WE SOUND LIKE HELICON

A short film about psychedelia and creative collaboration.

During the recording of the ARISE album, filmmaker James Ewen followed HELICON and AL LOVER through home demos, rehearsals, studio sessions, interviews and live performances, documenting the process as it unfolded.

What began as a collaborative record between Glaswegian psych-rock and Los Angeles beat culture became a story about what happens when people from different musical worlds come together to create something neither could have made alone.

The result is WE SOUND LIKE HELICON, a 20-minute documentary capturing the music, friendships, laughter and occasional chaos that developed along the way.

"We wanted to explore the value of curiosity, experimentation and a willingness to embrace the unfamiliar. Psychedelia has always been about breaking things open, and that's really what this project became." – John-Paul Hughes, Helicon.

WE SOUND LIKE HELICON will be available exclusively to newsletter subscribers from the 17th August, over 1 month before public release, to coincide with our performance at the Made In Scotland Gigs Showcase during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2026.

Confirmed public screenings include Kendal Calling, Manchester Psych Fest, King Tut’s Glasgow, Kozfest in Wales and HotBox in Chelmsford, Essex. With more to follow.

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