Almost inevitably, the Hefner story begins at art college, whereupon singer/songwriter Darren Hayman met drummer Antony Harding. "I met Antony about 10 years ago, we were in loads of shite bands then, about 6 years ago it became Hefner, but to be honest it never really felt like a band until John (Morrison, bass) joined". John, arriving in London from Birmingham at the tender age of 16, "I didn't go to college at all, I just played in bands, shite bands until I met Darren..."

Hefner's debut release for Too Pure, the limited 10" 'The Hefner Soul', was recorded at Ca-Va studios in Scotland with producer Tony Doogan (Belle and Sebastian), Stuart Murdoch of B&S contributing to 'Christian Girls', much later to be rerecorded and released as a single. Darren Hayman's songs have drawn comparisons to the idiosyncratic songwriting talents of Billy Bragg and Jarvis Cocker, not least due to a knack of penning mini-anthems for a disaffected youth. "I'm trying to write a 'Teenage Kicks' for those who are no longer teenagers".

First album, 'Breaking God's Heart' (again recorded at Ca-Va in 1998), was a collection of killer pop songs held together by the glorious untutored mess that is Darren Hayman's voice, variously described as "bloody marvellous" (NME), "cool as fuck" (i-D), "unique" (Q) and "awe-inspiring" (Time Out). The anthemic stomp of 'Pull Yourself Together', another lost single later to appear on 'Boxing Hefner' was embraced by radio, press and fans alike was described by Steve Lamacq as 'one of the best indie singles of the year'. The enduring support of both Steve Lamacq and John Peel would see the band recording numerous sessions for both DJ's over the next two years and resulted in an unprecedented 5 entries in John Peels year end festive 50, including both the number 2 & 3 spot.

Their (not at all difficult) second album, 'The Fidelity Wars' (1999), was recorded in London at The Roundhouse the with assistance of the now ubiquitous Miti, a producer at the BBC befriended during the many sessions Hefner recorded for Radio 1. The people said : "Excellent" (London Evening Standard), "mini-masterpiece of brutal honesty" (Time Out) "Bright shining pop" (NME). Compilation album, 'Boxing Hefner' (2000), a collection of hard-to-find early singles and favoured session recordings spawned the much requested single release of 'Christian Girls', an early classic and indeed the very reason too pure signed the band.

The same year also saw the release of the bands third album proper, 'We Love The City'. Received equally as well by fans and press alike, 'We Love The City' displayed a fuller production than previous releases, the addition of brass and vocal contributions from Amelia Fletcher (Marine Research/Heavenly) rounding out the bands angular pop. 'Good Fruit', the first single to be taken from the album scored a Top 50 chart placing, a first for both band and label.

Their fourth album, 'Dead Media', was recorded in the spring of 2001 and broke with the band's recording tradition as it was all recorded at Darren's home using an array of analogue synthesizers and drum machines, alongside the usual Hefner set up. The album was released on the 24th of September 2001, preceded on the 27th of August with the infectious single 'Alan Bean', an affectionate ode to the fourth man on the moon.

The bands formidable reputation on the live circuit had been well earned and 2001 saw them return to headline the Carling Stage at the summer's Leeds and Reading Festivals. A good warm up for what is to be their most ambitious UK tour to date in October (following up from last years hugely successful 'We Love The City' tour), culminating in a headlining date at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on Friday the 26th of October and followed by a headline show for John Peel at Radio One's Sound City in Birmingham on November 1st

...written September 2001