- THE WIRE «An unwavering belief in the power of the groove and an uncanny facility for generating one riff after another»
- THE SOUND PROJECTOR «Telepathic magic…. Hayward is one of the most life-affirming people who stalks this dark globe»
- FREQ.CO.UK «Awesome»
- THE WIRE (Sònar festival 2007 report) «The appeal of ex-This Heat drummer Charles hayward’s mastery of performance does not seem to fade. Thundering away over homemade backing tracks while howling abrasive vocals, he theatrically halts the music and stares out into the crowd as if enraged» (Lisa Blanning & Andy Tait)
Current projects: Solo, Monkey Puzzle Trio, About Group, Albert Newton,
V for Victory, Mathilde 253. Previous projects include: Quiet Sun, This Heat, Camberwell Now, Clear Frame. Collaborations: Massacre, Raincoats, Keep the Dog, Lora Logic, The Hat Shoes, Percy Howard’s Meridiem.
BIOGRAPHY, information
“Charles Hayward:
A cynical careerist narrative”
CHARLES HAYWARD is known as the pioneering drummer with This Heat and Camberwell Now, an ever growing list of solo concerts and CDs (forthcoming solo release: “ONE BIG ATOM”, 2011), special collaborative performances, and is in Massacre with Bill Laswell and Fred Frith. Throughout the 90’s up to the present he has initiated a bewildering array of events and performances, including the widely acclaimed series Accidents + Emergencies at the Albany Theatre, Out of Body Orchestra (too much sound, not enough space, not enough time), music made from the sound of the new Laban dance centre being built which was choreographed for the official opening, music for a circus (part of the National Theatre’s ‘Art of Regeneration’ initiative), the full-on installation/performance Anti-Clockwise (with Ashleigh Marsh and David Aylward) for multiple strobes, maze structure of diverse textures, 2 drummers, synthesizers and your nervous system. Recent developements include the Continuity evenings as part of Camberwell Arts. Committed to song ‘but the shapes have to change,’ his current one-man show is an intoxicating mix of percussive attack, swirling electronics and lyrical fragment collage.
Charles Hayward (born 1951) is an English drummer and was a founder member of the experimental rock group This Heat.
He also played with Mal Dean’s Amazing Band, Radar Favourites, Dolphin Logic, and gigged and recorded with Phil MANZANERA in the group Quiet Sun project as well as a short stint with Gong.
In 1976, Hayward and fellow Radar Favourites and Dolphin Logic member, Charles BULLEN began practising with bassist Gareth WILLIAMS under the name This Heat.
They began to experiment with tape loops, found sounds and keyboards on several sessions (recorded from 1976 to 1978, but not released until 1979).
Finally, in 1979, This Heat released their self-titled debut album (“the blue and yellow”). 1981‘s Deceit marked the final new album from This Heat, Williams leaving just after its release.
While Bullen began working as a studio engineer, Hayward did sessions for Lora Logic, the Raincoats and Everything But the Girl before forming Camberwell Now with bassist Trefor GORONWY and tape manipulator Stephen RICKARD.
The trio released several albums through the Swiss Recommended label.
When Camberwell Now disbanded in 1987 Hayward embarked on a solo career which has continued to the present day.
He debuted with Survive the Gesture (1987), Skew-whiff (1989) Switch on War (1991) and My Secret Alphabet (with Nick DOYNE-DITMAS) in 1993.
In 1998, he joined Massacre with Fred FRITH and Bill LASWELL.
He currently lives with his wife, Lesley Evans, and 3 children
Lewis (b. 1987), Merlin (b. 1992) and Riley (b. 1995)
As well as his solo performance, Charles is currently involved in the following projects : Monkey Puzzle Trio, About Group, Albert Newton, V for Victory, Mathilde 253.
Booking management
plateformes@gmail.com
[Updated: may 2, 2011]
