Hefner were a British indie rock band formed in east London in 1995. 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. 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 Hayman himself. His friend from art school, Antony Harding, assisted, providing backing vocals.

The band's first release was in April 1997 when the 7-inch single "A Better Friend" was released by Boogle Wonderland. The single featured Harding on drums and John Morrison (from Rhatigan) on 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.

Their song I Love Only You was featured on the 2015 Craig Cash sitcom After Hours.

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. As a result, the band has released a best-of album, a 2 CD collection of 43 unreleased songs called 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. 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.

Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter played Hefner songs at a number of dates in Europe in June 2008. Despite this, Hayman has said that Hefner will not reform unless it's with the original line up. He has consistently aired his disdain for bands that reform.

Band members

  • Darren Hayman (vocals, guitar, keyboards)
  • Antony Harding (drums, backing vocals)
  • John Morrison (bass guitar)
  • Jack Hayter (guitar, pedal steel guitar, keyboards, fiddle, vocals)

Spin offs and solo projects

  • Darren Hayman
  • The French
  • Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee
  • The Stereo Morphonium
  • Jack Hayter
  • ANT solo project of Antony Harding
  • Lonely Boy, featuring Antony Harding singing the poetry of Norwegian poet Eivind Kirkeby
  • Rhatigan
  • Darren Hayman & the Secondary Modern
  • Papernut Cambridge, featuring Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter
  • New Starts, Indie Rock band with Darren Hayman

Discography

Studio albums

  • Breaking God's Heart - Too Pure - 1998
  • The Fidelity Wars - Too Pure - 1999 (#165)
  • We Love the City - Too Pure - 2000 (#92)
  • Dead Media - Too Pure - 2001 (#178)

Compilations and live albums

  • Boxing Hefner - Too Pure - 2000 (#144)
  • Kick, Snare, Hats, Ride - self-released - 2002
  • The Best of Hefner - Fortune and Glory Records - 2006
  • Catfight - self-released - 2006
  • Maida Vale - Belka - 2006

EPs

  • The Devotion Chamber - Sticky Records - 1996
  • The Hefner Soul - Too Pure - 1998
  • The Hefner Heart - Acuarela Discos - 1999
  • Orphan Songs - Everlasting Records - 1999
  • Revelations - Too Pure - 1999
  • The Hefner Brain - Too Pure - 2002 (#21 §)

§ - Budget Album Chart

Singles

  • "A Better Friend" - Boogle Wonderland - 1997 (7-inch only)
  • "Lee Remick" - Boogle Wonderland - 1998 (7-inch only)
  • "Pull Yourself Together" - Too Pure - 1998
  • "Love Will Destroy Us in the End" - Too Pure - 1998
  • "The Sweetness Lies Within" - Too Pure - 1998 (#171)
  • "The Hymn for the Alcohol" - Sticky Records - 1999 (7-inch only)
  • "The Hymn for the Cigarettes" - Too Pure - 1999 (#87)
  • "I Took Her Love for Granted" - Too Pure - 1999 (#99)
  • "Christian Girls" - Too Pure - 2000 (#76)
  • "Good Fruit" - Too Pure - 2000 (UK No. 50)
  • "The Greedy Ugly People" - Too Pure - 2000 (UK No. 64)
  • "Half a Life" - Too Pure - 2001 (split 7-inch with Murry the Hump) (#152)
  • "Alan Bean" - Too Pure - 2001 (UK No. 58)
  • "Trouble Kid" - Too Pure - 2001

References

  • – official site
  • – official site
  • "the thing is..." magazine Darren Hayman interview
  • Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)
  • Hefner interview (March 1999) for QRD
  • Hefner Interview (February 2000) for QRD
  • Darren Hayman interview (May 2008) for HDIF