An Interview with Help, Because We Fucking Need It.
Help at Treefort 2023 Photo by Preston Valles
BOISE,ID-Last Treefort, there was one show we knew we wanted to cover… but didn’t. We went, yet what I experienced was unlike anything I had seen or felt at a live show here in Boise. Portland hardcore punk trio, Help(@helpifuckingneedit) played a killer set, which ended with the band burning an American Flag and being dragged out and ‘banned’ from the venue by security. It was such an experience that it felt impossible to include in just some small blurb amidst the rest of our coverage. So, we knew that if we had ever had the chance to talk to this group, we should jump on it. Lucky for us, Help was not only coming back through town; but they were also playing on what was one of the best lineups I’ve seen here in Boise.
Jason Rivera, Gaytheist Photo by Corey Limani
Help’s set was not only the high-energy set we’ve grown to expect from this trio, but they were here with the legendary Portland trio, Gaytheist (@gaythiestband), and one of my favorite local acts, Trauma Kit (@traumakitband). It was an undeniably incredible night and each band commanded and destroyed the crowned Neurolux stage. Trauma Kit, you are the cream of the crop of Boise bands, and you so expertly convey the punk pathos and ethos that I love. Bim Mitson, drummer of Help, says it best: “That’s not just cool stuff in Boise, but it's like some of the coolest new shit I’ve heard like... anywhere.” Gaytheist, this was my sixth or seventh time seeing you, and you are still the one-of-the-kind band that I fell in love with circa 2012. Your set not only rocked, but it was refreshing to see how true to your roots you’ve remained while still exhibiting such growth. There is no other band like you, nor do I think there ever will be. Thank you for being authentically you and being so humble.
Ultimately, it was a great night. It began with myself and Kristin getting to sit down with Help and talk about their Treefort set, politics, and their amazing catalog of current and upcoming music. We are beyond stoked to share the highlights of an interview that was ultimately one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had. The interview featured Bim (drums), Ryan (guitar/vox), and Morty (bass).
Ryan Neighbors, Help Photo by Corey Limani
Ali: After your Treefort set, you were the talk of the town after the burning of the flag... is it something you did for shock value or was there a particular meaning behind it?
Bim: There’s a particular meaning which is burning the flag of America.
Ryan: Well, we knew there would be some shock value as well.
Ali: We were joking around that it would be cool if you just had a drawer full of American flags in your tour van.
Ryan: We use them as hankies. “Oh no! The gas station is out of toilet paper, we’re going to have to roll up one of those flags!”
Morty: “What’s this dirty ass rag hanging out for?!”
Bim: I do remember when we were here, it was actually surprisingly difficult to find a fucking American flag because I was tasked with going and buying one. I remember being very sick, walking in the snow, trying to get a fucking American flag all day. Then I finally found one. It was all worth it though, I was so cold and then I warmed up on a little flame.
Kristin: Where did you find it though?
Ryan: This guy’s front yard.
Bim: We were like, “we’ll just steal it off of a truck”, but we couldn’t find a normal one, only ‘special ones’, but I don’t remember...I know I went to a Walmart and they didn't have one and I was surprised by that.
Ali: You could find a gun, but you couldn’t find a flag?
Morty: It’s a saturated market, everybody already has their flags.
From left to right, Ryan, Bim, Morty of Help Photo by Corey Limani
Bim: Well, I would say the burning for me, and I don’t speak for all of us on this, but I’m pretty dissatisfied with this country and what this flag represents. It’s come to represent a shitty mall that feeds a war machine that commits genocide. I don’t know, that’s not really a great thing that I want to be a part of.... and yet I can’t not pay taxes, I can’t not participate in it.
Ali: Having met some of the security guards before, I know some of them to be of the M.A.G.A mindset...
Bim: Which is so interesting to me, because those dudes are freedom lovers, right? The flag has come to represent a police state and a global military force, which neither of those things have anything to do with freedom. Even though that guy that dragged me out of the venue, I’m probably on his side on a bunch of shit… but there’s also a bunch of shit I’m not. When it comes down to that issue, and expression and freedom, all that stuff, we should be more aligned on how constrained our society has become. Now it just feels dangerous to do anything.
Ali: Well, we are in Boise... but we are still in Idaho, and it feels even more fucking backwards sometimes.
Morty: We know.
Bim: There is a reason why we ended up burning the flag here and haven’t done that in Portland... because you guys need it here. In Portland you get a little burning of the flag with your fucking margarita or whatever... It's mainstream.
Morty: And when we did burn the flag here, the crowd was really stoked. It was only the security guard that was upset.
