Jaye Sooter was born Aug. 15, 1970, in Compton. He went to school in both Los Angeles and Orange counties until his parents got divorced in 1979. That was the year the Sooter family moved to the High Desert.
Sooter’s grandparents, Jimmy and Jane, started “the High Desert Christian Help Line” while his father started “Sooter Sign Co.”
Sooter bounced between mom’s and dad’s houses growing up, and attended Apple Valley Junior High School. He later moved to his mom’s and went to Sunny Hills High School and moved during his sophomore year to his dad’s, graduating from Apple Valley high school, class of ’88.
“All through school, my concentration was on the performing arts,” Sooter said. “I played football and I was in choir, Sunsations and the Sundevil Singers at AVHS. I took drama all through high school. My class was the first graduating class of the Apple Valley Unified School District.”
Sooter’s father, Jerry Sr., was the last “honorary mayor” of Apple Valley. Sooter said his father was involved pretty deep with the business community, city officials, town councils and helping organize a lot of events and things of that nature. At a young age, Sooter went to “all the meetings with dad” and over the years has met and known a lot of the people who are involved and responsible for the things that make Apple Valley and the High Desert what it is today, “the good, the bad and the ugly.”
After high school, Sooter attended VVC and took music theory, stage craft and technical theater lighting classes. At the same time, he also got into “The Young Smericans” national song and dance company and played in several bands.
“I guess it makes sense to say that my whole life has been geared toward art and music, which today translates to Sooter Sign Co. and Southern Spirit.
“I did go back to VVC to get certified in media arts and digital animation, after marriage and kids happened.”
Sooter’s been married for 16 years to his wife, Tisha. Their kids are Jessica, 23, Kaleigh, 21, Dustin, 16 and Dakota, 13. The Sooters’ grandbaby is Kyrsten, 2, with one more on the way.
Q: Why did you move to Apple Valley?
A: I moved to Apple Valley because my father moved here after the divorce. I also had three cousins who were attending school here as well, but I really wanted to be in the Sunsations show choir at Apple Valley High School.
Q: What are the things that bring you happiness on a daily basis?
A: I find happiness on a daily basis in the fact that God has blessed me with a strong family, a beautiful wife, four children, a peaceful, loving home and he gave me the talent to go out and do what I love for a living and provide for my family.
Q: What is your passion?
A: My absolute passions are art and music. Ever since I was a kid, I would cut out the cartoons I liked in the newspaper and redraw them (Garfield, Ziggy, Peanuts, etc.). I had an entire dresser drawer full of cut outs. On the music side of things, my dad is all gospel and Country and Western and my mom is all rock. It was a pretty broad scope of music to grow up on, not to mention the fact that almost every family member on the Sooter side can sing and/or play a musical instument — we call it “Pickin’ and Grinnin.’ ”
People often ask me, “How do you play all the gigs with Southern Spirit and keep up the solo stuff?” It’s simple: I love it. It’s opened up some outragously cool experiences and doors through the years, from the big stage to the smallest, intimate settings.
Q: Describe a special memory you have of Apple Valley.
A: One of my most favorite memories of Apple Valley was back in th early ’80s. A movie production crew was filming at the Apple Valley Country Club and my grandpa drove me over to the movie set and I saw Robert Redford. For a 10 year old boy, that was pretty cool. My dad was raised listening to Country and Western music and before there were superheroes like superman, there were the singing cowboys of the silver screen. Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. The first time I met Roy and Dale was at a Sunday morning service at Church of the Valley.
Q: Tell us one thing that most people don’t know about you.
A: Most people don’t know that I collect baseball and football cards. I’ve been doing it since I was 7 years old and still do it today. My collection goes back as far as the early ’60s. I also collect “KISS” memorabilia. They’ve always attracted me because of the make up and when they put out their first comic book I was hooked. Cartoons and music, once again.
Q: What is the ultimate issue facing the United States, and what’s your take on it?
A: The issues I see facing the United States are very simple to me. We are a God-fearing nation that was founded by Christian men on Godly principals. Once you start taking God out of the equation, you’re going to have serious problems.
Q: What person, living or from history, would you most like to have dinner with and why? What would you ask them?
A: If there was one person I wish I could have a sit down with, it’s my grandfather, Jimmy Sooter. There’s nothing specific that I would ask — we could talk about anything and I would just listen.
Q: Where do you get your values from?
A: I get my values from my parents and grandparents of course. I was raised Four-square, Pentecostal (Christian) and spent most of my childhood in church. There is no stronger sense of values than that, in my opinion. My first gig was singing in front of hundreds of people on a Sunday morning, at church.
Q: What’s your favorite movie and why?
A: “Friday,” “Scarface,” “Goodfellas” and the “Godfather” trilogy (I have a thing for gangster movies).
Q: Tell us about your favorite thing about Apple Valley.
A: My favorite things about Apple Valley are summer nights and the smell of the desert after it rains. I wish they could put that scent in a candle or fabric softener,
Q: What is the best thing about your job?
A: The best thing about the sign company and the band — my jobs — is that I’m always in a different place dealing directly with people and putting smiles on faces. Art and music touches people from all walks of life. Pretty amazing stuff.
Q: What is your secret to living a happy, satisfying life?
A: My secret to a satisfying life: Love the Lord, love my family, don’t react to situations but respond to them (which means stop and think about it for a minute) and do nothing in excess. I try to balance everything on my plate and it’s a challenge most of the time. I just try to take it one step at a time and not get overwhelmed with the entire picture.
Q: What are the charities that are close to your heart and why?
A: Over the years, I’ve done hundreds of gigs for all kinds of charities. I love helping people when I can. Helping recovering drug addicts and battered women and children seem to draw my attention. I went through a time in my life where I was hooked on drugs and hanging out with a bad crowd and I understand why some people need help and encouragement to overcome addictions. As far as battered women and children, and the way I was raised, there is no excuse to raise a violent hand toward a spouse or child.
Q: What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
A: My favorite guilty pleasure is In-N-Out Burger — Double-Double combo, all animal style. That’s how I roll!
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
A: In the next 10 years, I still see myself performing music and creating signs all over the community. I see myself as a proud grandpa and, who knows, maybe even dig my nails into some city polotics. Only time will tell.
Q: How can readers get a hold of you?
A: Call me at 760-953-1551, call Sooter Sign Co. at 760-240-3510, email me at jaye_Sooter@yahoo.com or look for Southern Spirit and Jaye Sooter on Facebook.