Month: April 2013

Occupation Show 2

Posted on by darren

Popside and The Vortex Present…

Darren Hayman’s Occupation

Show Two – Sun, Sea and Lidos

Thursday 8th August 2013 The Vortex

The second show of Darren Hayman’s new monthly (every second Thursday) residency at The Vortex.

Tickets available now.

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/220900

A set featuring songs from Darren Hayman’s Great British Holiday EPs and also instrumental pieces from his more recent.

Tickets are £10 and seating is limited so book early to guarantee yourself a spot and ticket holders will get a poster designed by Darren for each show.

Darren Hayman’s Occupation is a series of monthly shows at The Vortex, Dalston. There will be a mix of sets showcasing different albums, themes and special guests. This is not your standard indie gig:

“I love gigs. I hate gigs.

I want to play live and I love what shows can be, but I’ve found myself frequently stifled by the limitations of my career. I can’t play the plush, seated venues and I can’t experiment with a string section or play 20 minute opuses.

My music was born in the sticky floored rock venue. I like the sticky floored rock venue but I have had a hankering for something different recently. My own taste has veered towards free improv and jazz and although it’s hard to imagine that music influencing my own I do love the culture of live music in this genre.

Long sets, sometimes two, comfortable venues and a reverence and respect for the event and the moment; less talking, less cameras, more dynamics, less microphones.

I wondered if these would let an indie rock interloper amongst their ranks. My show at the Vortex back in last November was successful enough to make me think of playing a monthly residency there.

The idea is that each show is themed. I don’t want to go the whole predictable route of playing complete albums, but rather group, types of songs together for different evenings. Experiment, sometimes play two sets, sometimes have unlikely guests. I will be playing with members of my bands from through out my career as well as old friends like the Wave Pictures and Allo Darlin.

The Vortex is a beautiful venue. I’m trying to do something different; something, smaller, prettier. I hope you can come.”

The Vortex
11 Gillett Square, London N16 8AZ
www.vortexjazz.co.uk
Doors 8pm
£10 Adv

www.hefnet.com

@DarrenHayman
@VortexJazz
@ThePopside

Four Queens EP

Posted on by darren

Darren Hayman releases a special four-track EP for Record Store Day (Saturday April 20th) entitled Four Queens, available on limited edition coloured vinyl 10″ and digital. The EP follows on from his critically acclaimed album, The Violence, released on Fortuna POP! last year, which has spawned an ongoing fascination with English history.

Comprised of one track from The Violence, the outstanding ‘Henrietta Maria’, plus three new compositions, the EP features (as the name suggests) songs about a quartet of English Queens. Sung from the perspective of King Charles I as he serenades his French Queen, ‘Henrietta Maria’ is beautiful and touching, and somehow Hayman manages to indulge in a brief history lesson without ever compromising his lyrical meter or the song’s integrity.

Elsewhere, ‘Nine Day Queen’ deals with the tragic tale of Lady Jane Grey, who reigned for a mere nine days before being beheaded at the tender age of 17. ‘Eleanor Of Aquitaine’ tells the story of a monarch who was Queen of both England and France who, as well as marrying two kings gave birth to two, lived to 80 (outliving all but two of her ten children) and caused a whole lot of trouble along the way. Perhaps the standout track here though is ‘Elizabeth The First’, which sees Elizabeth Morris from Allo Darlin’ taking lead vocals over Hayman’s plaintive backing.

As The Violence so clearly showed, Hayman is a master craftsman at the top of his game, and this EP continues the remarkable quality of his recent releases with these four, finely wrought royal vignettes.

Buy the Four Queens EP Direct from Darren


Or buy downloads from Bandcamp here.

Occupation Show 1

Posted on by darren

Popside and The Vortex Present…

Darren Hayman’s Occupation

Show One – Witches & Bugbears

11 July 2013 The Vortex

The first show of Darren Hayman’s new monthly (every second Thursday) residency at The Vortex.

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/218319

Two sets based around the Essex Witch Trials during the English Civil War. One set of songs from Darren’s acclaimed album “The Violence” and a second of English Civil War songs taken from its sister album “Bugbears” which is out on Fika Recordings 15/07/13.

Tickets are £10 and seating is limited so book early to guarantee yourself a spot and ticket holders will get a poster designed by Darren for each show.

Darren Hayman’s Occupation is a series of monthly shows at The Vortex, Dalston. There will be a mix of sets showcasing different albums, themes and special guests. This is not your standard indie gig:

“I love gigs. I hate gigs.

I want to play live and I love what shows can be, but I’ve found myself frequently stifled by the limitations of my career. I can’t play the plush, seated venues and I can’t experiment with a string section or play 20 minute opuses.

My music was born in the sticky floored rock venue. I like the sticky floored rock venue but I have had a hankering for something different recently. My own taste has veered towards free improv and jazz and although it’s hard to imagine that music influencing my own I do love the culture of live music in this genre.

Long sets, sometimes two, comfortable venues and a reverence and respect for the event and the moment; less talking, less cameras, more dynamics, less microphones.

I wondered if these would let an indie rock interloper amongst their ranks. My show at the Vortex back in last November was successful enough to make me think of playing a monthly residency there.

The idea is that each show is themed. I don’t want to go the whole predictable route of playing complete albums, but rather group, types of songs together for different evenings. Experiment, sometimes play two sets, sometimes have unlikely guests. I will be playing with members of my bands from through out my career as well as old friends like the Wave Pictures and Allo Darlin.

The Vortex is a beautiful venue. I’m trying to do something different; something, smaller, prettier. I hope you can come.”

The Vortex
11 Gillett Square, London N16 8AZ
www.vortexjazz.co.uk
Doors 8pm
£10 Adv

www.hefnet.com

@DarrenHayman
@VortexJazz
@ThePopside