Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2011

Photo courtesy of Surfrock International

When Metropolis finally reaches American singer-songwriter Hayley Sales, it’s two weeks after the quake, which put an end to a long-scheduled Japan promo tour.

“You have this plan, and then out of the blue something catastrophic happens,” she recalls. “I was mentally paralyzed for a week trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. I really wanted to go, but the logical side of my music team said we should postpone it until later when we can do a fundraiser tour.”

Sales is speaking from Florida where she’s been hanging with her new buddies, pro surfing’s famous Slater brothers. “I came down here in October for Shelly and Shaun Slater’s skin cancer fundraiser surf competition, and we became good friends,” she says. “So I’ve been down here playing music and surfing and enjoying the warm weather for a while between tours.”

A combination of luck, talent and shared mindset (not to mention looks), have made 24-year-old Sales a poster girl for the new generation of surf rockers. Donovan Frankenreiter and G. Love make appearances on her latest album When the Bird Became a Book.

“It was pretty natural for me and I just love surfing,” she says about her entry to the scene. “I think it’s likeminded people who see the world in the same way. There is so much fake music right now, and in a way the surf rock scene is providing real music. I find that most surfers I meet are environmentalist and honest. They see the world in a certain way and I think everybody—not just surfers—wants to hear that kind of music again.”

Sales’ environmental concerns appear front and center on When the Bird… in songs such as “Not in his Garden.” Setting Frankenreiter’s soft, smoky voice against Sales’ airy tones, the track is a sarcastic broadside against the rich elite who insulate themselves against climate change—until it’s too late.

“We’d toured Japan together, and the song is very much about the environment and the way I see the world right now,” Sales explains. “Donovan agreed with what I was saying and really liked the song, so he recorded it in Hawaii and sent me the vocal tracks. I think it sounds great, and I was a fan in high school.”

Sales’ peripatetic life took her from a childhood in Washington DC to an adolescence in Portland and then an organic blueberry farm on Vancouver Island, where she did the sessions for the new album.

“We recorded the whole thing at my parents’ blueberry farm in my Dad’s studio, and my Dad was producing it with me,” she recounts. “We just had a great time. I would be in the studio recording the songs, and he would be like, ‘OK, go outside and let me think about what we’re going to do in this part.’ And I would go pick blueberries or jump in the ocean.”

If it sounds like a charmed life, it is. But Sales’ extensive travel in the developing world has also given her a broad outlook. “Going to Cuba when I was 19 and being completely alone in an unfamiliar world was fascinating,” she says. “I would spend hours walking around old Havana observing the culture. One of the things I learned is that people who have less are often more happy. People just living on the beach were so generous and seemed happy with their lives, and then you come to North America and everybody wants more and more—the contrast was interesting.”

Sales’ environmental views and easygoing tunes make her a sensible fit for Yokohama’s chilled out Greenroom Festival, which this year also features on the bill Japanese-American Emi Meyer, vintage funk-rockers War, and local act Tokyo Ska Paradise among others.

She’ll perform there with her band, but still wants to return to complete the solo showcase tour that was cut short by the quake. “Hopefully we’ll do it in June or July and make it help the people of Japan if I can,” she says.

“I’ve been to Japan twice in the last year and a half. It’s so much fun to perform there. The audiences are a combination of quiet and extremely appreciative, which is not easy to find in the world. So I love it. I hope I can give back a bit by coming back and doing some fundraising for them.”

Greenroom Festival. May 21-22, 1pm, ¥8,000 (one-day pass)/¥15,000 (two-day pass). Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, Yokohama. Tel: Creativeman 03-3462-6969. Nearest stn: Minatomirai.