The Heligoats

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The first thing that comes to mind when listening to the Heligoats might be,  “WTF is a heligoat?”  Just like every everything else, the answer is ever evolving. A little over ten years ago, heligoats were a characters in a comic book about a movie theater that employed animals (and yes it is a half goat/half helicopter). Heligoats then became a group of friends who came together to jam for one night in Chicago, but as singer/songwriter Chris Opteka (also of Troubled Hubble who PH booked a few times years back at Dada) says, “It was supposed to just be one show, and it turned into hundreds. It turned into records.” 

After the curiosity surrounding the band’s name is satisfied, the second thing that comes to mind while actually listening to the music is, in strange way, BeyoncÈ. Her music commands utter attention, while Opteka’s stream-of-consciousness indie folk rock subtlely piques our interest. When Beyoncé sings “I want everyone to feel like this, tonight”— the amygdala and hippocampus can hardly refuse. For a few moments, we really do feel like Queen Bey. But where Beyoncé tell us how to feel, The Heligoats open doors into a dream world of our own emotion–tapping into every breakup, every unrequited desire, every maddeningly quiet frustration, and fleeting moments of happiness.

The Heligoats

Opteka admits he likes “doing a lot with a little.”  In fact, The Heligoats will hand you a seemingly simple song then surprise you with lyrical twists and turns deserving of a second listen. Like any good book, their songs make you nostalgic for whatever place it was you just experienced.

For the past six years, Opteka has been in a long distance relationship with The Heligoats. He lived in Oregon while the rest were in Chicago, but they have recorded and toured together every year. On April 15th, their latest record Back to the Lake will be released, and Opteka has returned to Chicago just in time for the band to go on tour again.

While the records have always been larger collaborative efforts, The Heligoats have been touring for the past three years with Opteka, guitarist Steve Mitchell, bassist Dave James, and drummer Moo Haygood.

Four days later, the Heligoats will be at Propaganda in Lake Worth on April 19 along with Sweet Bronco, Lindsey Mills, Fat Sun, Johnny Raincloud, Keith Welsh.  Doors open at 8pm. Follow the evolution of The Heligoats on Facebook or at TheHeligoats.com. ~Jessica Chesler