Haley Pharo

I was waiting for "that moment," says Haley Pharo about beginning work on her debut album, produced by Grammy winner Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, John Legend, Beyoncé). Considering that Pharo, who is now 23, has been onstage since she was eight, writing since she was 11 and recording since she was 13, it's been quite a wait.
The moment came when she was in the studio with King Logan (of Timbaland's production crew) working on the track "Con Artist." Pharo recalls thinking: "This really feels like me; 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 – but not without a certain sass. "In that song, I was saying what I wanted to say the way I wanted to say it," she reveals, "which I couldn't have done when I was a teenager."



In October 2011 she teamed with an unexpected pair for an alternate version of the impossibly catchy "Love Hangover" – Nick White (keyboardist with Bright Eyes and Omaha's acclaimed Tilly and the Wall) and Buddy, frontman for the highly regarded 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," she 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. "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."
"It was finally the right time to put it all together," she reiterates. "I now have the stories; I now have the experiences under my belt. I've grown up."