“He told me he was a fan the first time I met him in '97. And then I got the call from him a couple of years later”: Helmet’s Page Hamilton is one of heavy music’s most influential riffers – but he was once handpicked by David Bowie to be his guitarist

Helmet's founding member and guitarist Page Hamilton might be one of the most enduringly influential guitarists from the North American alt-metal movement of the ’90s.

His heavier approach might not make him one of the first guitarists that come to mind as a potential David Bowie guitarist, but he was handpicked by the chameleon of rock as his guitarist for 1999’s Hours tour.

“He told me he was a fan the first time I met him in '97. And then I got the call from him a couple of years later,” Hamilton reveals in a new interview with Premier Guitar.

“He was really complimentary about my guitar stuff. One thing he said I'll never forget was, ‘It sounds like it's very abstract what you do, but it's very thought out.’ He said, ‘You remind me a bit of Phil Manzanera from Roxy Music,’ and I was like, ‘Thank you. That's amazing.’ Yeah, he told me I nailed the guitar sound on Rebel Rebel, which we did on SNL.”

David Bowie parted ways with longstanding guitarist Reeves Gabrels in 1999. Immediately after, he got Page Hamilton on board for the tour and TV appearances in support of his 22nd album Hours.

“Reeves, who’s been a friend of mine for many many years, was going through a very difficult time in his life and he and Bowie parted ways after 13 years,” Hamilton said in a 2016 interview with Louder.

“Bowie knew Helmet – we had met two years earlier at a festival in Germany – I met him and he was like ‘Helmet? I love Helmet!’ And I start laughing, like ‘Yeah… right. Right!’ And he says, ‘We go way back.’”

Besides his heavier work with Helmet, Hamilton is a jazz-schooled guitarist, whose avant-garde collaborations and soundtrack work no doubt contributed to him landing the gig. By 2000, he parted ways with Bowie to be replaced by the returning Earl Slick.

Elsewhere in the Premier Guitar interview, Hamilton gives more insight into the gear he used with Bowie. “I have here this ESP Strat [referring to the guitar in the video], it's called the Vintage Plus. These are the guitars I used when I played with Bowie on the 1999 Hours tour. I have three of these, a black, a gold, and this blue one."

Helmet's Page Hamilton Rig Rundown Guitar Gear Tour [2024] - YouTube

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In terms of amps, Hamilton opted for a Fryette Pittbull Ultra-Lead into a Fryette Fatbottom 4x12 cabinet, which he still uses “for everything except for jazz...These are just incredible amps for rock stuff [and] for noise.”

Helmet released their ninth album, LEFT, last November, marking the band's first studio album in seven years.