Page Hamilton
Page Hamilton (born May 18, 1960) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer, mostly noted for his work with alternative metal band Helmet. Most of his work has been in the hard rock and alternative metal styles, though he trained in jazz guitar and has substantial connections with avant-garde music and film soundtrack composition. Life and career. Background. Hamilton was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Medford, Oregon. He studied guitar at the University of Oregon before moving to New York to study jazz guitar at the Manhattan School of Music. While there he  played in avant-garde composer Glenn Branca's guitar orchestra, performing the composer's "Symphony No.6 (Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven)", and joined noise rock band Band of Susans, performing on their "Love Agenda" album and Peel Sessions, before finally forming his own group, Helmet. Helmet. Helmet initially signed to Amphetamine Reptile Records, releasing a number of 7" singles and one album, 1990's "Strap It On". The band then signed to Interscope Records, releasing "Meantime" (1992), "Betty" (1994), "Aftertaste" (1997) and "Size Matters" (2004). After leaving Interscope, the band released the albums "Monochrome" (2006), "Seeing Eye Dog  (2010) and Dead to the World" (2016). "Meantime" was the band's principal commercial success, being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was well received by music critics and is seen as an influential metal record and earning a Grammy nomination in the Best Metal Performance category for 1993. Gandhi. Following Helmet's temporary dissolution, Hamilton formed another rock band, Gandhi, with former Liege Lord guitarist Anthony Truglio, John Andrews (guitar), Christian Bongers (bass), and Matt Flynn (later the drummer for Maroon 5). Though the band did not release any music officially, several demo songs  were leaked. Many of these were later recorded for the "Size Matters" and "Monochrome" releases by Helmet. Movie soundtracks. While still active with Helmet, Hamilton embarked on a career composing and performing music for film, working on movies including "Heat", "Titus", "In Dreams", "Catwoman", and "Chicago Cab". Helmet also contributed to a number of movie soundtracks, including "The Crow", "Feeling Minnesota", "Johnny Mnemonic", "Saw 3", "Underworld", and appearing in "" (performing a cover of the Black Sabbath song "Symptom of the Universe"). Production. Hamilton has also worked as a record producer, most notably producing the album "Distort Yourself" by former Bush  singer Gavin Rossdale's band Institute. He has also produced albums for the bands Bullets and Octane ("In the Mouth of the Young"), Classic Case ("Losing at Life"), and Totimoshi. David Bowie, collaborations, other work. During Helmet's hiatus, Hamilton performed as lead guitarist for David Bowie's band on the singer's Hours Tour. He has collaborated with German avant-garde guitarist Caspar Brötzmann on the live improvisational album "Zulutime" and performed on a number of other artists' works, including trumpeter Ben Neill's "Goldbug", alt-country songwriter Joe Henry's "Trampoline", Northern Irish rock band Therapy?'s "Troublegum  and British post-punk group Wire's Object 47". As a jazz musician, he has performed with his own groups, the Page Hamilton Quintet and the Jazz Wannabes, and with fellow guitarist and mentor John Stowell. He has also produced a guitar instruction DVD, "Sonic Shapes: Expanding Rock Guitar Vocabulary", published by Hal Leonard Corporation. During the spring of 2008, Page provided guest vocals on post-hardcore band Norma Jean's fourth studio album "The Anti Mother" as well as contributed to the writing of track 8, "Opposite of Left and Wrong". In 2014, Hamilton appeared on Linkin Park's  sixth studio album "The Hunting Party", which he provided additional vocals (on the chorus) and guitars on the album's second track "All for Nothing". The song was self-produced by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson. Since 2002 he resides in California. Equipment. Hamilton endorsed ESP Guitars in the 1990s, and is best known for playing ESP Horizon guitars with either a Floyd Rose or Wilkinson tremolo, and DiMarzio Airzone pickups. In 2006 ESP announced a Page Hamilton signature model, featuring a single DiMarzio Airzone pickup and Wilkinson tremolo. In 2009, ESP announced a further signature model guitar, this time  modeled after Page's own ESP Horizon Custom, featuring a distressed magenta finish emulating the original guitar's road wear and character and, again, a single DiMarzio Air Zone pickup. He has also used guitars by PRS and G&L. For live performances, Page Hamilton uses a Fryette Pittbull Ultra-Lead into a Fryette Fatbottom 4x12 cabinet. In the 1990s, Hamilton used a Harry Kolbe preamp into a Marshall 2204S (small-box head) with its gain all the way up, then into a dummy load, then into a noise gate, then finally into a Mesa Boogie Simul-class 290 power amplifier  that fed four Harry Kolbe 4x12 cabinets.