We’re delighted to announce Lauren Sarah Hayes as our hcmf// Artist of the Month for April!
Part of our International Showcase at the festival in 2017, we’ve been extremely fortunate to programme and commission Hayes’ work through the years, showcasing her talents as an improviser. Often using haptic instrumentation, Hayes’ work explores the relationship touch has with digital and electronic mediums of sound. Her work exists firmly in the present, emphasising the vulnerability that performer and audience share through live performance.
Though it has been described many ways – as noise, art pop, techno – Hayes’ music is resistant to categorisation, and has continued to mutate through years of exploration. Her most recent record, Embrace, has so far been described as “electronic sprints” with “blood-and-guts throb”. We’re looking forward to unscrambling it this month.
Throughout April, we’ll be focusing on Hayes’ use of improvisation, and how it informs every part of her practice. As well as musing on her approach to building and performing on live electronic instrumentation, we’ll be taking a look at her collaborations, considering how she brings improvisation to her work with other artists and communities.
For the next four weeks, you can access all of these stories from Hayes’ Fielding Talent page. Check back next week for our first full-length feature