Originally from Uxbridge, Ontario, Tom Hanley began his musical journey as the singer/guitarist in a slew of pop-punk bands with “terrible names,” performing at high school parties. It was there he fell in love with playing in bands and writing music. In college, he started a six-piece funk band, JUICE, recording and touring for eight years. After years of deliberation, countless wedding band gigs, and 60 songs written later, he’s ready to share his debut single, “Overnight.”
Together with songwriter/producer Nixon Boyd (Hollerado, Dizzy), Hanley has taken the first steps to establishing his sound and production aesthetic as a solo artist. “Overnight” was written right at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s about the first few days of lockdown and how it felt like everything was changing so fast and we had no control. It’s also the title of his forthcoming EP.
“This project has been in the works for a long time, like probably the summation of five years of work searching for what I want to sound like as a solo artist,” explains Hanley. “So it also has a bit of a double meaning, calling a project that took years to get to the finish line ‘Overnight’ makes me laugh.”
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hey! I’m Tom, originally from Uxbridge Ontario but have been living in the west end of Toronto for the past 15 years. I’m a multi-instrumentalist indie rock artist/producer and just put out my first single as a solo artist. I released an album and three EP’s with my previous band JUICE but decided to go out on my own a few years ago and teamed up with Nixon Boyd of Hollerado. Together we wrote a ton of music, working towards a sound that felt right to me, and during the pandemic we found it. From there I hired a crew of good friends who also happen to be killer session musicians and laid down bedtracks for my entire album in two days at Giant Studios in Toronto. I took the sessions home and recorded all of the guitars, keys, and vocals in my home studio and produced it. I learned so much bringing the album to the finish line and I am super proud of what we made. “Overnight” is the first single off of it.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
I wrote this “Overnight” with Nixon Boyd over Zoom at the beginning of the lockdowns in 2020. It was such a crazy time, no one had any idea what was happening and everything was changing so fast. “Overnight” is about the uncertainty we were all feeling those first few weeks and how we had to rely on each other to get through it.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
Yes! I am playing at The Cameron House in The Backroom on Dec 8th with Chynna Lewis who is an amazing Toronto artist! Tickets are available on my linktree.
If given the chance, which Canadian artist would you love to work with in the future?
I would love to work with Sam Roberts or The Arkells. Their music is super fun, they write great songs and put on amazing shows.
What’s your goal for 2024?
My goal for 2024 is to release my album, get my live show really dialed in, and write more music! Besides that, I would like to be more in the moment. So often I am thinking about the next steps, where I need to be in the next few months and I miss out on being present with friends and family. I would definitely like to work on that over this year.