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[ introducing taylor sorensen | by mel miles ]
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[Simon voice] It's tough being a critic. After listening to so much musical garbage, you begin to develop the mindset that the world is positively incapable of producing good music anymore. You then accept this fact and turn your energies from trying to find a good artist to creatively roasting all the bad ones. Oh, what a deliciously evil joy to find a new and vulnerable victim! Once in a very great while though, a being comes along that knocks you right on your fanny. Hark! Good music can be created in modern days! Your worldview is shattered, you cry, repent, sing whatever praise song is popular at the moment, hail the newbie as a saint, and start the cycle over again. [/Simon voice]Allow me to introduce you to the hope du jour: Taylor Sorensen. You might know him from his EP The Fill. He released that project under the simple moniker of Taylor since "Sorensen is a name that is easily screwed up." After meeting with his label and speaking with his marketing department, it was decided that it would be viable to take up the Sorensen again. Mother and Father Sorensen rejoice.
The young fellow was born with more than just odd surname however. Taylor wrote his first song when he was in the second grade, though it would be a few more years before he would really start to "pursue artistry." But music was in his Danish blood. He would move from Michigan to Nashville to attend Belmont university, while playing whatever gigs he could find. After a while, he would play his songs for a Rocketown rep, and the story that lies between that point and today is a rather boring tale of contracts and meetings.
"My biggest influences are Springsteen and U2." says Taylor. "And then it's a big mesh of people after that, in no particular order from The Beach Boys, to Elvis Presley, to Radiohead, The Doves, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Who..." And just what makes a good song? "It has to be relevant to you [the writer], now. Anything that is relevant now, will have relevance in the future. Put production aside, and it will still speak to people in moving, inspirational ways. Like Simon & Garfunkel's The Boxer or My Generation by The Who. They address issues that are very human. Struggles, passion, things like that. It's not so different as we tend to think it is from the past, to the present, to the future. I don't want to be a part of 'momentary art.'"
So what excites him about music? "The power that it has to move people to do stuff—to do anything. In some cases that can be a very bad thing. I've seen how it's been behind some pretty ridiculous actions. But the emotion it can stir up… I was just watching U2's Slaine Castle last night, and hearing "Bloody Sunday"... Seeing 70,000 people come together and agree upon the words of one person's song—that's pretty powerful."During our conversation there was an odd, recurring sound in the back ground. It was the dove featured with Taylor on the back of The Fill EP. "Rocketown bought it for the photo shoot and they didn't know what to do with it when they were finished. They were like 'you can have it' so I called the place they bought it from an asked them what its chances were of surviving. They said it wasn't very good, just because it's so domesticated. So I kept it. I feel bad that it's caged up, but it's never known any better." Aw, what a sweet guy to take an unwanted bird under his wing like that.
So here we have an American boy who has good taste in music, who wants to contribute his songs to those that stand the test of time. And he rescues poor helpless domesticated birds. If you have moment, please check out the Taylor. It's a marvelous thing to have a newbie who is worth his salt.
- Mel Miles
March 2004
March 2004
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