John Helmer was born in London and grew up in Southend-on-sea, Essex.
From 1977 to 1981, he was lead guitarist and vocalist in the Brighton-based ska punk band The Piranhas, best known for their 1980 top ten hit ‘Tom Hark’.
After The Piranhas split, Helmer formed a cabaret busking group called Pookiesnackenburger with friends from Brighton. The group signed to Stiff Records, created a number of shows that they took to the Edinburgh Festival and toured around the UK and Europe. For Channel Four TV they starred in a series of video mini-musicals, for which Helmer wrote scripts and songs, as well as acting. They also featured in a Heineken commercial. Pookiesnackenburger finally evolved into the dance troupe Stomp, but without Helmer, who had gone on to pursue a solo project, House of Helmer.
This group had a fluctuating line-up and was a mainly studio-based affair, featuring collaborations with various House artists including Detroit techno producer Derrick May.
The project came to an end when Helmer turned his back on music to concentrate on writing. Around this time he was contacted by the group Marillion, who were looking for a lyricist following the departure of Fish, whose lyrics had been a signature feature of their music. Helmer went on to contribute to Marillion albums over the next decade. He also wrote most lyrics for Carnival of Souls, a 1996 album by Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery’s side project The Wishing Tree.
In 1999, Helmer published his first novel, titled Mother Tongue, published by Quartet Books, which was favourably reviewed in The Guardian and Independent newspapers.
He has written and blogged extensively in the field of learning technologies and is Editor in Chief of The Curve magazine.
Since 2014 he has contributed a popular monthly column to Viva Brighton magazine.