An Interview With the UK Singer-Songwriter, GEORGE TAYLOR!

Get to know the budding indie-folk artist from the UK, George Taylor.

The buzz around Taylor has built fairly quickly. His debut single, “Give It Up” has gathered over 3.5 million streams on Spotify, with his other 4 singles accounting for just under an additional 2.5 million streams which have appeared on notable Spotify playlists like “New Music Friday,” “Hanging Out and Relaxing” and “New Noise,” Apple Music’s “Best Of The Week” and Zane Lowe’s  “Beats 1.”

 Learn more about George Taylor in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time today, George! Where does this interview find you now? 

I’m currently in LA writing some new music and eating tacos.

What’s on tap for the rest of your day?

I’ll probably spend the rest of the day pondering my existence and later I’ll have a bath and watch true crime documentaries.

Overall, how do you think 2018 has been treating you and your music career? 

2018 has been a good year so far. I have released two singles, ‘Stay Warm’ and ‘Come Follow Me Down’. Now that they are out I am looking forward to the next year of writing and releasing new music.

What has been one goal that you have had this year and how close are you to reaching it?

My goal this year has been to quit smoking and so far it’s been going reasonably well, minus the odd slip up. In terms of music I try not to set any goals other than to create music that I fully believe in without compromising my art.

Growing up, was music always a big part of your life? Can you recall your first ever musical experience?

Music has always been a big part of my life. My earliest musical memory is my Dad playing me ‘Sultans of Swing’ in the car and hearing the line ‘check out guitar George, he knows all the chords’. I loved it because it said my name. I became a big Pink Floyd and David Bowie fan from a young age and hopefully some of that has shaped the music I make now.

What has been the biggest surprise so far about making music your career? Has there been an unexpected or welcome challenge to it all?

I think the biggest surprise for me has been how many good people I’ve met since I started properly doing this. There are a lot of people in the industry that really want the best for you, as well as the odd few that don’t.

How do you think you and your music have been influenced by your hometown and where you live today? If you don’t think that it has affected you at all, why is that?

I grew up in a very small town near Leicester. It was very quiet and there was never anything going on. I think that’s a big part of why I started trying to write music, just because I had nothing else to do.

I find it interesting that sometimes musicians choose to go by something other than their own name so why did you choose to go by your real name?

My first band was called Vanilla Gorilla. A name that my friends found a lot funnier than I would have hoped. I think I maybe realized at a young age that naming bands wasn’t for me, so when it came to making music on my own it just seemed more simple to just use my own name, and that meant I didn’t have to explain why I named myself Raspberry Jellyfish, or whatever it would have been.

Let’s talk about your latest single and video for “Come Follow Me Down.” First of all, how did the song come together? What was the inspiration for it? How creatively involved were you with the making of the video?

I wanted to write a song that was an invitation from one person to another to join them in their misery. It’s a plea for understanding rather than a wishing of darkness upon someone else. The video I feel completely reflects that idea in the world that was created, for which I’m very grateful to the director Griffin Stoddard.

When do you hope to release more new music a full album of new songs? Are you currently working on that?

I am currently working on new music. Whether it will be another single or a smaller body of songs, I don’t know yet, but I’m excited about releasing new music soon.

How do you think that you have continued to grow and develop as an artist over the years and since you began writing music?

It’s a real challenge to constantly continue to grow and develop as an artist and not fall into the same traps of the same way you have been writing for years. I think the answer to it is to continually stay open and listen to new music, experience new things and to try and get out of the little comfort zones you make for yourself.

Who are some of your favorite artists or rather, what musicians have continued to inspire you and your music? Who would you absolutely still love to work with in the future?

Lots of musicians old and new that are constantly inspiring me. I would love to work with Blake Mills one day.

If you were going to be stranded on a deserted island forever, what musical item would you take with you? 

I would take a Gibson 335 and a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp if i was allowed it. Or I would take a tuba, in case any passing ships might hear it.

At the end of the day, what do you hope your fans take away from your music?

I just want my music to make people feel something, whether it makes feel happy, sad, anything. As long the music can move you in some way then something is going right.

(all photography provided by Press Here Publicity)