Cassidy Haley
Encyclopedia
Cassidy Hugaert Haley is an American singer-songwriter and clothing designer based in Los Angeles.
Haley has performed with multiple circuses over the years including the avant-garde
cirque
nouveau Lucent Dossier Experience
at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
and El Circo. He performs stiltwalking and silks aerial; he performed on stilts in Las Vegas on Halloween in 2009. Haley developed design and sewing skills making costumes for himself and other circus performers, which he has applied in two clothing design companies and for his band costumes and music videos. He moved to Los Angeles
to pursue his career in music and fashion.
Haley founded the company Ernte with Evan Sugarman in 2003. In 2005, he left the company to work on his music career. In 2006, Haley returned to fashion, founding a company called Skin.Graft with Jonny Cota. They were later joined by Katie Kay. Skin.Graft is known for its "raw underground fashion and sleek, high-end couture." The company runs a downtown Los Angeles boutique, in addition to producing custom designs. They presented a fall/winter collection at LA Fashion Week 2009. Haley sold his half of Skin.Graft last January of 09 to focus on his music.
American Idol (season 7)
winner David Cook
wore Skin.Graft designs on during the competition and during various public appearances. Haley is a friend of American Idol (season 8)
runner-up Adam Lambert
and designed pieces worn by Lambert on during the competition and on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009
; Skin.Graft was featured in a ABC News 20/20 segment about Lambert on June 13, 2009. Other celebrities to wear Skin.Graft design include: Fergie, CariDee English
, Margaret Cho
, Lil Rounds
, Allison Iraheta
, and Tila Tequila.
Haley wrote and produced his debut EP album, Little Boys and Dinosaurs, using Ableton Live
software. Houston Chronicle music reviewer Joey Guerra
described Haley's sound as "lushly produced, dark and theatrical. It's like Trent Reznor lightened up a bit and got a bit of a groove on." It was released on iTunes on August 10, 2009. He recorded acoustic sessions of the songs on Little Boys and Dinosaurs, posting them online and collecting them in a DVD released in September 2009. He has described his musical style as "My usual response is some ramble about electronic, pop, folk, goth, and glam-rock. But, I don’t know. Can’t music just speak for itself?" His first full length album on his own label is expected in spring 2010.
On August 15, 2009, Adam Lambert
made a post on Twitter.com to his followers “My friend Cassidy just shot this great video...” that included a link to Haley's video for “Whiskey in Churches.” The video was produced over several months, with Haley playing multiple characters using green screen technology. This tweet propelled Little Boys and Dinosaurs up the iTunes electronic chart to land on the third most downloaded electronic record on Monday, August 17, 2009, without any music label or PR campaign.
Haley performs in Los Angeles and nearby cities, sometimes performing with his band, Cassidy Haley and the Sunshine Rebels. The Sunshine Rebels is a changing assortment of performers who are part of the Los Angeles creative scene. They headlined the 8th Annual National Coming Out Day Street Festival in Las Vegas on October 3, 2009 and have played shows at the Henry Fonda Theater and several shows at The Viper Room. He announced plans for an April–May 2010 tour on his website.
, as well as recurring op-ed pieces from a selection of artists.
Early Life and Careers
Haley was born in Oakland, California, and grew up in the nearby city of Richmond, California. He is the son of a lesbian mother and a gay father, and has three sisters and two brothers. His ancestors are mainly Irish, Scottish, German, French, and Native American. As a teenager he was part of the Bay Area rave scene. Haley was among the 1999 WTO protestors in Seattle and has cited this as a formative experience in his life.Haley has performed with multiple circuses over the years including the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
cirque
Cirque
Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...
nouveau Lucent Dossier Experience
Lucent Dossier Experience
Lucent Dossier Experience is an interactive, avant-garde circus, electronic rock band, performance troupe and entertainment company...
at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
and El Circo. He performs stiltwalking and silks aerial; he performed on stilts in Las Vegas on Halloween in 2009. Haley developed design and sewing skills making costumes for himself and other circus performers, which he has applied in two clothing design companies and for his band costumes and music videos. He moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to pursue his career in music and fashion.
Haley founded the company Ernte with Evan Sugarman in 2003. In 2005, he left the company to work on his music career. In 2006, Haley returned to fashion, founding a company called Skin.Graft with Jonny Cota. They were later joined by Katie Kay. Skin.Graft is known for its "raw underground fashion and sleek, high-end couture." The company runs a downtown Los Angeles boutique, in addition to producing custom designs. They presented a fall/winter collection at LA Fashion Week 2009. Haley sold his half of Skin.Graft last January of 09 to focus on his music.
