TWISTED HELICES

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Who am I? || How did the name and logo originate?? || What's new? || What do you think? || Why am I doing this?



Who am I?

TWISTED HELICES is mainly just one person. I play the guitar, sing, and program the rhythm section for the songs. I record everything on a multitrack system set up using a computer. Check out my history, equipment, and DiY pages for further information.

I am into making self indulgent forms of music---the more warped it is, the better. I am also into the heavier stuff. But since I record the entire rhythm section on a keyboard (or equivalent), all my compositions end up sounding really poppish. I then add in a bit of distorted guitars and processed vocals to make things rough and raw. So this results in what I consider an interesting blend of electronics and warmth.

The music I've released is available above: My first album was entirely done on a 4 track using first takes; my newer work is highly computerised and programmatic, deriving musical patterns from atomic resolution biological (protein) structures. I've been making music under this pseudonym since 1993 though some of the first songs were written in 1984 (when I was 12) and the stories behind some of them are best shared in person. I've been fortunate enough to devote my life to my other passion, science, without worrying about making a living and so I'd like to think I've remained true to my aristic ideal and make music for the sake of Art (who I don't distinguish from philosophy or science). Everything I create is copiable without restrictions.


Origin of the name TWISTED HELICES and the logo

The name TWISTED HELICES comes from one of my passions in life: the study of proteins. (Actually the name arose when we were discussing the structure of Z-DNA but I thought it would be cooler to link the name to proteins.) Helices are secondary structural units in protein structures, and the helices shown in the logo are from Leg Haemoglobin. All the letters in the name represent the one letter codes of various amino acids. If you know protein biochemistry, you'll notice that the amino acids in the helices logo also read (the one letter code for each amino acid is capitalised):

Threonine Wtryptophan Isoleucine Serine Threonine gluEtamic acid asparDic acid

Histidine gluEtamic acid Leucine Isoleucine Cysteine gluEtamic acid Serine

So the logo and the name are chemically consistent.


TWISTED HELICES || Ram Samudrala< || ram@twisted-helices.com