Darren Hayman: Art Classes at Soho Poly

It was a lovely surprise to see an unexpected treat from Darren Hayman appear at the end of last week. He's extraordinarily prolific, and recent releases had orbited around his New Starts project, so the announcement of a 'lost' solo album, I'm Your Team was an intriguing joy. I saw a review by long time fan and all round top man Pete Paphides (that I irritatingly now can't locate - I hope to add this link later) first and initial listens confirm my long held view that Darren is an eclectic genius.

I've been a Darren Hayman fan for a long time. That said, Hefner somehow passed me by at the time, notwithstanding the fact that I now love lots of the back catalogue. I really got in to the musical polymath that is Darren Hayman around the time of Pram Town - I'd not long moved out of London to the suburbs and Harlow, the subject of Pram Town, was near enough by that I had visited to look at the amazing  public sculptures, the Gibberd Garden and more - including the late lamented Square venue. The album Pram Town was brilliant, and subsequent releases continued to enthrall me.   The Essex Witch Trials,  the Thankful Villages project, see a blog from 2014 about that here, lidos, Chants for Socialists - the list goes on. Darren has an amazing imagination and ploughs all sorts of areas for inspiration.  I first met Darren at the Brudenell Club in Leeds and had met him a number of times subsequently over the years at Indie Label Market, gigs and other events. When our dog Tilly died he even agreed to paint a portrait for us - the first time I became fully aware of this side of his talents. 

I have been corresponding with Darren for some time about various ideas, primarily connected to the work we do at the Soho Poly. Basically Soho Poly is an arts space in central London, where aswell as hosting gigs, poetry nights, drama, book events and more we also offer creative workshops and drop ins for local, and not so local,  people to come and 'disrupt their day with culture'. These have included Badge Cafes, Fanzine workshops, the Polyphonic Music Club, and now, Paint with Darren. We are absolutely delighted that Darren has agreed to run a series of 4 classes in November and December, at 3.00 on thursdays, and would be delighted to welcome you to the Soho Poly to take part. Booking here, and a special season ticket offer to follow soon     If you are interesting in Darren's art, or a commission, his website is here, if you would like to participate in some art classes with Darren, see you at the Soho Poly...