Devonte Hynes
Devonte Hynes, 21, is a musician based in London. Born in Houston, Texas, he moved to the UK when he was still a child; first Edinburgh, and later Essex. He is very prolific, being part of many bands/side-projects, the most prominent of which were the Test Icicles, who split in 2006. Dev's current band is Lightspeed Champion. He as a very eclectic taste in music, playing and citing influences such as indie, hip-hop, rap, punk, anti-folk, and more.
History
When Rory Attwell and Sam Mehran found themselves booked for a gig in Brighton as Balls, without their third member Ferry Gouw (of the Semifinalists), they recruited Hynes and formed Test Icicles. In 2005, after a large bidding war the band were signed by Domino Records. The same year they recorded together in France and released their first and only album 'For Screening Purposes Only'.
In February 2006, the band announced they were splitting up. In an interview with the NME in March 2006, Hynes claimed that "we were never, ever that keen on the music. I understand that people liked it, but we personally, er, didn't."
Hynes' current band, Lightspeed Champion, are also signed to Domino Records. They recently finished recrding the the album 'Falling Off The Lavender Bridge', which is due for an early 2008 release.
Other Projects
Hynes was also involed with a short lived project with members from the band Semifinalists and the solo artist Tom Vek under the name of Naked Babes. The band have now 'unofficially' split according to Hynes.