Byker was born on 20 December 1963 in Sprowston, a suburb of Norwich, to father Ken Hoxley and mother Wendy Hoxley. Byker spent his early years living in Long Melford and Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk before his family relocated to Leicestershire in 1970. He attended the Kibworth Primary School, Kibworth High School and Robert Smyth School in Market Harborough. Byker was a founding member of grebo band Gaye Bykers on Acid, which he formed with bassist Robber Byker in 1985 before being joined by guitarist Tony Byker and drummer Kevin Hyde in 1986.... The band recorded several albums before dissolving in 1990. Following this, he worked with Martin Atkins in the Industrial Musicsupergroup Pigface as well as Hyperhead before joining Apollo 440 in 1996. In 2002 he toured with former bandmate Noko as part of Maximum Roach. In 2010 he joined the recently reformed Pop Will Eat Itself as co-vocalist alongside Graham Crabb. When not touring and recording with Pop Will Eat Itself, Byker works as a DJ while occasionally scoring music for films and television
Musical career
Gaye Bykers on Acid
Mary formed Gaye Bykers on Acid with bassist Robber Byker in 1985 and were eventually joined by drummer Kevin Hyde and guitarist Tony Byker. They released two singles, Everythang's Groovy and Nosedive Karma on In-Tape before Virgin Records signed the band to a 10-album contract for £100,000 a year. In 1987 they released their debut LP Drill Your Own Hole which was followed by Stewed To The Gills... in 1989. Lack of promotion led to poor sales the band were dropped by Virgin. In 1990 the band, disguised as a fictitious East German punk band named Rektüm, released the thrash album Sakredanus and the EPReal Horrowshow. After parting with Virgin Records they released a further two albums in 1990 on their own label Naked Brain before the group dissolved in late 1990.
Pigface
After Gaye Bykers on Acid split in 1990, Byker went to see Henry Rollins live with Paul Raven. Raven gave him £200 and asked him to fly to Chicago to join industrial supergroup Pigface. Byker ended up spending the money, but during a Killing Joke show Martin Atkins persuaded him to fly to Chicago and join the band. Byker joined the band on their second tour and toured the US and Europe with Pigface. He featured as vocalist on the albums Fook, Washingmachine Mouth and 6
Hyperhead
In 1992 Byker formed Hyperhead along with Martin Atkins, Karl Leiker, William Tucker and Paul Dalloway. After demoing tracks, the band recorded the album at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls before returning to London to mix the LP with Noko. The resulting album, Metaphasia, was released in 1992 on Devotion Records. A touring line-up of Mary, Leiker and Dalloway, with Oscar, Chin, and Keith built up a reputation for their live performances. Two EPs followed but the band split up without releasing another album.
Apollo 440
In 1997 Byker joined Apollo 440. His first contribution was to provide vocals for the song Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub which peaked at number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. Following this, he and the band recorded their second album Electro Glide in Blue. Byker, Trevor Gray and Howard Gray wrote and produced Liverpool FC's FA Cup Final single Pass & Move under the name Boot Room Boyz. It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1999 the band released Gettin' High on Your Own Supply. The album proved to be hit and went to number 20 in the UK Album Chart. The album spawned two UK Top 10 singles including the theme to the 1998 movieLost In Space and Stop the Rock. In 1999 Byker appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks and featured as a player on FIFA 2000 with other Apollo 440 members Noko, Trevor Gray and Howard Gray. In 1998 Byker teamed up with Hoodlum Priest and contributed vocals to three tracks on his self-titled second album In 2002 Byker toured with the band Maximum Roach. They recorded an album's worth of material but broke up after a deal with Trent Reznor's label Nothing Records fell through
Pop Will Eat Itself
Byker is currently the co-vocalist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself along with Graham Crabb. He has featured on the LPs New Noise Designed by a Sadist and Anti-Nasty League.
Am I Dead Yet?
In October 2018, Mary teamed up with long time collaborator Noko 440 to form Am I Dead Yet?. Their self-titled debut album was successfully crowd funded in March 2018 and released on Wire-Sound on April 27th, 2019.
Personal life
In 1987 Byker married girlfriend and The Bomb Party bassist Sarah Corina. Following a divorce in the early 1990s he married Brazilian Ana Vance. Byker moved to Brazil in 2007 with his wife and opened an East-Asian-themed restaurant called Mekong in Rio de Janeiro.
