“Before I could talk, some part of me must have known I wanted to sing,” Sa… Read Full Bio ↴“Before I could talk, some part of me must have known I wanted to sing,” Sales says. “Apparently, when I was a baby, I’d raise my finger and if someone in my family didn’t start singing, I would burst into an irreversible temper-tantrum…I try not to do that anymore,” she adds with a laugh.

Sales was born into an incredibly artistic family; her mother being a dancer and writer, her father a musician and sound engineer (Miles Davis, The Grateful Dead and The Ramones), who operated GlassWing Studios out of the basement of their Washington D.C home. “I was surrounded by music at all hours of the day. All types of music. I remember the melodies and beats actually rattling the floorboards. My childhood had a soundtrack filled up with everything from R&B and Jazz to Rock and Americana.” For many recording sessions, Sales would even allowed to sit in and watch the recording process.

The family relocated to Portland, Oregon when Sales was four and within several months, Sales began playing piano and participating in local musical theatre productions. At the age of five, something happened that altered her life indefinitely. “My friend was playing a tape of Judy Garland singing ‘Get Happy.’ I can’t explain it, but I was captivated, I was in love…Maybe obsessed. I couldn’t stop listening. I made my friend play the song over and over and over again till finally she just gave me the cassette. I went home that night and listened ten more times.” Sales learned to sing by studying the voices of all the powerful female vocalists during the 1940's and 50's.

Before reaching sixth grade, she had begun composing and performed in over one hundred plays and productions. By middle school, Sales was accepted into the private performing arts school, The Northwest Academy, where she studied both classical and jazz music, writing, acting, dance and film-making. She continued to study until graduating two years early, with honors at sixteen. To this day, Sales continues to take online university courses.

Following graduation, her family moved again, this time to an organic blueberry farm located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. “I thought my life was over,” Sales laughs. “I went from a cutting edge, urban arts school to a farm on island floating off the coast of Canada.” The dramatic shift, however, proved to be beneficial. “I spent every second of the day learning the technical side of music in the studio or sitting in my bedroom at my piano writing songs. Art was all that I had. Besides solitude.”

Within a half of year of being on the island, Sales landed a lead role in a teen horror film, leading to a move down to Los Angeles, California to pursue acting shortly after turning seventeen. The move ended abruptly when a bout of acid reflux caused her lose her voice. “For over a year, I could barely talk. It was the hardest year of my life. Everything that I had identified with was gone. I was speechless. Literally,” she recalls.

When her voice finally returned, Sales quickly returned into the studio and recorded a full length demo which she released on her own record label Drifter Records. In 2006, Sales signed with Universal Music Canada. Her first album Sunseed, was released in 2007, with singles ‘What You Want’ and ‘Keep Drivin’ landing in the Canadian Top 40 and on the charts in Japan. Sales' mesmerizing, sultry vocals and infectious melodies caught on instantly. In 2008, she won Best Mainstream Artist at The Canadian Radio Music Awards. Her sophomore album, featuring guest appearances by G Love and Donavon Frankenreiter, When the Bird Became A Book, was released in 2012. The music video for ‘Just Pretend, directed by Josh Forbes (Sarah Bareilles, The Fray) generating over five million views in three weeks following its release.

Since the international release of her last record, Sales has been hard at work touring, writing on a new collection of songs, and recently guest starring on the TV show CEDAR COVE (Hallmark USA) in the role of “Shelley.” She splits her time between Vancouver B.C and Los Angeles CA. Recently, Sales teamed up with Pledge Music to fan-fund the recording of her next album which she plans to record early next year. The highly anticipated album is set to be release Fall 2014.

“I am incredibly excited about this next album,” she says. “Over the past couple years, I have become re-enchanted with my earliest musical influences, appreciating what they have to offer even more now than when I first listened – Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, the list goes on. What came out of those women was angelic yet human, joyful but not ignorant of life’s sadness. I want to bring the same authenticity to the next album, mixing together the sounds of vintage soul with contemporary pop.”

Too Much
Hayley Sales Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hand in hand
Two by two
Naturally everything's born to pair
Look around
Look up and down
Look everywhere

We walk through life on a tightrope like a line

Til we find what it is we fall into

But I'm never quite satisfied
Always got that restless voice inside
I never can make the choice
Want it all at once
It's all just too much

Like a boat in the bay
Rigged up and ready to depart
I turn around
I run aground
Before my sails have even caught the wind

Cause once I've got a perfect start
Something in me just don't want to move

Cause I'm never quite satisfied
Always got that restless voice inside
Never can make the choice
Want it all at once
It's all just too much
Too much

I'm never quite satisfied
Always got that restless voice inside
Never can make the choice
Want it all at once

It's all just too much
Too much

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Hayley Sales's song Too Much seem to be about the struggle of balancing ambition with contentment and living in the moment. The first verse talks about how nature pairs things up naturally but the singer struggles to find satisfaction and contentment. They feel like they are trying to walk a tightrope but are unable to fully commit to any one thing. The singer expresses frustration with themselves, saying they never quite satisfy themselves, and they always have a restless voice inside them. They want everything at once, but it's all just too much.

The second verse continues with an extended metaphor of a boat in a bay. The singer is ready to depart and set sail but finds themselves running aground before the sails have even caught the wind. The perfect start is not enough to quell the restless voice inside that never seems satisfied. The repetition of the chorus underscores the singer's feeling of being overwhelmed by their desires and ambitions.

Overall, the song seems to be a meditation on the difficulty of living in the moment and finding contentment. The singer recognizes their own tendencies towards restlessness and ambition but struggles to find a balance that allows them to be happy with what they have.

Line by Line Meaning

Hand in hand
Walking together in a romantic and supportive manner

Two by two
In pairs, usually referring to romantic couples

Naturally everything's born to pair
Everything in life is meant to come together in pairs or groups

Look around
Observing the surroundings

Look up and down
Observing everything from top to bottom

Look everywhere
Observing every possible direction

We walk through life on a tightrope like a line
We face challenges and difficulties in life that require balance and focus

Til we find what it is we fall into
Until we discover our passions and goals in life

But I'm never quite satisfied
I always strive for more, never quite content

Always got that restless voice inside
An inner feeling of unease or discontentment

I never can make the choice
Struggling to make decisions and commit to a certain path