Helme began singing and performing at the age of 19, and began playing in pubs and folk clubs in his native York with his first band Daisy Space/Genuine Moon Material before forming folk-jazz band Chutzpah in 1993. The band regularly gigged at the White Swan Pub and Fibbers, where Helme worked behind the bar. In 1995 the band busked across rural France before splitting up (the band went on to reform in 2007 for a one-off gig at The White Swan).
