Harley Sean

Kathleen Hay
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July 7, 2009

Cornwall - Sean Howard Harley. Yep, you read correctly. The lead singer of the Trench Town Oddities, and past vocalist with heavy metal band, Ritual, sports a middle name of Howard, in honour of one of his granddads.

Sean was the baby of the family born to Larry and Geraldine Harley. He grew up in Cornwall, attended St. Columban's West, Bishop Macdonell and St. Lawrence High School, but graduated from St. Joseph's Secondary School.

It was actually his older siblings, Stephen and Shelly, who encouraged him, so to speak, in the music business. Shelly sang vocals for Paul Deslaurier's old band State of Mind, while Stephen was the soundman. When they'd return home from bar gigs at 1 a.m., it wasn't unusual for them to jam and wake-up Sean.

In Grade 7 Sean bought himself a Washburn electric guitar. A year later he heard a band practicing so he followed the music and literally stuck his head in a door. He ended up joining the group called Infra Red which consisted of Rodney Rivette, Marc Muir and Rick Lauzon.

Later, he played with Pegasus and then Ritual, a local heavy metal wonder that dominated the music scene for about 10 years from the early 1990s, even capturing Rock Search in Ottawa.

In the meantime, while performing with band members Jason Collis, Joël Labrosse and .Daryl Kiviaho, Sean managed to graduate high school, graduate from St. Lawrence College as an Electrical Engineering Technologist, get married and start a family.

This eventually led to the formation of Trench Town Oddities four years ago, a folk-rock band comprised of Steve Restinetti, Nick Kalil, Todd Harrington, Randy Lalonde and himself. When he's not performing or working as a computer programmer at The Thompson-Rosemount Group, you'll often find Sean coaching hockey or baseball. Sean and his wife, Lori, are the proud parents of Zackery, 12, Micaela, 10, and Hunter, age eight. They reside in Cornwall.

Q1. Who's your guitar hero?
I would say on the metal side, Scott Ian, from Anthrax. On the acoustic side, Dallas Green. They both ooze charisma and are wicked players. They're solid, not virtuosos, but you can sit there and listen to them all day.

Q 2. Is there anything you'd do over if you had a chance?
You know I don't thin so. I've made great decisions, not so great ones, but I always felt I made the right one. It wasn't always the easiest choice, sometimes I can be a little back and white. I tend sometimes be guided by my emotions, which can sometimes be a bad things. But I know I'm true to myself.

Q3. What's the first record you ever received or bought?
KISS. Self-titled. The very first KISS album. I think I was six. I have a long history with KISS.

Q4. What's in the CD player now?
Billy Talent III, Alexionfire, Old Crows, Young Cardinals, City and Colour. Bring Me Your Love is what the album is called. The last thing in my player is what I call YouTube Solid Gold. It's a bunch of obscure artists that I've found on YouTube that are great.

Q5. What would surprise people about Sean Harley?
I often cry at girlie movies. I don't watch too many, but if I get sucked in ... One that gets me is What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams. His kids die in a car accident, him and his wife are having a hard time with it, then he dies in a car accident. She can't deal with it and ends up killing herself. But because she kills herself, she goes to Hell while he's in Heaven with the kids. He goes to Hell to rescue her. Great movie.

Q6. Headbanger tune of choice?
I would have to say - current? Young Cardinals. All-time? Angel of Death by Slayer.

Q7. What's the story behind the cowboy hat?
All I wanted to do was invoke two totally different sort-of fashion styles that don't go with the music we play, if that makes any sense. I dress metal and I wear a cowboy hat. I like to keep everybody on their toes.

Q8. Who's the most over-rated performer?
Céline Dion. I think she's awful. She takes a crap and her husband sends out a press
release. It's just painful to watch. I can appreciate the Jonas Brothers more than 1 can appreciate Céline Dion.

Q9. What do you never leave home without?
My Archos multimedia player. It's an iPod touch thing on steroids. I can play movies surf
the net, tape from the TV. It's sick. It's awesome.

Q10. First True Love?
My first true love has always been my wife. We met, believe it or not, when we were with different groups of people looking for a party in high school. I had to be 16 because I had my own car. I worked as an orderly at St. Joseph's Villa, so I saved my money, bought a car and paid for my own insurance. We just ended up talking the whole
night. That was it. I couldn't imagine being with anybody else and I say that sincerely.