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Biography
Other uses|Hefner (disambiguation)Infobox musical artist| name = Hefner| background = group_or_band| origin = London , United Kingdom|British | genre = Indie rock | years_active = 1996–2002| label = Too Pure | associated_acts = The French (band)|The French Antony Harding|ANT Jack Hayter Rhatigan | website = http://www.hefnet.com www.hefnet.com| past_members = Darren Hayman Antony Harding John Morrison (musician)|John Morrison Jack Hayter Hefner were a United Kingdom|British indie rock and "urban folk" band formed in east London in 1995.cite book |last=Strong |first=Martin C. |title=The Great Alternative & Indie Discography |year= 1999 |publisher=Canongate |isbn=0-86241-913-1 They were active from about 1996 until 2002; since then they have played together only once, for a tribute to the DJ John Peel , who was a strong supporter of theirs.
History
Hefner's roots stretch back to 1992, when Darren Hayman and Antony Harding met at art school in Kent .cite web |url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p300406/biography|pure_url=yes |title=Hefner biography |accessdate=17 February 2008 |author=Jason Ankeny |year= |month= |work=allmusic.com |publisher=Macrovision Corporation |quote= The band started playing live in 1995 and, after several line up changes, became a solo project of Darren Hayman . In 1996 he recorded a tape for Sticky Records (named The Devotion Chamber ) on which all instruments were played by Darren himself. His friend from art school, Antony Harding , assisted, providing backing vocals.
The band's first release was in April 1997 when the 7" single "A Better Friend" was released by Boogle Wonderland. The single featured Antony on Drum kit|drums and John Morrison (musician)|John Morrison (from Rhatigan ) on bass guitar|bass . Shortly after the release, the record label Too Pure offered a record deal to Darren, who extended the offer to Antony and John.
After a few more singles, Hefner recorded their debut album '' Breaking God's Heart , which was released in 1998. A Lo-fi music|lo fidelity album primarily recorded in one take, Hayman has declared that this album is the one he is least interested in listening to, due to its unrealized potential.
The Fidelity Wars would be their next record (with the recent addition of multi-instrumentalist Jack Hayter ); a darker collection of songs. In the official website of the band Darren has explained that all of the songs gravitate around the concept of breaking up.
Hefner had, at this point, recorded a large number of singles and Extended play|EPs . Boxing Hefner collected some of those tracks that had not appeared on the previous albums, often as new recordings. The compilation also included some unreleased material.
We Love the City marked a change in direction for the band. In contrast with previous records, which had older songs, all of the compositions on We Love the City were made for this record, which had better production value and more varied instrumentation.
Dead Media , released in 2001, continues the interest that Hefner had shown in exploring new ways. Dead Media is certainly different from previous records in the sense of its electronic weight, an interest that led Darren to eventually create The French (band)|The French .
After the band's final gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts|ICA in London on 10 December 2001 and the release of an EP called The Hefner Brain the following March, the band went on a seemingly permanent hiatus, save for one reformation for the "Keeping It Peel" tribute show, marking the death of one of their biggest supporters, BBC Radio 1|Radio 1 DJ John Peel . In 2005 a t-shirt was released that read "Hefner, Britain’s Largest Small Band (1997-2002)", and in an interview Darren Hayman said "no, no reunion planned". http://www.hefnet.com/interview.htm Interview with Darren Hayman
Post-Hefner
In 2005, following a legal dispute between Darren Hayman and Too Pure, the rights to all of the band's Too Pure recordings were reverted to Hayman.cite web |url= http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/1018773 |title=Hefner:Catfight (review) |accessdate=17 February 2008 |author=Ben Marwood |year=2006 |month=August |work=Drowned In Sound |publisher= |quote= As a result, the band has released a best-of album, a 2 CD collection of 43 unreleased songs called Catfight (album)|Catfight and a live album, recorded at the BBC 's Maida Vale Studios. All of the band's studio albums have been reissued as 2 CD sets with bonus tracks. Planned for the future is a compilation of BBC session tracks.Citation needed|date=July 2011 The band recorded ten sessions for John Peel 's BBC Radio One programme, as well as a number of live performances, and eleven of their tracks made it into the Festive 50 .cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/h/hefner/ |title=BBC Radio One - Keeping It Peel - Hefner |accessdate=17 February 2008 |author= |year= |month= |work= |publisher=BBC |quote=
Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter played Hefner songs at a number of dates in Europe in June 2008. Despite this, Darren Hayman|Hayman has said that Hefner will not reform unless it's with the original line up.cite web |url= http://www.howdoesitfeel.co.uk/darreninterview.html |title=Interview with Darren Hayman |accessdate=29 May 2008 |author=Paul Richards |year=2008 |month=May |work=HDIF |publisher= |quote= He has consistently aired his disdain for bands that reform.
Band members
Darren Hayman ( vocal s, guitar , Keyboard instrument|keyboards )
Antony Harding ( drum s, backing vocals)
John Morrison (musician)|John Morrison ( bass guitar )
cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 249
http://www.thethingis.co.uk/index.php/2007/10/09/darren-haymen-5-tunes-you-should-have-heard-but-probably-havent/ "the thing is..." magazine Darren Hayman Interview
