The 51^st edition of Spring-2020, the Bulgarian National Radio’s competition for new pop and rock songs, was open to many musicians from Bulgaria and from abroad.

The boys from Hayes & Y, who won the grand prix – participation in the next Eurosonic festival in Groningen, the Netherlands, have been living in Manchester, the UK for years. But they also grabbed second prize - the listeners’ choice. Their award-winning song is Call the Policе, its music and lyrics are by Blagoslav Anastasov and it was arranged and produced by the band. Hayes & Y bass player Ivailo Delev:

“We had been following the competition for quite some time but couldn’t take part, until now. Fortunately, this year we wrote a song and were able to present it, with much success. Our band, with these members, has existed since 2015, but most of us have been together ever since the English Language Secondary School in Sofia, and that is quite some time. The only exception is our drummer - Dennis Hallback who is from Finland. The other members of Hayes & Y are: Blagoslav Anastastov (vocals and rhythm guitar), Radoslav Lozanski (guitar) and myself. We know one another very well, we each know what kind of music the others like and we always try to unify our musical tastes. We have so far released four EPs and several singles. The music is mostly by Blagoslav, and we all do the arrangements as we go along. This prize is, for us, an incredible achievement. And not just because we won a prize at the 51^st edition of this contest, but also because we now have the chance of playing at such a prestigious venue as Groningen. It is also an opportunity for us to create new contacts as a band. At the moment we are thinking about our upcoming brief tour in Bulgaria in August – in Plovdiv on the 20^th, in Sofia on the 21^st , in Varna on the 22^nd and in Bourgas on the 23^rd of August.

Photo: Maria Sabotinova