Paul ‘Hammy’ Halmshaw has long been an iconic figure on the underground metal scene.
Formerly the vocalist with UK hardcore band Civilised Society? and drummer with The Instigators and Sore Throat, Hammy founded Peaceville Records in 1987, turning it from a bedroom-based tape trading label into one of the most influential, important and respected metal labels in the world. Opeth, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Darkthrone, Autopsy, Doom and Anathema are just some of the bands Hammy helped bring to global attention, as related in his autobiography (Anything For A) Peaceville Life.
Now the much-respected label boss needs some help from the metal community after being diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition.
“After a life in music I became seriously ill in lockdown,” he reveals on a newly launched JustGiving fundraising campaign page. “I found out I had hereditary dilated cardiomyopathy, which is terminal.”
Seriously ill, and no longer able to climb stairs, Hammy is now seeking to raise money to install a disabled-access bathroom and bedroom at his home in Yorkshire to make his day-to-day life more comfortable.
To donate to the campaign, or to find out more information, visit Hammy’s JustGiving page.
