HE/LIUM SHE/LIUM

Sovereign Savant:So the name, how did you come up with it?

HE/LIUM SHE/LIUM:I (Rocky) came up with it. I was thinking of a name for a dream pop project and thought of soaring up in the clouds because that is what synth sounds remind me of. Floating. So I though of that word Helium. The other part came because we are always trying to deconstruct gender norms. We are married but intentionally use the word partner when referring to each other to avoid those traditional roles. It's kind of a play on words too. Remember in grade school as a way to say that you didn't care about something and so you would say like oh Math Shmath? So that is what we are saying about gender which is why I wear make up and wear women's clothes. Gender is a trap and we wanna live free.

SS:Thats a badass insight and perspective! I believe we came across a benefit show coming up, we love artists standing up and backing meaningful causes. Can you tell us more about this event?

H/SYes! So we were asked by our friends the BABS (Boise Alternative Babes) if we wanted to join in this event. October is National Domestic Violence month and this is a fundraiser for the Women's and Children's Alliance. Another part of our mission as a band is to empower marginalized identities. This night is such a great intersection of so many oppressed voices. We didn't even hesitate to say yes. One of our more recent songs that we wrote is a total women's empowerment anthem called Own Yourself. This is what we want our band to be about.

SS:That's amazing! Truly something more necessary to the local scene. What keeps your team inspired and what do you see yourselves doing in the next few years?

H/S:I think that we are inspired by what so many other musicians are inspired by. Love. Loss. Community. Art. Beauty. Struggle. Pain. Right now we are writing from our experience as a polyamorous couple. Songs about new love, heartbreak, honesty, friendships. With a few other friends, we started a community of synth based musicians right here in the valley. The Synth Society. We want to be a collective that supports, collaborates, books show, start a label, all that stuff. Remember how the whole world looked towards Seattle back in the 90's for grunge. We want to do that but with synth and Boise. These artists inspire us. We all push each other.
As far as the next few years? We are working on our first album, 9 songs. We signed with a European record label called Analogue Trash. We would love to tour in Europe and the US as much as our schedules allow. We honestly want to do this thing full time. That is what we are building towards! But in 5 years who knows what can happen? We will take every opportunity that comes.

SS:So is their anyone youd like to collaborate with in the future?

H/S:So I think there are a few different layers to that one! Like there are our faves that inspire us, those that we have all their vinyls. Musicians like STRFKR, Future Islands, Grimes, Lady Gaga, Twin Shadow. The big dreams, ya know? Then like more regional artists we would love to tour with or even play a show with like the Canadian band ACTORS. Then on the local level. Our producer for our album Stephen Balcos (Skylimit) is a local dream pop artists. We are actually writing the lyrics and melodies for a song by Jay Kris Rodriguez (DataKeys) for a Synth Society mix tape that we hope to drop soon. And of course we have loved every local artist that we have shared the stage with in Boise. With Child, Them., Bone Haus, to name a few!

SS:That sounds awesome! So as far as upcoming artists what would you give for advice?

H/S:Live something that is bigger than yourself. In your writing. In your networking. In your mission. Support other artists. Go to shows. If you are on a bill, stay for the very last band and dance in the very front until the very last note is played. Be authentic. Turn off Netflix and practice practice practice. Write and perform from your heart. Find a community of likeminded musicians or build your own if it doesn’t exist.

SS:Do you have highlight of your career so far?

H/S:Two moments really stand out to us. The first was at the Neurolux with Brent Penny and Moon Palace. This was very early on for us. It must have been like our 7th show or something like that. We have this one song called Brighter. We end the song with the bridge: LOVE WILL ALWAYS OUTSHINE HATE. We sing it once with all the instruments. And once with just the drums. And then the song is supposed to end. But the crowd, who had never heard this song, kept singing. It was one of those moments that fans still talk about.
The other was TreeFort just a few weeks ago. We played Saturday night at the Spacebar sandwiched between Gary V and The Dirty Moogs, two incredible acts. The place was packed and the energy and the vibes was just so spot on. There was so much love on that place. Ari had lost her voice earlier that week and had only barely gotten it back. There were way more instrumentals that night but it didn’t matter!

SS:That sounds fantastic. You sound like you thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere of performance. Which is awesome to see! Is their anything you'd like to say or touch base on before closing out?

H/S:So final closing thoughts. Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We have a ton of local events coming up and we are almost finished with our first album. We are going to be dropping some singles real soon! Also please follow The Synth Society on FB and IG too. There is a ton of incredible talent out there! And please reach out to us—we love meeting new people!