The Hayman Kupa Band - The Hayman Kupa Band [12"/CD]
Artist: The Hayman Kupa Band
Title: The Hayman Kupa Band
Format: 12" album on heavyweight black vinyl | CD in digifile sleeve
Cat#: Fika060LP | Fika060CD
Release date: 21st July 2017
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes
When Darren Hayman (Hefner) and Emma Kupa (Standard Fare/Mammoth Penguins) decided to make a duets record, we knew the results would be great, but we didn’t expect them to be THIS great. Gathering together a rhythm section consisting of Michael Wood (Whoa Melodic/Singing Adams) on bass and Cat Loye (Fever Dream) on drums, The Hayman Kupa band create brash, bold and effortlessly melodic power pop. Sharing writing duties and sometimes singing each other’s words, lines are blurred and creativity explored in a wonderfully exuberant collection of songs. The album, recorded in three days at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate, is an exploration of relationships and, at its heart, it’s the sound of a friendship being made.
Darren explains further:
It’s only happened a few times but just once or twice I have seen someone on stage and thought, “I want to be in a band with them.” But I thought it the first time I saw Emma playing with her magnificent and under-rated band Standard Fare.
I met her properly a little later in Sheffield when we played together. Before the gig I said I was suspicious of bands that wore hats. She wore a hat on stage.
They say imitation is a form of flattery and I was glad that I noticed when I wrote the song “Boy, Look at What you Can’t Have Now” that it sounded like the sort of thing Emma might write. I covered up my theft by asking her to sing on it.
When we were recording the song I suggested that we should write a whole album of duets. Musicians suggest things like this all the time because they are stupid or drunk. A few months later Emma told me she had started writing the album. This is what Emma does; she says something then does it. I race to play catch up.
The songs were written over three weekends at her house and mine. Co-writing is something I’m not used to. It’s very intimate and me and Emma became friends through the process. Emma’s lyrics are sharp and precise whereas mine are more metaphoric. It was lovely seeing how quickly we settled into something in between.
We talked about relationships and that’s what the album is about. It’s about our fears and paranoias and the search for trust and love. We deliberately swapped lines and genders so the narrative is never truly that of traditional duets. I sing Emma’s lines often and she sings mine. It’s two voices singing the results of our conversations. We became close friends whilst writing these songs.
We wanted a band to make the album and chose Michael Wood and Cat Loye. We never considered anyone else. They brought a brash, bold sound to the songs and we rehearsed twice and then recorded the album in three days at the Big Jelly studios in Ramsgate.
I was thinking about the Beatles and very early 1960s pop records. We recorded everything live including the vocals with only a handful of overdubs.
We put a microphone high up in the ceiling to get bright, rackety sound and mixed it in mono.
We recorded it two and a half years ago and it has remind locked like a time capsule whilst me and Emma released five other albums.
I like this album a lot. It’s the sound of a friendship being made.
Select press for The Hayman Kupa Band album
“the album’s low-key indie pop (not a million miles from Mammoth Penguins, or indeed Hefner) is the ideal setting for their warm-hearted musical conversations. Vocally, Kupa’s light, frank delivery blends perfectly with Hayman’s Pete Shelley-esque tones and both fit the Pastels-ish music like a key in a lock.” Record Collector [4/5]
“Darren Hayman and Emma Kupa today unveil the fruits of their wonderful new collaborative effort – and the glowing pop of “A Tent Of Blankets” might well be the sweet shot-in-the-arm you were craving all along” Gold Flake Paint"
“A joyous collection of very direct romantic songs with perfect indie production values, if you like the sadly defunct Allo Darlin’, then you’ll love these guys.” Morning Star [4/5]
“a vibrant and thoroughly enjoyable record" Penny Black Music
“It’s a spectacular bit, and its quite possibly some of the purest pop I’ve heard in 2017. Pretty sure this might be my favorite musical thing going on at the moment.” Austin Town Hall
“Together they make the kind of ramshackle indie-pop which features only the type of notes and chords you have heard before. Therefore the album has a warm familiarity as the two of them share lyrical couplets - sometimes at each other like a more careworn indie version of Prolapse. In other words it's domesticity put to music.” Norman Records
