Former Seahorses frontman CHRIS HELME has attacked his old band’s songwriter John Squire, describing his material as “muso wank”.
Helme, who has two albums worth of solo material written and is poised to sign a new record deal, revealed that he has still not healed the rift with Seahorses guitarist and founder Squire, which led to the band split in February 1999.
Speaking exclusively to nme.com, Helme said: “I’ve been listening to Jackson Browne and early Van Morrison a lot, so there’s no muso wanking like on Seahorses.
“I’ve got enough for two albums at the minute. It’s confessional stuff.”
Helme, still unsigned, also explained that solo material hadn’t appeared yet because of management problems following The Seahorses‘ demise.
“It’s tough when your career’s in someone else’s hands,” he said. “But that’s sorted now. I’m not desperately seeking a new deal, but I’ve been talking to a few people who seem to like what they’ve heard.”
Helme – who plays his biggest solo date so far in his home-town of York at the Theatre Royal on May 29 as part of the BBC Music Live series of events – claimed he hadn’t spoken to Seahorses founder and ex-Stone Roses guitarist John Squire in over 14 months and said the band split had been on the cards for some time.
He admitted, “There was a personality clash during rehearsals. When he came up with new stuff [for the follow-up to 1997’s ‘Do It Yourself’] I didn’t like his lyrics or tunes. I could have gone with it and made quite a lot of money, but I wasn’t interested.”
Helme has been working with the team behind Oasis producer Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, and also revealed that he was approached to write a song by a former Australian soap star-turned singer – but refused to say who.
He added, “It was a couple of months ago, but I don’t want to say who she is. I’m not sure if she’s still in the soap, I don’t watch that many Australian soaps and I thought it would be a bad idea to be associated with that sort of thing.”