SOUNDZ
Toby Slade of Haley Jane
Sabino graduate stays busy as guitarist, soloist and booker
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.07.2006
Toby Slade, 24, is the singer/songwriter for Haley Jane, a soloist known as FM Stereochild and co-founder of A Faceless Name Productions.
For the record: Toby Slade's musical background began with the tuba in fifth grade. Luckily, that led him to the bass and then, as a senior at Sabino High School, the guitar and gigs as a singer/songwriter.
He formed Haley Jane in 2001 as an acoustic duo with lead guitarist Michael Santander. The band, now with five members, released an album in 2004 called "Modern Entertainment" and has performed all over Tucson. Slade still performs solo fairly often, an act he now calls FM Stereochild.
Slade and Santander started A Faceless Name Productions, which has been booking bands for O'Malleys on Fourth and Javalinas Coffee and Friends for about a year. Slade also hopes to use A Faceless Name Productions to nurture new local talent.
Who are your influences? "Dave Matthews, Matchbox Twenty, Counting Crows and '90s alternative rock. Also Jack Johnson and John Mayer, singer/songwriter stuff."
How does your solo work differ from the band? "It's acoustic versions of Haley Jane stuff or newer songs that I've written that the band hasn't learned yet, but I don't think I have a large enough output to sustain two bands. It's like you have the Dave Matthews Band and then you have Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds."
I hear you're back at Wavelab Studio recording again. "We're going to be releasing an EP in the next couple months. The title is going to be 'Lightbulbs EP.' We don't have a drop date for it, but I think we're going to try to release it as downloadable online before we have a tangible product for it so we can get the songs out there."
How has the band changed since its first album? "We've definitely evolved. What's on 'Modern Entertainment' is a little more organic. There's a lot of focus on the acoustic guitar, the songs are a lot longer and lyrically a lot longer with more words in them. The newer stuff is a little more indie pop alt rock. There's no acoustic on this EP, which is a big step for us."
What is A Faceless Name Productions? "The idea originally was for us to sound more professional when we called bookers. Rather than saying, 'Hey, would you book my band?' I'd say, 'Hey, this is Toby Slade from A Faceless Name Productions and I'm interested in booking one of our bands.' It just kind of built, and as it picked up momentum we had a lot of bands and venues contacting us and asking us to book shows or find bands."
What is your goal? "My main goal is my music. I want to be an artist more than I want to be a business man or a producer."
– Sarah Mauet
To suggest someone for this column, e-mail smauet@azstarnet.com.
