Helstrip started out making trance music while working for the computer games developer Manic Media.

Following the collapse of Neo Records, Helstrip took charge of his catalogue by launching his own label Adjusted Music.

He signed the club hits "Safe to Dream" by the Russian act, Evolve, and "Alone Again" by the transatlantic duo Deep Voices.

Immediately following the success of "Synaesthesia", Helstrip went on to launch a new moniker for the Ministry of Sound subsidiary, Incentive.

In the adjoining years he also formed collaborations with Andy "Pulser" Perring as Insigma and with Tim Stark under the name Rapid Eye.

[citation needed] On 25 July 2016 Future Sound of Egypt released "Amber", the first single from Hydra since Affinity (2003).

The project was launched with AmplifydMusic which created a large interactive following via social media and support of Helstrip's production work.