HELIOS CREED NEWS No. 2 Feb. 2004

 
Sorry for the long delay between newsletters No. 1 and No. 2!  Both H and I have been busy.  H came down on my birthday in December and stayed a couple of weeks. We had a blast doing the Chrome chat board!!!  We were like two little kids in a candy store that night.  We almost didn’t get on because Toxic Tommy was asleep and only he knew the password.  We got it out of him at one minute to show time.  Then we had to go on as Toxic - we couldn’t figure out what else to do!  Chatters caught on and H answered a lot of fan questions and just generally goofed around with them (and me as the silent typist)!

 

Upcoming Show!!! H wants to let everyone know he is going to do a show this coming Saturday, February 7th in Omaha, Nebraska at 906 North 16th Street - a warehouse/art space.  The phone number to call for information is: Pete and Chris Lochren at 402-690-6324 (cell) or 402-344-8061 (reg. number).  It isn’t a club- H says, “it’s better than a club.”  “It will be more like a party than a club atmosphere.”  “If you are in the area, you might not want to miss it. It should be a pretty wild event.”  “There’s a good chance it will be my last show indefinitely, due to all of the problems [financial and health] that I’m having.”  H told me that everyone can feel free to bring their own party supplies - he says this party may go on ALL NIGHT!!!!!  Stuff to drink will also be available at the show, but don’t be shy about bringing your own booze, etc.

 
The directions to get there if you are coming east on 80, you turn off on 480 until you get to Cummings.  Follow Cummings east to 16th Street.  It is on the corner of 16th Street.

 
If you are coming in from the west, just go down 480 until you run into 16th Street.  Make a right on 16th until you get to Cummings and 16th Streets.

 
Upcoming CD H has been working on and recorded a couple of new songs.  No names or words yet, because “my equipment isn’t working right and I don’t have the money to get things fixed at this point and time.”   Helios feels that for the time he “did Chrome, there was a ‘scene’ and that type of music was popular.” “Around ‘92, there was a scene for Helios Creed.”  But these days, he says, “there is a very little scene and it’s hard to find people with money to back me.”  “So it will probably be a while before the new CD is finished.” I’m not sure if this is a reality or not.  H may see it this way because of.......... Financial Woes. Helios Creed and Chrome CD sales are good, but that doesn’t mean Helios sees much in the way of money!  Most people don’t realize just how little the artist receives for their efforts.  Joe at Static White Sound sent me an interesting link to an article written by Courtney Love on this subject

I have been talking with Touch and Go over disputed royalties for “Alien Soundtracks/Half Machine Lip Moves” for over a year now.  Before that, H dealt with them since ‘96, asking for the money (Damon died Dec. ‘95 and the contract ended March ‘96).  Damon Edge’s sister is trying to get the money being held by Touch and Go.  “She produced a will that looked fake,” says Mike of Touch and Go.  She told H that Damon left no will.  Damon’s sister tried the same thing with Cleopatra Records years ago and, “at least Brian, knew better than to give her money and gave me the royalties” says H. “In that case her lawyer told her she didn’t have any right to it.”  Not the case with Touch and Go - she hired an attorney who has dragged this thing out for 8 years now.  “I do get my 15% from Touch and Go, although there has been no contract since 1996 and I am co-owner and co-writer of all of the songs.”  “Thirty-five percent of the royalties are being held because of Damon’s sister.”  “I was told by lawyers that since she doesn’t have a valid will, she isn’t entitled to anything, yet she is keeping me from getting it because we had words over the phone once and I told her to fuck off.  That’s when Brian of Cleopatra gave me the money.”  “Cleopatra seems to be honest.” Anyway, that’s a mess.

 
H says “One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was working with Manfred of Dossier Records.”  “I’ve never seen a penny from ‘Spider Prophecy’ or ‘Ghost Machine,’ not to mention ‘Chromagnum Man,’ ‘‘Nugg’ The Transport,’ and ‘Colors of Light.’” Man’s Ruin verbally told me they owed me a sum of money, before they went under.  They went under only because of all the trips that the President of the company made to Japan, spending everyone’s money until they were bankrupt” he says.

 
H says “Joe of Static White Sound is a personal friend and he is doing his best to make ‘Dark Side” happen, but he is having a struggle because there doesn’t seem to be a ‘scene’ right now, although CD sales do seem to be picking up.”  I conversed with Joe via e-mail recently and he didn’t seem to have as grim a view as H regarding Dark Side sales.  He told me he hasn’t tallied the 2003 sales yet.  So, we’ll see.  Maybe Joe will have some encouraging numbers for H when he does!!

 
Message from Krazee Cyn:

So, money problems continue to plague H and have become a serious hindrance to his making a new CD!  The CD’s are selling, but he isn’t seeing much of the profits!  H has authorized Toxic Tommy and myself to make some hard to find CD’s such as “Dark Matter I” and “The Last Laugh,” with some Toxic Tommy art and put them up for sale on e-Bay.  That should happen in the next few months.  H has also been cleaning out his stash of record company freebies and giving them to us to sell.  He signed a bunch of them that he brought to us in Dec.  Those are on e-Bay for sale now, along with Dark Side Tour t-shirts.  The t-shirts and CD’s can also be purchased directly by e-mailing me.  Toxic and I make sure H is well taken care of when we sell stuff for him.  We all have a symbiotic relationship, you might say!  Hell, we’re family!

 

The survey that Toxic Tommy did on the Chrome Chat and I did in newsletter No. 1 resulted in such a hodge podge of styles, sounds, genres, etc. there was no clear “winner.”   H realized it really didn’t matter what he creates, there seems to be a fan that will like it!  The two songs he has in the works are completely d*****ent from one another!  But, they are both Helios Creed songs so you can bet they will be great when he finishes them!

 

Something that H doesn’t talk about - he suffers a lot from the Hep. C.  He lives in a small town to be close to his parents, and unfortunately,
that means shitty docs. No liver specialist or pain specialist in town.  He’s trying to get info about the latest Hep treatment - a d*****ent version of the one he tried two years ago.  We don’t know if he is a good candidate for it or not.  In the meantime, he is in a lot of pain.  H is a spiritual person and, no matter what your beliefs are, I know he would appreciate your thoughts or prayers!  He doesn’t discuss his illness much - he isn’t the kind of person that would burden someone that way.

 
One of the great things about this forum is that his fans can reach out to him and he to them.  I forward e-mails to H from his fans and he has been attempting to answer them (he’s getting e-mail down)!  If anyone would like to send a letter, card or anything else to him, I would be happy to get it to him.  For privacy, of course, he can’t post his address, so fans can send stuff to me at: 174 Kellar Road, Smithville, TX 78957.  Just address them to Cynthia O’Brien and in parenthesis put (Helios) so I know not to open it!

 
Special Message from H

“I love and appreciate all of my loyal fans and without you I would probably be sweeping floors - lol - ha ha!”  “I am bringing a box of 25 of the new CD’s and loads of posters, some older CD’s and Tour 2003 t-shirts to the show on the 7th!”  “I hope to see you there!”

 
Krazee Cyn is Outta Here

Forward this newsletter to other Helios/Chrome fans.  If you receive a copy of this from a friend, be sure to e-mail me at cynthiaobrien@hotmail.com to be added to the newsletter mailing list!

 

Krazee Cyn and Helios Creed