American Idol (season 7)
American Idol (season 7)
The seventh season of American Idol, the annual reality show and singing competition, began on January 15, 2008 and concluded on May 21, 2008. Ryan Seacrest continued to host the show with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returning as judges...
winner David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
wore Skin.Graft designs on during the competition and during various public appearances. Haley is a friend of American Idol (season 8)
American Idol (season 8)
The eighth season of American Idol premiered on January 13, 2009, and concluded on May 20, 2009. Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson continued to judge the show's contestants, along with Ryan Seacrest as host. The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the Idol...
runner-up Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor from San Diego, California. In May 2009, he finished as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol...
and designed pieces worn by Lambert on during the competition and on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009
The American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada that featured the top 10 contestants of the eighth season of American Idol...
; Skin.Graft was featured in a ABC News 20/20 segment about Lambert on June 13, 2009. Other celebrities to wear Skin.Graft design include: Fergie, CariDee English
CariDee English
CariDee English is an American fashion model and TV personality who won Cycle 7 of America's Next Top Model in December 2006. Her prize was a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl Cosmetics, a modeling contract with Elite Models, and a six-page fashion editorial and cover for Seventeen magazine...
, Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and recording artist. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sexuality. She has also directed and appeared in music...
, Lil Rounds
Lil Rounds
Lil Rounds is an American singer from Memphis, Tennessee, who was the seventh place finalist on the eighth season of American Idol. Following the conclusion of Idol, Rounds was signed to a record deal with Bungalo Records. Her debut album was to be released in 2010 but has been pushed back for a...
, Allison Iraheta
Allison Iraheta
Allison Iraheta is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of American Idol. Prior to Idol, Iraheta won the Telemundo competition Quinceañera: Mamá Quiero Ser Artista. Following the conclusion of Idol, Iraheta was signed to a record...
, and Tila Tequila.
Music
Haley sings and plays acoustic guitar and piano. In a November 2009 interview, he spoke of the pros and cons of being an independent musician, "I don’t want to be developed. You know I have a really clear idea of what I want to do and how I want to sound and how I want look. But you just can’t really compete with the marketing machine of a main label." He registered his own music label in December 2009, Sunshine Rebel Records. He releases his own music for sale via iTunes and eBay, as well as posting YouTube videos and holding online concerts for his fans.Haley wrote and produced his debut EP album, Little Boys and Dinosaurs, using Ableton Live
Ableton Live
Ableton Live is a loop-based software music sequencer and DAW for Mac OS and Windows by Ableton. The latest major release of Live, Version 8, was released in April 2009. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for...
software. Houston Chronicle music reviewer Joey Guerra
Joey Guerra
Joey Guerra is the pop music critic for the Houston Chronicle, one of the ten largest papers in the U.S. Born June 16, 1974 in Houston, Texas. He is a prolific writer, covering the major genres and the Houston/Texas music scene...
described Haley's sound as "lushly produced, dark and theatrical. It's like Trent Reznor lightened up a bit and got a bit of a groove on." It was released on iTunes on August 10, 2009. He recorded acoustic sessions of the songs on Little Boys and Dinosaurs, posting them online and collecting them in a DVD released in September 2009. He has described his musical style as "My usual response is some ramble about electronic, pop, folk, goth, and glam-rock. But, I don’t know. Can’t music just speak for itself?" His first full length album on his own label is expected in spring 2010.
On August 15, 2009, Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor from San Diego, California. In May 2009, he finished as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol...
made a post on Twitter.com to his followers “My friend Cassidy just shot this great video...” that included a link to Haley's video for “Whiskey in Churches.” The video was produced over several months, with Haley playing multiple characters using green screen technology. This tweet propelled Little Boys and Dinosaurs up the iTunes electronic chart to land on the third most downloaded electronic record on Monday, August 17, 2009, without any music label or PR campaign.
Haley performs in Los Angeles and nearby cities, sometimes performing with his band, Cassidy Haley and the Sunshine Rebels. The Sunshine Rebels is a changing assortment of performers who are part of the Los Angeles creative scene. They headlined the 8th Annual National Coming Out Day Street Festival in Las Vegas on October 3, 2009 and have played shows at the Henry Fonda Theater and several shows at The Viper Room. He announced plans for an April–May 2010 tour on his website.
Track listing
The Catalyst
In July 2011, Haley took over editorship of a webzine called The Catalyst. Dubbing it "Rebirth" for his premiere issue, the zine under his direction has become a forum for artists (musical, visual and otherwise) to speak their mind on topics which the popular media may not give much attention to. To quote The Catalyst's mission statement, "The Catalyst Magazine is dedicated to exploring the art and culture that will be the catalyst for humanity's inevitable triumph in this game of life. This is a rapidly evolving world and the answers lie beyond the surface of mainstream culture. The prophets and shamans who will lead us through are waiting in the underground." The Catalyst currently features interviews with underground artists such as Dan Holguin, Ricky Rebel, Under the Elephant, and video game designer American McGeeAmerican McGee
-Career:McGee began his career at id Software, working on level design, music production, sound effects development, and programming in such games as Doom, Doom II, Quake, and Quake II. In 1998, he moved to Electronic Arts, where he worked as creative director on several projects, including...
, as well as recurring op-ed pieces from a selection of artists.