Tom Hingley

Tom Hingley launched his performing career as the lead singer of Inspiral Carpets amid the late-1980s rise of Manchester’s baggy and Madchester movement. After the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays had already shaped that scene, the Carpets ranked among its chief exponents and survived both of those earlier groups. He returned to recording in the early 2000s as an acoustic singer-songwriter, releasing the solo album Keep Britain Untidy.

Formed in mid-1980s Manchester, Inspiral Carpets cultivated a psychedelic style built around Farfisa keyboards and 1960s rock influences. Their earliest recording, the Plane Crash EP, appeared in 1988, the same year the band founded its own Cow Records imprint. Hingley joined as vocalist after Cow’s first release in 1989; he had previously sung with Too Much Texas. In 1991 the group employed a then-unknown Noel Gallagher as a roadie. Inspiral Carpets disbanded in the mid-1990s. Hingley subsequently formed the Lovers with Jerry Kelly of the Lotus Eaters, then withdrew from music for several years, including a period working at a mail-order firm. He reappeared in 2000 with Keep Britain Untidy, an entirely live-sounding record limited to vocals and acoustic guitar with no overdubs, a dramatic shift from his band days. Soulfire followed, and he has since maintained an active touring schedule while continuing to perform with the Lovers, whose sets regularly incorporate Inspiral Carpets material.