Double Helix

Name, where are you from?
Double Helix (Patrick and Kim) based in East London, but originally from Wales and Germany.

Describe your style in three words?
Doc Martins, Dickies and drab.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
K: Soulwax at The Roundhouse might have been the best I’ve seen. It was an incredible stage production, three drummers playing perfectly in sync, also just the way they’d reinvent and remix their own tunes live gave it a sense of spontaneity which is sometimes missing from electronic shows. It was just a great example of how to translate that genre into live band.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
P: Nine Inch Nails or Prodigy would be the ones for me. Both are big influences and I’ve always been in awe whenever I’ve seen them live, so would be pretty cool to be a part that.
K: FKA Twigs, I just adore her as an artist. She’s incredible at combining mediums like music, fashion, and styling into something very focused and beautiful, not to mention she’s an incredible dancer.

Which subcultures have influenced you?
K: When I was a teenager, I was really into the indie music of the late 2000s. There was a great scene coming out of Hamburg at the time and it was first instance I can remember that I connected with a group of people all into similar music. Some first loves were Beat! Beat! Beat! & Mando Diao.
P: I think grunge music was the first subculture that had a massive impact on me growing up, it was the first time I started dressing differently to reflect my music taste and whatnot. I used to collect as many books and magazines as possible to find out about the Seattle scene and quite often take a chance on a CD based on what I’d read about the band. I remember the first time I heard 'This Gift' by Mudhoney, it sounded like sweet grit to my ears. There are a few others of significance as well, industrial music, coldwave and '90s techno/rave subcultures are probably the ones that have influenced this project directly. The hardcore punk scene from the 1980s has also shaped a lot of my listening habits over the years, the book 'Our Band Could Be Your Life' is a fascinating read on it all and really spurred me on to deep dive into that era.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
P: I’d have liked to hang out with the original line up of Tangerine Dream and just jam synths for an hour.

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?
Shacklewell Arms in Dalston has always been our favourite hangout, it's also where we both first met.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
K: Julee cruise, for entertaining the town of Twin Peaks in the midst of murder, mayhem and mystery (fans of the show will know what I mean).

Double Helix released their new single 'Doppelgänger' via Human Endeavour on 21st June 2022. Listen, purchase or stream it at humanendeavour.bandcamp.com.

You can catch Double Helix performing on 29th June at Shacklewell Arms, London, 30th July at Broadcast, Glasgow and 6th August 2022 at Roadkill Records Festival, London.