Sqeezetoy

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Fusing hip-hop, reggae, rock, and classical guitar, Squeezetoy quickly became known as a “high- energy” live act with the ability to captivate rock, hip-hop, pop, and jam rock audiences alike. “It’s all about the synergy between the audience and the band,” states Omotade “we expect full crowd participation from beginning to end,” he says. Word quickly spread locally among rock fans about these “high synergy” shows and the bands unique ability to perform unrehearsed “freestyle” sessions, which had immediate appeal to hip-hop and jam band fans as well.

In 2001, Squeezetoy was picked by Pamela Anderson as “Unsigned band of the year” out of 2000 bands in North America in a contest titled “Jam with Pam”. That year, after playing the Vans Warped Tour, the band was flown to Latrobe, Pennsylvania to open the main stage at the Rolling Rock Town Fair playing alongside Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus, Staind, Live, and the Deftones. Only a month later, the band spent two weeks in Los Angeles hanging with Pamela and Kid Rock and recording their 2001 release “When you’re here…you’re there” at the notorious Westlake Studios (Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, Limp Bizkit’s “Significant Other”). By the fall of 2001, the band returned to the east coast with press in Spin, on CNN, Entertainment Tonight, and at AOL.com.

In 2002, Squeezetoy secured a booking agent and began touring North Carolina and the southeast circuit playing small venues with the support of Budweiser and their True Music campaign. The band also got the opportunity to open for national acts such as Aerosmith/Kid Rock, Chili Peppers/Snoop Dogg, Filter, Cowboy Mouth, The Exies, Jimmies Chicken Shack, 2 Skinnee Js, Outkast, The Roots, Busta Rhymes, Phunk Junkeez, and Slightly Stoopid. During this time the band distributed 6000+ copies of their EP and began getting airtime at 96 Rock in Raleigh, 106.5 The END in Charlotte, 107.5 The Wave in Wilmington, and 99X in Atlanta.