Lauren Sarah Hayes is a Scottish improviser, sound artist, and scholar who is recognised for her embodied approach to computer music. Her music is a mix of experimental pop/live electronics/techno/noise/free improvisation and has been described as “voracious” and “exhilarating”. Her performances stretch, transform, and sculpt sound by manipulating, remixing, and bending voice, drum machines, analogue synths and self-built software live and physically. Her shows are highly gestural, exploring the ephemeral and fragile relationships between sounds, spaces, and audiences. Over nearly two decades, she has developed and honed her live electronics improvisation system, an instrument that allows her to playfully navigate between the realms of responsiveness and unpredictability in both her solo performances and numerous collaborations.

She has been commissioned by major festivals including the London Jazz Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival with a live BBC Radio 3 broadcast as part of its 2017 International Showcase, and Sonica, for which she gave four sold-out performances inside Hamilton Mausoleum, Scotland, famous for once holding the longest echo of any man-made structure. She has performed extensively across Europe and the US, including at Moogfest, World New Music Days (USA selection 2024), and as part of her tenure with the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop at Kings Place, London. The Wire described her 2016 album MANIPULATION (pan y rosas discos) as “skittering melodies and clip-clopping rhythms suggesting a mischievous intelligence emerging from this web of wires”. Reviews of her acclaimed 2021 release Embrace (Superpang) called it “sensual and frenetic”, “a kind of religious joy”, and “profound talent breaking new grounds”. Her music has been released on Superpang, Hard Return, Pan Y Rosas Discos, LOL Editions, Werra Foxma, Sunwarped, and Harmonic Ooze Records.