LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts) Pop, rock and dance artist/singer-songwriter , HALEY PHARO will release her self-titled debut album April 8 on Haywire Records . Though her name may be new to the public, for PHARO -who is just 25 , having been onstage since she was 8 , writing songs since she was 11 and recording since she was 13 -it's been quite the journey. "I was waiting for 'that moment', where I knew who I was, and what I wanted to say as an artist…you know that 'lightbulb' moment we all hope to come to in anything we strive to achieve.'" says PHARO about beginning work on her debut album, produced by the multi-Grammy Award winning Andrew Dawson (
Kanye West ,
John Legend , Beyoncé ). "The moment" came when she was in the studio with King Logan (of Timbaland's production crew) working on the preview track "Con Artist." PHARO recalls thinking: "I want my record to have this kind of feel." The song is indeed characteristic of the soulful, rhythmic pop presented on PHARO's forthcoming disc, which finds the artist unabashedly vulnerable and endearingly sassy. "In that song, I was saying what I wanted to say exactly how I wanted to say it," she reveals, "I could never have done when I was a teenager."
Nonetheless, HALEY PHARO has been pursuing her muse with precocious focus for some time. At seven, she saw a fellow camper sing "My Favorite Things" at a talent show, then reasoned, "If she can do that here, I can do it everywhere. " There weren't many professional singing opportunities growing-up in Dallas, so PHARO developed her chops singing with various Dallasites like Ryan Cabrera,
Kevin McHale, Hunter Parrish and Demi Lovato. The group would perform around the local malls, see the latest movies and just hang out.
PHARO's ambition next asserted itself in her choice of vocal coaches: "I loved
Michael Jackson 's singing, so I decided I had to work with his vocal coach. I went online and found out that his name was Seth Riggs . I begged my father to call him." She auditioned over the phone. Impressed by what he'd heard, Riggs said, "If you can get to Los Angeles, I'll train you." "So we went to L.A.," PHARO reports, noting, "I have the most supportive parents in the world."
PHARO would return to L.A. frequently thereafter and eventually make her home there. On one visit, she was recruited by a family friend to sing in a choir
Michael Jackson was forming to entertain fans at Neverland Ranch . While she was in the studio recording with the group, Jackson was video-chatting with the producer. " Michael happened to hear my voice," she says, "and pulled me out to layer some vocals. I just kept saying to myself, 'This is not happening.'" It did happen, though, on the song "From the Bottom of My Heart," which remains in the treasure trove of unreleased Jackson tracks.
On another trip to L.A ., PHARO met a young backup singer for
Justin Timberlake , who became a friend and later invited her to record some of her material. "It was at a makeshift pre-production studio, nothing fancy," she says. "But that didn't make it any less exciting." If she needed further confirmation of her direction in life, cutting those three songs was it.
PHARO would go on to befriend and collaborate with a who's who of musical talent, including will.i.am , whom she met backstage when the
Black Eyed Peas were touring with Timberlake . "I just stumbled onto a really cool path and ended up getting to know some great people along the way," she says. She met King Logan -who'd struck up a conversation after hearing her rehearsing in a studio lobby-shortly after she'd recorded a couple of tracks with will.i.am , including an unreleased duet. King Logan continued to work with HALEY and the duo co-wrote three tracks that appear on the record, "Con Artist", "Prisoner and "Waiting On You." King also produced "Waiting On You" and the mix was dialed in by Joe Zook (Katy Perry, P!nk, One Direction).
Three songs from PHARO's album- "One Eye Open," "
Missing" and " Your Darling " come from a co-writing and production collaboration with long-time music veteran
David Palmer , a founding member of ABC , who also teamed up with
Johnny Marr and Matt Johnson ( The The) for the bands chart topping record " Dusk " which reached #2 in the U.K. album charts , and who is currently drumming for legend,
Rod Stewart . David, brought in composer/producing partner, Chuck Kentis (Rod Stewart, Tina Turner) to an additional cinematic element to the record. The track "Double Deep" -bears Roy Hamilton's stamp, who's produced tracks for
Britney Spears , among other luminaries. Other contributors to the disc include,
Travis Garland and Jordan Gatsby ( JoJo ) and J.D. Salbego . HALEY continues to collaborate and write with GRAMMY-winning
Black Eyed Peas drummer Keith Harris , Mark Wineburg ( Matt Nathenson ), Jason Karaban (
Lucy Schwartz ) and GRAMMY-nominated Eric Robinson ( Taylor Swift) as well as Jim Beanz (
Timbaland ) and J. Mizzle (
Timbaland ). An alternate version of one of her upcoming releases is "Love Hangover," which comes from an unlikely teaming of indie-rock guys- Nick White (keyboardist with
Bright Eyes and Omaha's acclaimed Tilly and the Wall ) and
Buddy , frontman for the beloved L.A. indie rock band of the same name. "It's really moody and kind of gritty, totally different from anything I've ever done," PHARO attests.
Pulling together the far-flung manifestations of PHARO's creativity has been Andrew Dawson , winner of GRAMMY Awards for his work on Kanye West's Graduation and Late Registration , both of which were named "Best Rap Album." Dawson's contributions on fun.'s record " Some Nights" added yet another GRAMMY to his collection. " Andrew has made some of my favorite records," PHARO points out. "Being able to sit down with him and pick his brain has been one of the greatest opportunities of my life. He was really the missing piece I needed to connect all the dots of this record."
HALEY will being previewing more songs in 2014 in Los Angeles and beyond. "I want people to walk away from listening to my music and feel empowered, inspired" says PHARO . ""I try and make music that people can relate to, songs that remind them that they aren't alone. Within each track, there is a story to be told and it's usually one that most of us collectively share. So, if I've done my job as a songwriter, I've shared my experience directly into the heart of the listener, but it's now also their story, an exchange of emotions."
The track listing for HALEY PHARO 's self-titled debut is as follows:
1. Con Artist
2. Waiting On You*
3. Prisoner
4. One Eye Open**
5. Missing**
6. Sorry For Not Being Sorry
7. Identity
8.
Double Deep
9. Your Darling**
Produced & Mixed by: GRAMMY-Award winner, Andrew Dawson (
Kanye West , fun .,
Beyonce )
*Produced by: King Logan (
Timbaland ) Mixed by: Joe Zook (
Katy Perry , One Republic )
**Produced by:
David Palmer ( ABC , The The ,
Rod Stewart ) & Chuck Kentis (
Rod Stewart ). Mixed by Chuck Kentis .
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