A media tarde de ayer nos enterábamos del fallecimiento de Peter Hayes el pasado jueves, después de luchar durante un tiempo contra una enfermedad. Batería del grupo Echo Lake cuyo nuevo trabajo, editado por Slumberland Records, la banda tenía programada su salida al mercado para hoy mismo. Hayes falleció a los 25 años de edad. Por RUBÉN IZQUIERDO
Llevábamos tiempo queriendo hablar de ellos, aunque nunca hubiésemos sospechado hacerlo por una noticia tan luctuosa como la que nos ocupa, después de que su compañero de grupo, el guitarrista Thom Hill, confirmase la noticia a través de un comunicado de prensa, colgado en las redes sociales de la banda, subido posteriomente a su página web.
Hill confirmó a media tarde de ayer el fallecimiento de su compañero y amigo Peter Hayes, batería de sólida trayectoria musical, al que quiso homenajear con un texto que reproducimos a continuación, respetando el inglés original en el que fue escrito.
Peter Hayes, en una imagen de archivo // Echo Lake
We are so sad to say that our close friend and brilliant drummer Peter Hayes passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 25.
I can’t believe I’m actually typing these words, we’re all completely devastated and shocked.
If you knew Pete, then you’ll know what an amazing person he was.
If you didn’t know Pete then all I can say is that he was a total one off.
Always caring, always giving, always straight up and always with such a positive outlook on life. That was the thing with Pete, he just got on with it. Even in his last few weeks he would be sitting up in his hospital bed smiling and having a laugh with me.It was this outlook on life that made me perhaps take advantage of our time spent together. This situation never seemed possible because he never ever stopped being positive and joyful. He never moaned, or acted ill and was an incredibly hard worker. It’s a really rare thing to find all of these qualities in someone and he deserved more time to live his life to the full, which he always did.
If you ever saw us play live then you’ll know what a great drummer he was.
I’ve been in 4 different bands over the past 10 years and while the line ups changed around us, me and Pete were always playing together. It was such a privilege to play music with him.I’ll always remember in our first band me, Kier and Steve lying to promoters that we were over 18 and that we were old enough to play in pubs. We were 16 and Pete was even younger than us! I remember sneaking Pete in the venue hoping nobody would ask any questions and after the gig Pete’s dad Antony would pick him up and take him home because he had his year 10 GCSE exam later that week! I still can’t believe we got away with it really. He was like a younger brother to us and we always had a lot of fun.
I’m really glad that the four of us moved to London, met Linda and formed Echo Lake. I know he was really excited about the album finally coming out and the possibilities that lay ahead of us. I can’t believe that he won’t be around anymore to see them out with us.
I could go on writing about him and the amazing memories forever, but another part of me is struggling to find the words to do him justice. So I’ll just say that he put everything into Echo Lake and always played his heart and soul out. I’ll always appreciate that and will always owe him so much for helping us get as far as we have in the past 2 years.
Finally, I’d just like to send all my love to Pete’s family, who I am lucky to have gotten to know well over the years. When we were kids, your place was a home away from home for me (as it was for all of our friends who just loved being there so much!)
And to Pete’s girlfriend Caroline. I’m so glad that you guys met each other, you made him incredibly happy.
All the love Pete, we’ll all miss you so much.
Rest in peace and thanks for everything man, it’s been awesome!
♥ ♥ ♥ Echo Lake
El debut de Echo Lake, eclipsado por la muerte de Hayes
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Como se ha comentado, se da la dramática circunstancia de que el fallecimiento de su batería ha coincidido prácticamente en el tiempo con el esperado nuevo trabajo del LP de debut del grupo, una vez nos presentaron en sociedad Even the blind, uno de los temas que integran el disco. A principios de junio fue el turno de escuchar Wild peace, corte que da nombre al disco y en el que Linda Jarvis volvía a deleitarnos con una nueva muestra de indie pop bien entendido.
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Echo Lake, Wild peace