Bim: We were definitely safe too. We hinted enough to the festival ahead of time and it was all good. There were fire extinguishers. You know, when it comes down to it, this was like a symbolic act.
Ryan: I think the only safety risk was Morty hitting beer cans with his bass.
Ali: I feel like there are so many issues currently, burning the flag could be an ambiguous symbol… So, I was curious to know.
Bim: Politically, I care very deeply about many of the current issues but when it comes to art, it would do well to stay in the big picture. So many bands and artists throughout the 60’s and 70’s were involved in very specific shit that was important, but many were captured by politicians that just wanted to use them to get elected. The bands that I look up to from that era, like Death, didn’t do that. They were not invited into the mainstream. They talk about that shit in their music and they talk about it in a big picture way... and it still hits today. So for me, the big picture is kind of where it’s at when it comes to making a statement and it’s more important because it’s a way of doing so in solidarity. If you read ‘A People’s History of the United States’ you get a pretty big picture view to make them understand why we might burn a flag versus me making a super specific argument about something that’s happening only for this month.
Help Photo by Corey Limani
Ali: So why do you think punk is, historically, a useful tool to express this?
Ryan: Because it is loud and nasty. You can make strong statements with any type of music. But people are fired up to see the music they want.
Bim: Yeah, and it’s high energy. There’s a physicality to it, and I think there’s a physicality to revolution too.... or to any kind of actual change making. It doesn’t happen with permission, it happens in a way that’s more dangerous, to be honest.
Kristin: Speaking of people fired up to see the music they want, how different would you say your self-titled EP is to your most recent release ‘2053’?
Ryan: I think 2053 is a little more personal. I think we were less rushed. With the EP we were kind of like, “Oh, we are a band, we should write some songs, let’s write some lyrics really quick because we’ve got some studio time.” Bim and I bounce lyrics back and forth with each other and collaborate heavily on the lyrics. We had more time to do it with 2053, we weren’t rushed in any way. So, it’s a little more of a mixture of personal and political.
Bim: Yeah, the combination of the way he and I communicate the “the world is fucked” is so different in the way that we want to talk about it.
Ryan: I’m more about personal turmoil. Bim is much more about world turmoil.
Bim: You are more at the individual level, which is often the best way to get people to engage and feel it. Mine is maybe more of the systemic level.
Ryan: It strikes people in different ways.
Ali: Still, I found 2053 to be equally passionate, nihilistic, and you know... hopeful.
Ryan: Well, the EP we just recorded is actually a break-up record. We went full emo.
Ali: Is it really?
Bim: We both went through breakups at the same time.
Ali: Oh, I was worried you guys were breaking up. My heart just literally broke.
Ryan: People get confused by that, when we say the new record is a break up record. And they are like, “There is no way they would write about their relationships, so they must be breaking up.”
Bim: Yeah, they are like, “The band is over?”, and we are like, “NO!”
Ryan: Yeah, we wrote about our girlfriends!
Ali: Do you feel like it changed the tone of the songwriting process?
Bim: Yeah, I think that it tracks from the first release which is like a peak frustrated-anger-energy and the upcoming one is like moving towards grief, or like the pain of ending or whatever. For me, as we change or are in different parts of our lives, we’re going to have different stuff that matters and needs to get flushed out through music.
Morty, Help Photo by Corey Limani
Ryan: If there’s a compilation called Punk to Cry To. I want to get one of the songs on there... at least one! I bet if Rage Against the Machine had a love song it would be sick.
Bim: It would be super sick.
Kristin: I read in a previous interview that some of your passion or turmoil comes from growing up in a religious household.
Ryan: Yes, that would be me. I grew up really religious and I can’t seem to escape the complications that have created the complications that have affected my life... Did I say that right?
Bim: Yeah, it was fine. They’ll fix it in post.
Ryan: Yeah! Fix it in the post.
Morty: “God made me sad.”
Bim: You can just change it to “me sad”.
Morty: “Me sad, thanks god.”
Ryan: It gets me a little fired up, so I write about that a lot. Because I think we can connect with that in some way even if you didn’t technically grow up religious. You can still connect to not wanting someone else to control what you are trying to do with your life.
Kristin: Do you remember having an “aha” moment when you realized everything you’ve learned was fucking wrong?
Ryan: I don’t remember a specific moment. It was definitely going to high school and meeting new friends outside of my youth group friends. Meeting punk friends that would say “this shit is dumb.” And I was like, “no it’s not!” and then, it was like… oh wait, it is.