“It’s the sort of energetic, scratchy indie-pop you’d expect from these two songwriters only structured like a classic pop-duet, the back and forth vocals reminiscent of Sunny & Cher or Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg” For The Rabbits
“Ah, the many and varied adventures of Darren Hayman... A one-man indie pop cottage industry, the songwriter's lengthy and wildly creative catalogue contains many gems, many moments of splendour. New project The Hayman Kupa Band, however, stands out against the jewels in his crown. A series of duets with Emma Kupa (from Standard Fare/MammothPenguins), the pair's intersect and intertwine to provide real intimacy to the material.” Clash Music
“seemingly effortless power pop” Louder Than War
“While it might be that burgeoning friendship underpinning the record the songs lean far more toward the thrill, the longing, and the heartbreak of romantic love. Sweet and beautiful, this is a tender album but one which is also emotionally raw in parts, the melody soothes while words cut deep. This is as fine an indiepop record as you would hope for from the pairing, with vintage undertones it is a gorgeous and honest reflection on love in many forms.” Circus Sweet
July 24th: The Hayman Kupa Band album launch show
Advance tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings
THE HAYMAN KUPA BAND
When Darren Hayman (Hefner) and Emma Kupa (Standard Fare/ Mammoth Penguins) decided to make a duets record, we knew the results would be great, but we didn’t expect them to be THIS great. Gathering together a rhythm section consisting of Michael Wood (Whoa Melodic/Singing Adams) on bass and Cat Loye (Fever Dream) on drums, The Hayman Kupa band create brash, bold and effortlessly melodic power pop. Sharing writing duties and sometimes singing each others words, lines are blurred and creativity explored in a wonderfully exuberant collection of songs. The album, recorded in three days at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate, is an exploration of relationships and, at its heart, it’s the sound of a friendship being made.
WOLF GIRL
Wolf Girl are Becky, Chris, Carl and Christabel - a garage pop four-piece based in South London. Having met each other through being in awkward teenage bands in the South East, they eventually formed in September 2013. With admirable authenticity, they record and rehearse in an old garage called Bucket East that backs onto the river Wandle, staying faithful to their garage-rock tendencies. It’s been said that they both do and don’t sound like the Ramones, and have also been compared to both the Shop Assistants and Bratmobile. Wolf Girl have their own trademarks though, offering a spirited take on powerful, melodic and jagged indie pop that often recalls the noisier aspects of C86.
SCHANDE
A London trio, Schande are known for writing discordantly catchy, melodic indie rock- that joyous blend of 90s indie at its best, mixed with a unique element of the unknown. Jen’s take on Schande’s sound is simple:
“We’re not story tellers- the music is landscape where literal meaning is irrelevant. We’re inspired by memory, by experience and by those undefined tangents and planes linking the two. Those tensions between space and location- that’s what we soundtrack.”
The Hayman Kupa Band - Over's Now Overdue [Digital]
The Hayman Kupa Band - A Tent of Blankets [Digital]
"Darren Hayman and Emma Kupa today unveil the fruits of their wonderful new collaborative effort – and the glowing pop of “A Tent Of Blankets” might well be the sweet shot-in-the-arm you were craving all along" GoldFlakePaint.
The Hayman Kupa Band - debut album on Fika Recordings in July
We've been huge fans of Emma Kupa for a long time now, so we're very excited to be working with her on the debut album from The Hayman Kupa Band, alongside Fika stalwart Darren Hayman.
When Darren Hayman (Hefner) and Emma Kupa (Standard Fare/Mammoth Penguins) decided to make a duets record, we knew the results would be great, but we didn’t expect them to be THIS great. Gathering together a rhythm section consisting of Michael Wood (Whoa Melodic/Singing Adams) on bass and Cat Loye (Fever Dream) on drums, The Hayman Kupa band create brash, bold and effortlessly melodic power pop. Sharing writing duties and sometimes singing each others words, lines are blurred and creativity explored in a wonderfully exuberant collection of songs. The album, recorded in three days at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate, is an exploration of relationships and, at its heart, it’s the sound of a friendship being made.
The first track taken from the album is No More Bombs, and we'll be revealing a couple more in the run up to the album's release on the 21st of July. You can pre-order it here.