High Fade
“We can’t turn our back on what we’ve built. Creative control and fighting the fight for independent bands is more important than ever.”
High Fade — Harry Valentino (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sentence (bass), and Heath Campbell (drums) — started on the streets of Edinburgh in 2018 and have since clocked over 1,500 shows across three continents, turned down multiple major label deals, launched their own imprint RPN Records, and watched their music find fans that include Jack Black, Cypress Hill, Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple, and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine. Their sophomore album Twice As Nice, recorded between East Iris Studios in Nashville and RAK Studios in London, is out now.
They’re currently 55 dates into a North American tour. Exposed Vocals sat down with frontman Harry Valentino to talk about busking, independence, Glastonbury chaos, and what he wants people walking out of Brooklyn Bowl to feel.
“We weren’t rock enough to be in with the rockers, jazz enough to be with the jazzers, funk enough to be with the funkers. So we were the lone wolf in the scene. The only way to get out was to carve our own lane with busking.”
— Harry ValentinoThe outsider position isn’t incidental to High Fade’s story — it’s structural. A band that didn’t fit any Edinburgh scene ended up creating one of its own, online and on the road, city by city.
That framing — “we would be hypocrites if we lay down the sword and shield” — is the kind of conviction that gets tested on a 55-date tour. It clearly has been, repeatedly, and it hasn’t shifted.
“Running the label for me consists of three main factors: testing new music on audiences, gathering data on where and how people are listening, and, most importantly, figuring out how to reach them.”
— Harry Valentino on RPN RecordsTwo days in Nashville for drums. The rest at RAK. The geography of Twice As Nice is as compressed as the touring schedule — find the best room available, use it fast, and move.
“Well first we had a plan and that plan went to shit as it does in the music industry, so we got stranded in the west of France. Flights cancelled as we were at the gate. Then 2 trains to Paris, Paris to London, London to Bristol, then a drive to Glastonbury — we made it with about 80 minutes to spare on 0 sleep.”
— Harry Valentino on Glastonbury 2024West France → two trains → Paris → London → Bristol → Glastonbury → three sets → Edinburgh. On zero sleep. The song “The Joke’s On You” was written sitting in Harry’s mum’s kitchen. The Glastonbury day was lived at full sprint. Both feel like the same band.
Coffee, hydration, barbecue, and gratitude for anyone still willing to leave the house. The unglamorous logistics of staying alive on a tour this long — and the genuine appreciation underneath them.
The answer to the last question could be the mission statement on the wall at RPN Records. Insane optimism. There’s a reason to support independent music. Harry Valentino says it like he means it, which is probably why 1,500 shows in, he still does.
