Christian Hayes

Christian David Hayes^[1] (born 10 June 1964 in Westminster, London^[2]), also known as Bic Hayes, is an English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. Best known as the frontman of Dark Star and guitarist with Levitation, he has also released solo material as Mikrokosmos.

Hayes explained that he was nicknamed Bic because he "just stopped eating for ages and people started saying I looked like a Bic biro. I had this phase when I thought eating was boring".^[3]

Career

Hayes had previously played bass with The Dave Howard Singers and guitar with Panixphere, Ring and Cardiacs.^[4] He joined Levitation through knowing Terry Bickers through musical friends in South London, and brought former Ring bandmate Robert White with him. Hayes left Cardiacs to commit to Levitation full-time, with Hayes admitting "I was playing guitar in Cardiacs. 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".^[5] Whilst still in Levitation, he reformed Ring with Levition drummer David Francolini and Cardiacs frontman Tim Smith.

Following the demise of Levitation, Hayes began working with Heather Nova and All About Eve's Julianne Regan^[6] before forming Dark Star in 1996 with former Levitation bandmate David Francolini and Laurence O'Keefe.

Following the disbanding of Dark Star in 2001, Hayes toured with the Pet Shop Boys and worked as guitar tech/tour/production manager for the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Kula Shaker and David Cassidy.^[7][8] 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 and final installment in 2014 Terra Familliar have been issued.^[9] In 2011, Hayes organised and compiled the tribute record Leader Of The Starry Skies in aid of Cardiacs frontman Tim Smith, who suffered two strokes in 2008 which left him paralysed down one side of his body and unable to speak.^[10] He also toured with a stage version of Macbeth in 2011 and 2012, produced by Platform 4 and described as "a taut psychodrama that crackles with a wild electricity, brought alive by the sonic experiments of composer and guitarist Bic Hayes and sound designer Jules Bushel".^[11] More recently Hayes has been involved in several improvisational instrumental psychedelic bands in Brighton, including ZOFFF,^[12] Light Specific Data^[13] and LSD-25^[14] and formed the audio-visual project Cuts, with his partner Jo Spratley.^[15][16]

References

External links

• Mikrokosmos Bandcamp
• Crew Cuts Interview with Bic Hayes