Ali: Did you feel like music helped shepherd you out of that?
Ryan: I want to say yes, that music made me shy away from religion. But it wasn’t music. I wish it did, that would be the best interview answer. I can say music aided me when I made the decision... If that makes sense.
Ali: 100%. What do you guys think your fans can take away from one of your shows?
Morty: That the system is fucked. Look into it.
Bim: I would say breaking down what a normal experience is all about so they can perceive the world fresh. Going to see hardcore or punk music is what got me thinking, “Oh you can do whatever the fuck you want.” Just seeing some guy breaking his own guitar can help people think, “Oh, I can think for myself. I can do my own thing.” The only thing about that is the next step is up to them. If we got you thinking politically... fuck yeah. Now go do something about it but we are not your hero, there is no such thing. Just go for it, do whatever.
Ryan: Don’t look towards us for your next step.
Bim: Yeah, we are just fucking idiots.... and you are too, so let’s go! We are all in control. So, I guess for me it’s more about empowerment, but I don’t want to make a movement under me.
Kristin: As long as it plants a seed in someone’s mind, right? Listening to punk music ultimately made me question religion as a teenager, that was the tiny seed... it sprouted and grew, you know?
Bim: And that is the dream for me is that little bit of seed planting... but no tending that garden. That feels super weird like B.F. Skinner stuff... it's manipulative to be like, “We have a movement now and you have to do this!” Like that is fucked up.
Kristin: Right - like you’re some new cult leader.
Help Photo by Corey Limani
Ali: As far as movements and heroes go, I used to be obsessed with learning about workers' unions and folk heroes. I was obsessed with it because it all felt so punk. Personally, I think that the age of ‘folk heroes’ isn’t dead... but instead, it is little punk bands and that punk energy. I think that art is pastoral in that sense.
Bim: Well, the other thing about punk and hardcore is that it is time based. The fact that a live show is what it is all about… means that it is in real-time, which is good. It is reflective of my views around how politics work and how the world changes, it happens in real-time. Like, we don’t do incrementalism in a positive direction ever. I’ve never seen that happen...just look at history. The changes that have been important have happened over a short period of time in an unexpected way and it is through upheaval. And what upheaval is, is real-time decision-making. It is people who are acting on that ‘fuck it’ feeling. It is like when you are skateboarding and doing something big for the first time... it’s a ‘fuck it’ feeling and that’s what changes stuff. That is when you learn... That is in my view...I am probably wrong.
Ali: You make it sound pretty right though... so, that’s cool.
Ryan: She is manipulating you to be her cult leader.
Bim: “Now get on my bus, everybody grab a shovel!”
Ali: Ha! Well, we did read a lot about you guys, and Bim, we watched your mayoral interviews... and I was just like really inspired by it all.
Bim: Good.
Kristin: So, what’s been your favorite tour stop so far?
Ryan: It will probably be here tonight. Because I love this bar. I’ve played at Neurolux before in three different bands other than Help, Morty here has played in three other bands than Help, and Bim has in another one. So, collectively, including Help, we’ve played here in eight different bands.... and Neurolux just rules. I really liked playing the Shrine but it really depends. It’s not just the venue but the energy that is occurring at the show. I think the first Shrine show we played... was that the September Treefort?
Bim: Yeah, it was the make-up year. It was one of our first shows after COVID.
Ryan: Yeah it was like, COVID is kind of over... so we are back and the energy of everybody was just like, “Live shows again?! Holy fucking shit.” That was pretty awesome.
Bim: Yeah, that felt different.
Ryan: When I crowd surfed no one's hands were actually touching me. I was just floating across.
Bim: Yeah he was floating six feet above just like his favorite god, Jesus.
Ryan: I should definitely do a Jesus stage thing.
Bim: No, we should just get you a cross.
Ryan: And nail me to it! “Who has the last laugh now?” .. as I die.
Morty: We will do it upside down, as a sign of respect for the Jesus.
Bim: I bet that security guard would help us out.... all the sudden he’d be down. I don’t know if he has shown up here yet... I can’t wait.
Ali: So, are you guys are familiar with Trauma Kit?
Bim: Yeah, Shad sent me the new record and I was blown away. It is so sick, dude... That’s not just cool stuff in Boise, but it's like some of the coolest new shit I’ve heard like... anywhere.
Ali: They seem like great dudes, too. Honestly this is one of the best lineups I’ve seen in Boise... ever.
Bim: I was very pumped when they were down to do it.
Ryan: This will be probably the greatest show of all time.
This interview has been shortened and formatted for the page, and ‘fixed in post’.
