Steve Taylor: Soul Man

By Eric Wendt

Steve Taylor isn’t a household name, but hopefully that will be changing soon. You may know him as the former keyboardist for dream pop outfit Rogue Wave, but Taylor is just as passionate about his solo output. Mixing singer-songwriter material with a reservoir of soul, Taylor aims to move listeners with an outpouring of quality songcraft and emotion. Synthesis was lucky enough to pick Taylor’s brain before a recent tour stop.

A lot of your music seems to go back and forth between lush folk songs and melancholy soul. How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard you?

It can be difficult to describe, as I feel I live in different musical worlds at different times, or often the same time at the same show. As far as the genres, I feel like I’m drawing from the Laurel Canyon sound from the ‘70s [Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joni Mitchell] and the writing style of some of the people from the Brill Building in the ‘60s [Burt Bacharach, Laura Nyro, and Carole King]. I’ve used the terms ‘moody, introspective folk,’ or ‘AM progressive folk,’ but that kind of neglects the piano driven soul music side I like delving into.

What kind of influences are you working with? I’m guessing you’re inspired by some eclectic stuff.

Definitely eclectic. I grew up on mid ‘80s synth pop, and then got into progressive rock in junior high — all of the sci-fi fantasyland stuff that critics and punk rockers like to laugh at! I liked the cinematic quality and the ability of the music to transport you to another place, and it’s still the most interesting music to me. Also, me and my brother were into classic rock. My parents listened to this dreadful station called KCTC that played a bunch of easy listening music from the ‘70s, which I couldn’t stand at the time. But now I can appreciate the songwriting and arrangements of stuff like Bread and America, and I’d say it’s a pretty big influence on the stuff I’ve written in the last several years. Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone — singers who were not content unless they sang out every drop of emotion.

You’ve spent time playing in a lot of predominantly black churches. How has that affected your music?

Harmonically, with the chord progressions, and with the sentiment of having nothing hold back your expressions and emotions. People in urban churches totally get down to the music. They get lost in it. I’ve always wanted to create show experiences like that. People clapping and dancing in the aisles. Also, while my music is not religious, I like the idea of communicating something about the human condition. I think there’s a lot of missed opportunities to feel deeply about things and share it with people you’re close with.

Tags: Rogue Wave, Steve Taylor