"The Ex Files": A Tribute to Helias (a.k.a. Michael Schafermeyer) by Tucker Booth and the Frozen Food Section

By Keegan Hamilton Thu., Oct. 7 2010 at 2:37 PM

Categories: MP3 Enhanced, News

Local hip-hop producer Helias (a.k.a. Michael Schafermeyer) may be gone, but his peers are making certain that he and his music are not forgotten.

Helias -- a member of the underground hip-hop collective the Frozen Food Section -- died in May of a drug and alcohol overdose. Earlier this week, his friend and collaborator Tucker Booth released a compilation of "lost tracks" from a concept album he and Helias started working on way back in 2005.

The project, titled Ex Files, is now available for free download on this Bandcamp page.

Streaming audio of the first single, "Me and Lorenzo," and some back story after the jump...

Here's an excerpt from Booth's explanation of how Ex-Files came to be:

Conceived in 2005 these beats by Helias (aka Michael Schafermeyer, R.I.P.) were supposed to be the original backdrop for 'Ex Boyfriend' an album not-so-loosely based on our recent break ups with our respective squeezes. Later, after a string of cop outs and near miss recording sessions I drunk dialed him one night and gave him a piece of my mind for 'hijacking my album.' Helias then proceeded to pull the plug on our project, give the beats away to my competitors, and declare Ex Boyfriend dead...

[They] remained so until 2009 when J-Toth uncovered a long forgotten spool of wav file cds that included an early burn of what were now being called 'The Ex Files.' Much rejoicing ensued from St. Louis to Redondo Beach. So in essence this is the sequel to Ex Boyfriend featuring the beats which originally inspired the album. Hence the sequel is the prequel.

Check out the full story here.