Editing Luke Helder (section)

== Musical background ==

{{Infobox album
|italic_title = no 
|name = {{yesitalic|Sacks of People}}
| type       = Studio album
| artist     = Apathy
| cover      =
| alt        =
| released   = 2001
| recorded   = 
| studio     = Last Minute Records
| genre      = {{hlist|[[Alternative rock|Alternative Rock]]|[[Grunge]]}}
| length     = 43:54
| label      = 
| producer   = Michael Thompson
| chronology = 
| prev_title = 
| prev_year  = 
| next_title = 
| next_year  = 
}}

Prior to his bombing spree, Helder was a member of Apathy, a [[Rochester, Minnesota]], three-piece [[grunge]] band. Although the band was successful only on a local scale, they recorded a CD, ''Sacks of People'', at the end of their first summer together. They funded and released the album themselves. Helder was a fan of [[Kurt Cobain]]. He heavily decorated his dorm room with [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] posters and ephemera. A bandmate in Apathy remarked Helder had "an interesting style of singing" and would write much of the lyrics of the group's tracks, not having a full understanding of their meaning.<ref name="nme8">{{cite news| url= https://www.nme.com/news/music/nirvana-257-1379460|title= Alleged Pipe Bomber a Huge Kurt Cobain Fan| date= May 8, 2002| work= NME| access-date=12 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="post8">{{cite news| url=https://www.postbulletin.com/bandmate-doesn-t-think-helder-out-to-get-the-government/article_6c158820-d576-55b8-bfac-9f019ee2f629.html |title=Bandmate doesn't think Helder 'out to get the government'|date=May 8, 2002|work=Post Bulletin|access-date=12 June 2021}}</ref>

When the news broke that Helder was the pipe bomber, the media made significant mention of his status as a musician.<ref name="cnn001">{{cite web|last=Feldman |first=Charles |title=Feds: Suspect admitted pipe bomb spree. |work=CNN.com |date=May 9, 2002 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/05/08/mailbox.pipebombs/index.html |access-date=2007-10-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117123142/https://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/05/08/mailbox.pipebombs/index.html |archive-date=November 17, 2007 }}</ref>