The Hug and Pint presents:
Darren Hayman of Hefner - 20 Years of 'Breaking God's Heart'
+ Carla J. Easton
Darren Hayman is a thoughtful, concise and detailed songwriter. He eschews the big, the bright and the loud for the small, twisted, and lost. For 15 years, and over 14 albums, Hayman has taken a singular and erratic route through England's tired and heartbroken underbelly. Hayman was influenced by punk through his art college years, but throughout the '90s he was inspired by American lo-fi indie-rock. A chance meeting with John Peel favourites New Bad Things and shows with them in London and Portland USA taught Darren the DIY ethic and soon he was self-releasing records by his first band, Hefner.
Hefner's first records attracted the attention of cult indie label Too Pure and the broadcasting legend John Peel. The band's first album, Breaking God's Heart (1998), mixed raw, sexual words with religious imagery and earned the band a loyal, intelligent following in the UK, Europe and the USA. He'll be performing this seminal album solo and in full on its 20th anniversary.
Line Up
Darren Hayman of Hefner - 20 Years of 'Breaking God's Heart'
Wondrous, synth-soaked and uncompromising symphonic pop, Easton started out writing in the now cult-like MySpace-kids FUTURISTIC RETRO CHAMPIONS before founding the Spector-esque Wunderkind Girl-Group TEENCANTEEN. A productive 2016 saw the release of 2 critically acclaimed albums – TeenCanteen's 'SAY IT ALL WITH A KISS' (Longlisted for the Scottish Album of The Year 2017) and her debut solo album 'HOMEMADE LEMONADE' released under the alias ETTE (Bandcamp's #4 Album of 2016). Championed by BBC6Music's Marc Riley, Easton has performed across many key festivals and showcases both in the UK and Internationally – The Great Escape, Kendal Calling, Xpo North, Festival No. 6, Indietracks, Wickerman, T in The Park, Electric Fields, POP! Montreal (Canada) and Indiefjord (Norway).
Building a New Wall of Sound that fuses analog synths, anthemic brass and strings with dynamic drums, 2017 saw Easton working with producer HOWARD BILERMAN (ARCADE FIRE/ LEONARD COHEN/ GOD SPEED YOU/ BRITISH SEA POWER) to record her second full-length solo studio album at Hotel2Tango, Montreal, Canada. A development of songwriting, this collection of songs sits in a timeless dreamlike state, seductively introspective with outstanding pop melodies at their core, lyrically exploring themes of lucid dreaming and the blur between reality and fantasy.
The first single LIGHTS IN THE DARK was released in January 2018 (RECORD OF THE DAY, BBC SCOTLAND SINGLE OF THE WEEK) accompanied by a sold out tour (Edinburgh, Manchester and London) including a headline show for CELTIC CONNECTIONS, Glasgow.
Not one to rest, this was quickly followed by BEST FRIEND on the BELLE & SEBASTIAN 'HOW TO SOLVE OUR HUMAN PROBLEMS EP (PART 3)' (Matador Records) which Easton sings lead vocals on and co-wrote with Stuart Murdoch.
2018 will see Easton release more music from the Montreal sessions, with a further tour of the UK in October.
