saint john's university in minnesota, filling the stage was little problem, and helio now boasts fellow saint louisan pat carr on bass guitar, ryan urlick on guitar, and collegeville native ben roske on drums. justin, now a sophomore at benedictine college in atchison, kansas, remains very much a part of the band, and while he is unable to play with the band, he intends to work closely on a sophomore release, the planning of which is already in full swing.
order the (bs) band's "blue can speak" at the or on

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/28/2005
Band Website: bsbandmusic.com
Band Members: justin manion: guitars | ryan urlick: guitars | pat carr: bass guitar | ben roske: drums | benjamin jude: vocals, piano, guitars
Influences: the hue of the portion of the visible spectrum evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 420 to 490 nanometers; any of a group of colors that may vary in lightness and saturation, whose hue is that of a clear daytime sky; one of the additive or light primaries; one of the psychological primary hues.
Sounds Like: jack's mannequin, something corporate, breaking benjamin, the gin blossoms, the david crowder*band.
realist romanticism. it's beautiful.
Type of Label: None

My Blog

three cheers for stating the obvious

so there are some pretty dramatic changes taking effect on this lovely saturday. i use lovely extremely loosely. fuck clouds. first, if you are accessing this blog, you have likely noticed...
Posted by Helio on Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:13:00 PST

heads up

heads up: we are shifting mailing list servers. if you signed up with www.numberonemusic.com, you should be automatically signed up on www.reverbnation.com, but let us know if there are any prob...
Posted by Helio on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:37:00 PST

new song

YOUR EVERYTHINGmusic and lyrics by benjamin jude. someday, fast asleep i’ll bethis day, wide awake i’ve beenthey’ll say that i’ve been caught beneath your anklesbut i’ve ...
Posted by Helio on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:49:00 PST

long weekend

things are silent in central minnesota. it's a long weekend, which means that all the locals went home for like two or three days. besides preparing to rock saint john's and the surrounding...
Posted by Helio on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:10:00 PST

"rain"

rain against the windshieldand you're falling across the fabric of my memorystrange enough to find me hereit's cutting through the darker blue of yesterday i'm glad to see i'm not the only one who's c...
Posted by Helio on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:17:00 PST

updates, updates

so the record has been released! you may ORDER IT NOW at www.bsbandmusic.com. other than that, things are quiet in minnesota. it's fall break, so all the locals went home, leaving a wisconsinite...
Posted by Helio on Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:38:00 PST

PREORDER YOUR COPY NOW

we have set the release date at: TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2007 at 12:00 pm for $10.00 you can preorder your copy of "blue can speak" by mailing cash or check to: The (Benjamin Slabaugh) Band14791 Appalach...
Posted by Helio on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:22:00 PST

c`est fini

yes, it is finished indeed. we will now give it to charlie dent (aka exodus) to master. we are excited. we are also very sick of listening to it over and over and over again.&nb...
Posted by Helio on Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:36:00 PST

on a wild goose chase

so those of you who have avidly been following the (bs) blog are aware that we have two tracks remaining on this record: "sunsets" and "winding down/foretold." both are piano-driven songs, and s...
Posted by Helio on Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:59:00 PST

we can almost taste the finished record...

lots has happened since the last time i sat down to bring you up to date on the most recent happenings around the (bs) studio. today justin and i finished up "without you," which leaves onl...
Posted by Helio on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:14:00 PST