Bryan HelmBryan HelmBryan Helm has always been fascinated with sound and all things musical. He is a techno-primitive musician whose work ranges from Ambient Loops to Jazz, Garage Rock to Film, Television and Industrial Soundtracks. Acoustic and electric guitar, piano and keyboards and percussion on the side; all find a place in this prolific musician’s catalog of musical compositions from the previous 25 years. His  series of podcasts feature a half hour presentation of work in each episode and these are accompanied by his notes on the production here at the blog.

As a largely self-taught musician he seeks out alternative and avant-garde variations in technique and style while also respecting ties to traditional forms. His formal training in the musical world includes a very short but insightful stint as a college student, where he noted immediately that he did not wish to become a teacher of music.

Over the course of the last thirty years, he has been involved in many recording projects and more than a dozen CDs, in group, duet, and solo configurations. Many of these discs are now rarities or out of print, and excerpts are featured here by kind permission of the other artists. Along with tracks from these works are  many tracks from his private collection of recordings and soundtrack pieces for media.

He has played and recorded with Cloud Silence, Ample Parking, The League of Crafty Guitarists, The Dozey Lumps, BrotherSync, and Bindlestiff. To read “The Absence of Unwanted Sound”, a treatise on Ambient Music, click here.

In 1985 Bryan attended the first Guitar Craft course held in Charles Town West Virginia, and has participated in courses there and in California. He and musical collaborator Dave Stafford met at a Guitar Craft course in 1988, and together created a series of recordings.

Bryan’s “techno-primitive” style has also been central to the mosaic tile sculptural pieces he has composes with his wife Sarajane. Whether the emphasis is on embellishing a musical instrument or a child’s wagon, the goal is to use materials including polymer clay, ceramics, beads, glass, wire, metal, paper and fibers, to create a new and  unique texture and look for a familiar form.

It takes many hours of carefully placed work to assemble each collaged piece using existing tiles and specially fabricated components. Each item is individually glued into place and later given several coats of Varathane, a waterbased polyurethane sealer with UV protection. This attention to detail helps ensure the works are both beautiful and durable. Table tops are poured with epoxy resins such as Enviro-tex Lite.

Sculptural pieces or installations for public and private spaces can be commissioned. Details vary according to each project.

Contact Bryan for musical or mosaic questions at: bryanhelm17@gmail.com