Bic Hayes | |
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.jpg) Hayes in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christian David Hayes |
| Born | (1964-06-10)10 June 1964 (age 60) Westminster, London, England |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Ignatia |
| Member of |
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| Formerly of | |
| Partner | Jo Spratley[1][2] |
Christian David "Bic"Hayes[a] (born 10 June 1964) is an English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. Best known as the frontman ofDark Star and guitarist withLevitation, he has also released solo material asMikrokosmos (stylised inall lowercase), which was produced byTim Smith.
Hayes explained that he was nicknamed Bic because he "just stopped eating for ages and people started saying I looked like aBic biro. I had this phase when I thought eating was boring".[4]
Christian David Hayes[5] was born on 10 June 1964 in London.[6] Hayes' first band, the livethrash band Panixphere (also written asPanixsphere), formed in 1983.[7][3]
By 1988, Hayes was playing guitar withpsychedelic rock bandRing, moving on to become bass player withThe Dave Howard Singers in 1989. In the same year he joined Cardiacs as second guitarist, replacing departing saxophonist Sarah Smith. Hayes appeared as part of the band on their 1992 concert filmAll That Glitters Is a Mares Nest (in which Tim Smith refers to him as a woman) and made writing and recording contributions to their studio albumHeaven Born and Ever Bright (1992).[8]
Hayes had come to know formerHouse of Love guitaristTerry Bickers through musical friends in South London. During 1990, Bickers invited Hayes to join himself and drummerDavid Francolini in a new project which evolved into indie-psychedelic rock bandLevitation (and into which Hayes recruited his former Ring bandmate, Robert White). Initially Hayes divided his time between Cardiacs and Levitation, but as the latter rapidly gained more and more attention from British audiences and the British music press, he found it difficult to accommodate both bands. He left Cardiacs (somewhat reluctantly) in May 1991, admitting "they were the band I left for Levitation. I loved Cardiacs and thought they were the best band in Britain at the time. That's how much I believed in Levitation. The chemistry was explosive".[9] Hayes subsequently reformed Panixphere with Francolini and Cardiacs membersTim Smith andJon Poole.[7]
Following the demise of Levitation in 1993, Hayes worked withHeather Nova and then with formerAll About Eve frontwomanJulianne Regan in a band calledMice.[10] In 1996, he reunited with former Levitation bandmates David Francolini andLaurence O'Keefe to formDark Star. Having released their debut albumTwenty Twenty Sound in 1999, the band recorded a second album but it was not released as a result of personnel changes at their record company. An unmastered seven track version of the album, omitting the tracks "Roman Road" and "Valentine", was leaked within a couple of years of the split. TitledZurich, it is unconfirmed whether this was an official title. The album remains unreleased, though Hayes has stated his hope to release the second album soon.
Following the disbanding of Dark Star in 2001, Hayes toured with thePet Shop Boys and worked as a guitar tech/tour/production manager for the likes ofMy Bloody Valentine,Kula Shaker andDavid Cassidy.[11][12] In 2007, Hayes began releasing archive releases of previously unreleased solo material (recording during and shortly after his time with Levitation) under the name of Mikrokosmos via Ingatia Recordings. A trio of releases -In The Heart of the Home,The Seven Stars andTerra Familiar - have been issued.[13]
In 2011, Hayes organised and compiled the tribute recordLeader of the Starry Skies in aid ofCardiacs frontman Tim Smith (who had suffered two strokes in 2008 which left him paralysed down one side of his body and unable to speak).[1] He also toured with a stage version ofMacbeth in 2011 and 2012, produced by Platform 4 and described as "a tautpsychodrama that crackles with a wild electricity, brought alive by the sonic experiments of composer and guitarist Bic Hayes and sound designer Jules Bushel".[14]
More recently Hayes has been involved in theBrighton-based improvisational instrumental psychedelic band ZOFFF (previously known as Light Specific Data or LSD-25)[15][16][17] and with MUMMY (a duo with his partner, the singer Jo Spratley). Panixphere reformed as a trio in 2019 featuring Hayes, Poole and Cardiacs drummerBob Leith,[18] releasing a livesplit single withSpratleys Japs via Hayes' label The Confinement Tapes in 2020.[19] In 2024, Bic Hayes provided vocals and guitar for a reformed, live touring version of Cardiacs.[20]
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As Mikrokosmos
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)| Studio albums | |
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| Demo albums | |
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| Singles | |
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