Tony Sly

Melodic/Acoustic -

It’s hard to classify Tony Sly, but I’ll certainly give it a try. As an adolescent that listened to the classics of punk religiously (Bad Religion, Lagwagon, NOFX, etc…) it was only a matter of time before I stumbled upon No Use for a Name (NUFAN).

A self-deprecating, almost depressing band (by punk standards) to listen to. Though they had the regular conventions of a fast, loud in your face punk band, there was a deeper more complicated layer that NUFAN desperately tried to hide. That was the artistry that Tony Sly brought to the band as their frontman. His reality that he wanted so desperately to hide behind the façade of a fast, poppy punk band. But there was always something else there in their tracks.

And of course, that thing was Tony Sly.

Heading the band, Tony was a presence unto himself. He also had talent pouring out of his pores so it was only a matter of time before his band efforts spilled into a solo effort.

The first tracks I heard from Tony Sly on his own were off his album Sad Bear. At first I didn’t understand Sad Bear and actually found it artistically confusing and in a way unsatisfying. But after careful listening (over and over again) I realized it was because I wasn’t listening to it correctly. I was looking for the NUFAN Tony Sly (upbeat, impersonal and marketable). Little did I know that the sombre, insecure, sad and profound Tony Sly had been lurking in the shadows during the NUFAN days, it just took the stripping away of his supporting band mates to really reveal the tortured artist that was behind the microphone all those years in disguise.

Although the details of his death in 2012 have been sketchy at best, it was widely known that Tony had been an avid user of alcohol and pain medication (for his chronic back pain) and of anti-depressants/anxiety medication like Xanax. A load of speculation points toward the secrecy surrounding Tony’s death to be attributed to a drug overdose (or a lethal drug combination) or a suicide, but that is just speculation. Speculation that truly serves to do nothing but cloud the memory of him as a brilliant singer/songwriter. However there is no denying the self-deprecating and downright dark themes Tony portrays in his solo tracks. Whether his dark, depressing themes have any bearing or connection to his untimely death, we will never know. But I believe separating the art from the individual is an important part of understanding art.

Tony had a great way of making the sad, unthinkable realities into regular instances that seemed normal to society. Normal enough that even terrible acts seemed commonplace and instead of evoking too much thought, they just made another good line in another good song. However, Tony didn’t let you get off that easy. He would make you think, he would just do it in a more subtle way.

In his song Hey God, Tony disguises his struggles and everyman struggles in a catchy, upbeat song. He also takes a subject that I have never heard of in a punk song and deconstructs it in a way that you still want to listen to it. Where most punk bands talk about how awful the government is and how war sucks and so on, Tony takes on individual debt versus corporate debt in America. A pretty out-there subject for a punk to sing about.

The first verse explains debt in America and globally and how we as the audience see it in only the big picture and not necessarily in individual instances. We often forget about the individuals behind stories of debt and people being ripped off by big corporations. “A country torn to shreds by consolidated debt/As we watch another store close down/ We can’t live for four without paying the bank more/For the loans that they will not allow”

Tony saw the reality of the human unit. All is rosy unless it’s happening to us. What about the poor people that lost their store. The family who can’t afford food for the table. Tony doesn’t allow us to be blind to that any more. He puts a face behind the misery that he and countless other people feel.

Another thing that I always loved about Tony and Sad Bear in particular is that, despite his morose tracks, tone and mood, there is constantly a layer of love in his songs. The most obvious example of his love pouring into the microphone is for his family. His wife and his daughters. In his classic self-deprecating way, the song Burgies, Basics and You, Tony opens up brilliantly talking about his who he loved dearly “I am stupid, you are perfect/ am danger you are safe”. He goes on to explain that he can’t believe who has chosen him as their mate. That she is far too good for him. His daughters are also mentioned several times in the song and that all he wants to do, his greatest goal is to “make enough money to make my daughters feel safe”.

Many would call Tony depressing, I call him real. I call him experienced.

Beyond his music, his death shocked the punk community and the music community at large. A prominent musician with an amazing family died. Those that loved him and looked up to him, including his best friend Fat Mike from the band NOFX made a tribute album to him covering his songs as a final send off to a dear friend.

Tony has touched and influenced many lives including mine and though his message is brief it is timeless. His musical ventures span beyond NUFAN and his solo albums. He also has a brilliant collaborative album with Joey Cape of Lagwagon and is a guest on many other punk songs and albums.

It’s hard in this life to bank on anything or anyone. Tony was a poet, a tortured soul that used his music as his painful outlet. NUFAN’s song “Chasing Rainbows” is another painful confession by Tony. Urging his subject to tread carefully when putting your faith in someone or something. Perhaps he was even referring to himself. People can promise the world but often it doesn’t work out.

In a way I suppose Tony gave us the world, though. Or at least let us into his world. And now he’s gone. He has said his piece. Told us what he wanted us to hear, his thoughts and his views and where he believed his part in this world was, and now he’s gone.

It’s too bad somebody that gave so much of himself to strangers who adored him had his life cut short. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. And though it is sad, “The sun is coming out” and “The bells are ringing now”.

Songs to listen to: All of Sad Bear, Fireball, Capo, 4th Fret.

No Use for a Name: Chasing Rainbows, Justified Black Eye, Life sized Mirror.

The Songs of Tony Sly: A Tribute: Homecoming – The Bouncing Souls, For Fiona – Rise Against, Frances Stewart – Useless I.D.

- Justin