Hayes Peebles
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Hayes Peebles

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"Hayes Peebles- New York Mag"

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/05/hedi_slimane_hearts_hayes_peeb_1.html

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for Hayes Peebles, a 15-year-old unsigned singer who has caught Hedi Slimane’s attention (and is currently suffering through high-school final exams — good luck!). If his name sounds familiar it may be because he was in Paper’s Most Beautiful People mix last year. But, recently Peebles has had a major upgrade...
Slimane shot Peebles strumming his guitar and l for the upcoming issue of VMan. “I'll be riding on the subway, and a phrase just comes into my head,” explains Peebles of his songwriting technique.
- New York Magazine


"Paper Magazine's Beautiful People"

http://www.papermag.com/?section=article&parid=1853

If there is anyone who is calmly accepting of his talent and the road on which it will inevitably take him, it is Hayes Peebles. The 14-year-old singer–songwriter has a pocketful of songs he has been working on since he learned the guitar (two years ago), which silence any crowd that is lucky enough to witness him. So far, he's only played six or seven supporting shows in downtown venues such as Pianos, Union Hall and White Rabbit, but whispers of his talent are far-reaching: Not many tall, shy kids with floppy hair can sit alone onstage with an acoustic guitar and belt out defiant, keepsake songs with titles such as "Midnight," "Gone Grey," "Condense" and "Light and Lines" as though he were experiencing them for the first time.
When he's not doing schoolwork, Peebles is in his bedroom, recording his songs on a mini input and mixing everything on a computer he got for Christmas last year. He says that songs just come to him. "It's sort of an internal feeling. I'll try to come up with a chord progression that fits my thoughts, and then I'll put words to that." He'll write something in five minutes but spend months working on it, testing it out during shows or posting different versions on his MySpace page. He's aware that his age and talent are unusual, even appreciating the challenge when he has to take the stage after a raucous band. "You basically have yourself and that's all your sound," he says.
- Paper Magazine


"Hayes Peebles- VMan Magazine"

http://www.vman.com/hayes1.php


NEW YORK’S ACOUSTIC-ROCKING TEEN SENSATION SPENDS AN AFTERNOON
IN THE COUNTRY WITH FASHION DESIGNER AND ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER HEDI SLIMANE.
GET READY TO HUM ALONG

"I'll be riding on the subway, and a phrase just comes into my head," explains 15-year-old songwriter Hayes Peebles as he sits at a Soho café. "It pretty much always starts with a phrase—something from a specific event or person or place. I get this strange internal feeling, and then just feel compelled to elaborate on it." He fiddles with a spoon, tugs the sleeve of his T-shirt, runs a hand through his dirty blond hair. He's awkward discussing himself.

It's an unexpected reaction from a performer who regularly gets on stage in front of unforgiving New York audiences, and, armed with only a guitar, sings the hell out of the deeply personal songs he writes in an upstairs bedroom of his parents' suburban Westchester home. And they're not easy songs. Titles like "Shame" and "Gone Grey" come with lyrics like, "The stress it piles, till your skin pulls tight/In this masquerade of lust and guile/Now the pressure stops, and the coils unwind/Now it's time you're swimming in/And your solace is his lips." But while Peebles is frank, sometimes brutally so, he never wallows in empty teen angst; instead, his songs carry a visceral urgency that's rooted in youth. And though he emphasizes lyrics over pop structure, his melodies are energetic and catchy enough that audience members find themselves humming snippets long after a show.

Peebles keeps the between-songs banter to a minimum, and sticks to himself after gigs, packing away his guitars. But he's never shy when he performs. The stage feels no different, he says, from his bedroom. As he plays—his face twisted in a grimace or softened in elation—his mind is clearly elsewhere. Revealing oneself, "sometimes painfully," is something all artists do, he observes. But it's not something most kids his age do—especially not with parents looking on. "We don't really discuss songs' subject matter," he says with a grin. "Some of it's pretty sexual, tongues and teeth and intertwining mouths and whatnot."

Peebles grew up in the West Village, and spent his early adolescence skateboarding in Union Square and loitering outside CBGBs. But when he was in middle school, his family packed it up for the suburbs. For a Manhattan kid, it was an exile. Trained on piano since age 8, he dealt with his frustration by picking up his older sister's discarded guitar. "I guess a year into teaching myself, the idea of writing songs sprung itself on me," he says.

By his fourteenth birthday, Peebles had about eight songs. At his longtime piano teacher's urging, he sent a few MP3s to the booker at Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side, and soon had his first Manhattan gig. Shows at nearby venues such as Pianos and the Cake Shop soon followed. That same year, he began commuting to a Manhattan high school, often staying in the city to play clubs in the evening.

