| Lawrence | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lawrence Hayward |
| Born | 12 August 1961 |
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Genres | Jangle Pop, Synth Pop, Glam Rock |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Cherry Red Creation Boy's Own Echo EMIDISC West Midlands Records |
| Associated acts | Felt Denim Go Kart Mozart |
Lawrence Hayward (born 12 August 1961), known simply as Lawrence, his surname never used in credits or press, is best known as the singer, songwriter and guitarist of British indie band Felt.
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Felt released ten albums in the 1980s, and Lawrence was the only constant member of the band from its inception in 1979 to its dissolution in 1989, though he doesn't appear at all on the band's penultimate album, Train Above The City. During his time in the band, he served as lyricist and primary songwriter, though early on he shared songwriting credits with then-lead guitarist Maurice Deebank, who left the band in 1986.
After the dissolution of Felt, Lawrence formed Denim. Influenced by 1970s glam rock, Denim released two albums in the 1990s, plus a compilation of B-sides and extra tracks, but mainstream success continued to elude Lawrence. A third album, Denim Take Over, was shelved indefinitely.
1999 saw the full-length debut of Lawrence's current project, Go Kart Mozart, released through his personal imprint, West Midlands Records and distributed by Cherry Red. The 2005 follow-up was titled Tearing Up The Album Charts – a wry comment on his failure to achieve commercial success, a habit the album itself did nothing to break. UNCUT awarded Lawrence the dubious honour of being "one of the stars fame forgot" [1]
Since August 2006, Lawrence has been working on a new Go Kart Mozart album.
Filmmaker Paul Kelly has worked on a documentary centred around Lawrence, titled Lawrence of Belgravia (a reference both to the Englishman who led the Arab Revolt and the district of Central London in which Lawrence resides), which was set to premiere at the London Film Festival in either October or November 2006, but failed to be ready. A 20-minute work-in-progress version of the documentary was screened at the Barbican Centre in London in November 2008.[2] The final 90-minute cut of the film is set to have its debut screening at the 2011 London Film festival.
Very little is known about Lawrence's background or personal life - even his last name has never been verified, since in official songwriting credits, only his first name is given.
He was born in Birmingham though moved as a child to Water Orton, a village close to the small north Warwickshire town of Coleshill, east of Birmingham.[3] Early on he was heavily influenced by Tom Verlaine of Television in both his guitar-playing and his idiosyncratic vocals.[4]
Perfect Sound Forever zine interview from 2003
Updated info on the Unofficial Felt site.
