H Is for Hellgate

Music:

Member Since: 12/26/2004
Band Website: hisforhellgate.com
Band Members:
Jamie Henkensiefken - guitar, vocals

Marie Calderon - drums

Benjamin J. Baier - bass, vocals

David Thomas - guitar, vocals

Jenny Jimenez - photos
Influences: Some artists we enjoy:
31 Knots, Air, At The Drive-in, The Beastie Boys, Beck, Blonde Redhead, Book Of Maps, Built To Spill, Cursive, The Dead Science, Death Cab for Cutie, The Detachment Kit, The Dismemberment Plan, Dr. Dre, Elliott Smith, Explosions In the Sky, Garrison Starr, Gentle Giant, Gillian Welch, Les Savy Fav, Le Tigre, LKN, Ludacris, Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Mars Volta, Menomena, M.I.A., Minus the Bear, Modest Mouse, Mogwai, Outkast, Portugul. The Man, Quasi, Queen, Radiohead, Rainer Maria, Regina Spektor, Rilo Kiley, Rush, Shannon Wright, Silversun Pickups, Sleater-Kinney, Snoop Dogg, Spoon, These Arms Are Snakes, The Unicorns, The Velvet Teen, Tegan and Sara, Versus, Viva Voce, Weezer, Yes.
Rad Seattle bands you should know: Conservative Dad, Juhu Beach, We Wrote The Book On Connectors, Zero State Reflex, Panther Attack, Hungry Pines, Lake Of Falcons, 1-2-1-2, Madraso, The Resets, X-Ray Press, Kiss Her For the Kid, Danielli, Ms. Led, Tennis Pro, Town Crier, A Gun That Shoots Knives, Open Choir Fire, Biography of Ferns, Shorthand For Epic, Iceage Cobra, The Whore Moans, Thee Emergency, Blue Scholars, Exempli Gratia, Ghost Stories, Heather Duby, Magneto, Phobophobe, Blue Light Curtain, Key Note Speaker, Diamond Cut Diamond, Post Harbor, Bronze Fawn, Bad Dream Good Breakfast, Megasapien, The Endeavors, Scarlet Room, this list will continue to grow.
Sounds Like: Rumblefish
"Naming her musical outfit after a canyon in Missoula, Montana, Jamie Henkensiefken’s H is For Hellgate creates stripped down, straight up, progressive indie rock with an earnest minimalism that takes listeners back to those important moments in life (breaking up, making up, letting go)."
NadaMucho.com
"H Is For Hellgate churn out tricky indie-prog constructions onstage with little apparent effort. The boys in the group mug and pose endearingly, while the two young women sternly apply themselves to the serious task of rocking the hell out. They were my favorite local discovery of 2007, and I try not to miss any of their Seattle shows."
Seattle P.I.
"A fascinating blend of folk, pop, indie rock, progressive rock and classical, with a hefty dose of riot grrrl energy. "
Three Imaginary Girls
"[H Is for Hellgate] is a welcome, quirky addition to the Northwest oeuvre of indie-rock. "
Seattle Weekly
"H Is for Hellgate evoke flashes of early Liz Phair, delivered with a prog-rocker's ear for arrangements"
Out There Monthly
"And when she nearly whispers, 'I can't tell you anything you haven't already heard from Ben Gibbard,' you're mostly inclined to believe the opposite."
Disheveled
"The Seattle Quartet’s new album on Stereotype records is a compelling work. Jamie Henkensiefken wrote and engineered a CD that runs through many genres. The music is as much progressive, as it is indie-rock. It has danceable hooks and progressive breaks. The music is tight, the songwriting is excellent"
Cursive Mag 1.1
"I hate Jamie Henkensiefken: she makes the music I wish I made, and makes me dance to it."
Eugene Weekly
"Their music is straightforward rock, loaded with heavy guitar. Henkensiefken's moody vocals and socially conscious lyrics recall the early low-fi sound of Sleater-Kinney."
Seattle Weekly
"...quality, soon-to-be-discovered band"
The Stranger
"I would call them indie rock, but I think that'd make them sound more spineless than they actually are, so I won't."
Seattle Mayor Grey Nickels, after H is for Hellgate Pride performance
"You guys were great!"
Missoula Independent
"Parts of the album wander through territory similar to the indie rock she's recorded simply as Henkensiefken. This time around, though...she's also experimened with instrumental songwriting heavily rooted in her appreciation for classical music as well as 'some straight up pop songs too, which I have a place in my heart for.'"
Seattle PI
"Jamie Henkensiefken severs the biting, unpredictable guitars from math rock and grafts them onto riot grrrl-style dirges on this debut. The result is simultaneously cold and calculating and passionate. In short, it's human."

Record Label: Stereotype Records
Type of Label: None