Interview: Christopher Taylor
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life are pleased to bring you an interview with singer/songwriter, Christopher Taylor.
1. How did you get started as a band?
I’ve been playing for many years. In my 20s I was working as a professional musician around clubs and theatres. For a number of reasons I then needed to work in the corporate world, and did some ‘proper jobs’ but 10 years ago got the chance to work as a professional musician again (I was made redundant) and thought hey lets try and be a full time musician again – I’ve a very supportive partner.
So I’ve been an event musician and at the same time written and produced my own music since then – lately concentrating more on my own music.
2. How would you describe your sound?
As I’m a singer songwriter, I guess you might class my music as adult contemporary pop. But there’s some jazz and folk influences in there too. I would hope any new listener would think Christopher Taylor is a songwriter who writes lyrical, catchy tunes with infectious melodies, and come back for more!
3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?
As a teenager I was in to bands as diverse as Alice Cooper to Fleetwood Mac. Currently I listen to bands like Counting Crows, Crowded House, Phoenix, people like Jack Johnson and Lukas Graham, as well as electro pop artists like Madeon and Porter Robinson. In my CD and digital library I also have some classical and jazz too. I love all types of music and I guess my diverse tastes feed in to my writing today.
4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?
I think, if we ignore the financial challenges the rise has been overall a good one. Whilst some would argue this has caused some saturation issues it’s good that a wide range artists can get heard. There are some huge challenges though in terms of ensuring new bands and arguably established bands get a better deal when it comes to a return on their songs. I remember up until fairly recently sometimes saving up for an album and I guess that made me a more discerning fan. Nowadays you could argue easy access has been detrimental to the cream of artists and bands getting recognised etc etc because there is so much out there. I believe there’s something like 60,000 tracks a day uploaded to Spotify. I feel a really good exam question coming for the impact this has had.
I must admit not sure what the answer is but I’d enjoy chewing the cud about it with you over a beer!
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
Music is a big thing for me making it and listening to it, but I like also like cooking and entertaining. I really like hanging out with friends at the pub, something which I am really looking forward to doing again when there’s a bit of normality again!
6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?
I recently recorded 3 tunes with my friends at the Animal Farm studios. Really enjoying working with Ville and Mat there. We are One was out last November. North Star is out now – just released 26 March and then By my side is out in June. Then back to their studio for more shenanigans in the summer. Gigs are starting to come in again now so hopefully in to the summer there will be some news and I’ll keep people posted on my web site and socials. But more recording and gigging definitely – I’ve really missed playing live gigs this year and when performing is in your DNA you can imagine how frustrating that can be.
