Musical Style and Techniques
Hayes is best characterised as an English psychedelic musician, although one who emerged from the post-punk scene of the early 1980s. He began his career with various South London-based underground bands (including a stint in the last lineup of Ring). For a while he also played bass for the eccentric lounge-punk act The Dave Howard Singers, who were at the time known for the novelty single "Yon Yonson".
Hayes was brought into Cardiacs in 1989 to replace saxophonist Sarah Smith - he played second guitar in the band during a period in which it was evolving into a harder-rocking guitar-orientated style. During this time he displayed a performance style incorporating a strong use of distortion and echo but combined with passages of quieter detail. This was expanded for his work in Levitation (1992–1994) and with the Julianne Regan-fronted Mice (1995-approximately 1997), and reached full fruition in the power trio Dark Star. In the latter band, Hayes created a layered and detailed but hard-rocking sound using a wide variety of effects pedals and devices (with apparent influences including Jimi Hendrix and Keith Levene). Although he played numerous lead lines, these were always part of an integrated band sound and featured few standard rock-style solos.
Hayes was picked to replicate Johnny Marr's original guitar parts from the Pet Shop Boys album Release when the band toured. His current project Mikrokosmos (for which he plays the majority of the instruments) has clear stylistic references to previous generations of psychedelic musicians such as Syd Barrett and Hawkwind. His approach to guitar playing for Mikrokosmos is considerably simpler than his previous work with Dark Star.
Read more about this topic: Christian Hayes
Famous quotes containing the words musical, style and/or techniques:
“Each child has his own individual expressions to offer to the world. That expression can take many forms, from artistic interests, a way of thinking, athletic activities, a particular style of dressing, musical talents, different hobbies, etc. Our job is to join our children in discovering who they are.”
—Stephanie Martson (20th century)
“To write well, to have style ... is to paint. The master faculty of style is therefore the visual memory. If a writer does not see what he describes—countrysides and figures, movements and gestures—how could he have a style, that is originality?”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)
“It is easy to lose confidence in our natural ability to raise children. The true techniques for raising children are simple: Be with them, play with them, talk to them. You are not squandering their time no matter what the latest child development books say about “purposeful play” and “cognitive learning skills.””
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)