HELVETICA BLACK
@helveticablackband
Helvetica Black was formed out of a shared love of music and design. Based in Philadelphia, the band is a guitar-based duo consisting of Royce Epstein and Matt Haggett. Royce and Matt met in 2017 after Matt relocated to Philly from Portland, Oregon. Matt is a veteran of the Portland indie rock scene, where he mainly sang and played drums in several bands and worked on his graphic design career. Royce has lived in Philly for a long time, immersed in the design, art, and music scenes. She started playing music as a kid, but didn’t play electric guitar until much later in life when she founded a couple of all-girl bands in addition to writing about music and design. Together, they both play guitar and sing, where they interweave lead vocals and guitar riffs for dynamic effect. They characterize their band’s theme as “Tender Garage”, where reverb and distortion meet heartfelt melodies. The touch of surf comes from Matt’s jangly note playing on the vintage Gretsch, and the bright twang of chords on Royce’s beloved Mustang. They play their guitars over their own recorded bass and drums, which allows them to play as a duo with the sound of a four piece. Their musical influences straddle the spectrum of cool rock n’ roll: 50s Doo Wop, 60s Garage, 70s Punk and Power Pop, 80s New Wave and Indie, and 90s Britpop and Shoegaze. If you listen carefully, you will hear all of this and more. Both Royce and Matt serve as DJs too, under the names of Madame Duchamp and Man Raydio.