[2] While in High School in 1984, Slay formed Xcel, a hard rock band, with friends from Mobile.
[4] Initially based in Mobile, Alabama, the band performed live in venues along the Gulf Coast and throughout the southeastern United States, settling for a while in Nashville, Tennessee.
The band's performances were notable for the virtuosity of each member of the group, high energy, and lengthy improvisational excursions.
[2] In 2003, Slay joined with former Remy Zero bandmates Jeffrey Cain and Cedric LeMoyne, to record, "A Perfect Lie", the theme song for the television drama, Nip/Tuck, under the name Engine Room.
[2][3] "A Perfect Lie", which Slay co-wrote, earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding main title theme music in 2004.
[3] In 2004 he joined a project band called Isidore formed by Jeffrey Cain from Remy Zero and Steve Kilbey from The Church.
Slay, who had been touring and recording in the studio in the weeks preceding his death, unexpectedly fell into ill health.