‘Very impressed’ – Gary Crowley -BBC Radio
‘So uplifting’ – Shell Zenner – BBC Radio
‘Wonderful debut album…that deserves to be heard.’ Jim Gellatly – Amazing Radio
Michael Hyland is a songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and audio producer from Aberdeen, now residing in London.
Starting his musical life in a variety of bands gigging around Scotland, he played originals and covers with an eclectic mix of groups from heavy rock, punk, jazz, rock n roll, salsa and even a Frank Zappa cover band. His first song was broadcast on local radio aged 14 and he spent the remainder of his teenage years gigging and recording with bands before moving to London.
From 2008-2011 Michael played bass with the alt-indie pop group Stricken City who enjoyed success touring around the world, playing venues including Brixton Academy, Shepherds Bush Empire and New York’s Bowery Ballroom. He co-wrote and produced their second LP ‘Losing Colour’ which was released by New York label ‘The Kora Records’ receiving favourable reviews, national radio broadcasts and synchs on several TV shows. During this time he also completed his music degree at Goldsmiths University.
After ‘Stricken City’, Michael started his own band called Manistone self-releasing their debut LP ‘Everyone Has Their Time’ in 2017 A number of tracks from the album were picked up for broadcasts on stations including BBC 6 Music. The record was written and produced by Michael who also performed the majority of the instruments. A 12″ 180 gram vinyl of the album was sold in shops such as Rough Trade and a new gigging line-up came together to support the release with London shows.
As of 2020 Michael is working full-time on music with a new LP mastered and ready for release (in a similar vein to Manistone) and a couple more albums in the pipeline, including one with more nocturnal acoustic vibe. These should be out in 2020/21.
