Fact Residency: Blackhaine
Fact Residency: Blackhaine
Bringing the same visceral energy to music, movement, poetry and performance, Blackhaine has proven himself to be a vital new voice. Listen to what he has to say.
For multidisciplinary artist, MC and choreographer Tom Heyes, Blackhaine is both an artistic alias and shorthand for the “dark, hateful place” that his work is channelled from. Approaching sound, image, movement and poetry with the same visceral energy, Heyes seeks to transform the grey, bleak landscapes he associates with his birthplace of Lancashire and his native Manchester into sites of creative catharsis, elevating stories of depression, deprivation, substance abuse and small-time gangsters into vital transmissions from Britain’s darkest depths.
Blackhaine Presents: I’m Only Here
Blackhaine delivers an evocative live performance of two new tracks, featuring mind-expanding production from Rainy Miller and Space Afrika.
In this Fact Original Commission, Blackhaine closes out his Fact Residency with I’m Only Here, a live performance of two new tracks that sees Tom Heyes linking up with rising producer Rainy Miller and Joshua Inyang of longtime Fact favourites Space Afrika. “Manchester feels so alive at the moment,” says Tom Heyes of the collaboration. “Space Afrika, Rainy Miller, Rawtape, Croww, Iceboy Violet, Acre, and many others contributing to the scene.”
“I think this collaboration represents the start of a new movement coming from this city,” Heyes continues. Earnestly terming Space Afrika “the best in the world right now” and exuding unstoppable enthusiasm for the hordes of vital producers, musicians and artists that make up Manchester’s numerous art and music scenes, Heyes likens the current atm