The late nights haven't slowed down his pace; Peebles continues to churn out new songs every month or two. Not surprisingly, the new material often draws on the contrast between his New York identity and the pastoral setting of his home. He romanticizes both urban grit and natural tranquility, finding metaphors in midnight subway rides as often as foggy breath on country mornings.

Peebles knows that this is a critical moment of transition. He is about to release his first, self-titled EP. Labels, managers, and agents are on his doorstep. And he's about to turn 16. "I think it's interesting to see where I end up," he says. "Even when I was 3, listening to Springsteen in the car with my dad, being a musician was my dream. But it never seemed like anything tangible, until recently. Now I guess it's happening."
- VMan Magazine


"Rock Diary- Nylon Magazine"

http://www.nylonmag.com/?section=article&parid=1451


The formula is simple: with friend and collaborator Alex Needham, a rock critic for The Guardian, Hedi checks out a new band each time he’s in London. Some of them have made a name for themselves across the pond (Arctic Monkeys), while others may still be unfamiliar to American listeners (Wretched Replica, anyone?) or migrating to teen rock sensations (Hayes Peebles, Slimane's latest crush).
But, as Needham muses in his contribution to Rock Diary, “Everyone we covered had something that, for that moment, made them special and deserved commemorating.”
- Nylon Magazine


"Two Nights at Santo's"

On Friday night was a V Magazine celebratory party for designer/photographer Hedi Slimane’s new book, Rock Diary where PYT and recent Slimane muse Hayes Peebles played a solo set in front of the very stylish crowd.
When a young fashionista squealed out, “You’re so sexy!,” I turned around and mentioned that Peebles is still a tender 15 years old, to which the girl shook her head and moaned, “Noooo!!” - The Modern Age Blog


"Hayes Peebles: Band of The Week"

http://gothamist.com/2006/11/22/gothamist_band_55.php


Hayes Peebles is a solo artist.
We admit that calling a young singer-songwriter the next Conor Oberst is about as cliche as calling Conor Oberst the next Bob Dylan, but we can't deny that we hear a lot of those qualities in Hayes. Songs about sitting on the steps of Union Square, lonely subway rides and not getting into shows because you're too young. These are real songs by a real New Yorker, and no matter what age you happen to be, Hayes' music paints a vivid picture of what the city looks and feels like to a 14 year old. It's incredible to hear effective songs from a perspective that is rarely represented by such a legitimate voice. - Gothamist


"Argentinian Blog Mr. John Steed- HAYES PEEBLES"

http://gonchi.blogspot.com/2008/06/hayes-peebles.html
(rough translation at bottom)

Hayes Peebles es un crooner indie oriundo del East Village de NY que tan solo tiene 15 años, cuestión que no afecta en absoluto la madurez de su composición. Su música es súper sentimental, sensible y desgarradora, sobre todo cuando rescata lo más low-fi del blue grass americano, algo de la histeria desafortunada de Nick Drake y el pop meláncolico de Elliott Smith.
Sigue la línea que me encanta de Ben Kweller, Bart Davenport o M. Ward, pero le da un giro sumamente experimental y poderoso a cada canción. En su MySpace pueden escuchar varios temas. Particularmente me mataron la enérgica Gone Grey y el desaire folk de Story.


Hayes Peebles indie crooner is a native of East Village of New York who has just 15 years, an issue that does not affect whatsoever the maturity of its membership. His music is super-sentimental, sensitive and heartbreaking, especially when it rescued more low-fi of American blue grass, some unfortunate hysteria of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith of melancholy pop.
It follows the line that I love Ben Kweller, Bart Davenport or M. Ward, but gives it a twist highly experimental and powerful to every song. In his MySpace can listen to various topics. Particularly I killed the energetic Gone Grey and folk snub by Story. - Mr. John Steed


Discography

Is currently in the process of releasing a self produced EP.

Photos

Bio

Hayes is inspired by artists such as Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and M. Ward. Playing shows all around the city, armed with only an acoustic guitar and a few songs in his back pocket, he aims not only to entertain people but also connect with them and evoke emotion through his craft.

"We admit that calling a young singer-songwriter the next Conor Oberst is about as cliche as calling Conor Oberst the next Bob Dylan, but we can't deny that we hear a lot of those qualities in Hayes."
--Gothamist

"his songs carry a visceral urgency that's rooted in youth" - VMAN Magazine