Hi, I'm Scott Brocato with KRWG Public Media, and I like to welcome you to this episode of KRWG Music Spotlight.

Taylor Paul is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer.

On his website, he says that he writes a lot about life lost love and the spaces in between.

We are pleased to welcome Taylor Paul to KRWG Music Spotlight.

Hey, Scott.

Thanks for having me.

No problem.

Well tell me how you got into music.

How old were you?

So I was exposed to music from a very young age.

Both my parents are musical.

My mother played piano and my father is a bass player and a singer and played in a variety of bands.

So from, you know, three or four years old, I was exposed to live music an I was really taken aback by it.

And there's some, you know, old photos of me pretending on stage to play along with my dad's band.

So I definitely was interested in it from very early on.

And it wasn't until I was probably 12 or 13 that I really decide I wanted to try and get a guitar and really learn for myself.

And are you self-taught?

Did I hear that, or did your dad teach you?

He taught me some of the basics, and then some musicians that he played with kind of passe a couple of things on to me, but primarily self-taught.

And the when my friends, other friends started playing music, we kind of started learning bits and pieces off of each other.

And so, yeah.

But they've been very supportive your parents, I guess, being musicians themselves.

Yeah, yeah.

They've always been very supportive and really, really enjoyed coming to watch me play and stuff.

That's really cool.

Well, what about artists?

What artists influenced you as as you were growing up?

You know, I love all kinds of music.

I think the first thing that that grabbed me was electric blues guitar playing.

I have a memory of my da showing me Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and like a lot of other guitar players, you know, I really was taken by that and really wanted to figure out what they were doing and try to understand that.

And did you when you did pick up a guitar in your early teens, did you find it easy?

No, not at all.

The first few years wer a real uphill battle, and it's hard to not get discouraged starting out for sure.

And what else do you play besides guitar?

A little bit of bass.

A little bit of bass, a little bit of keyboards, a little bit of ukulele.

But mostly just guitar and bass.

Well let's turn to your songwriting.

What kind of themes do you find yourself approaching when you when you sit down to write a song?

So, you know, I started out as just a guitar player for many year before I got into songwriting.

And so, you know, it took me a little while to find my footing as a lyricist and a vocalist.

And so my first, you know, my first several songs were, you know, I was just kind of going for a more poppy sound and trying to find you know, things that are easy on the ears and fun hooks and stuff.

But I write now a lot about mortality and about life and things like that.

When I was 23, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and I spent a lot of 2019 in the hospital and in various iterations.

And so fortunately I had music in my life as a pretty invaluable source of therapy and way of just processing feelings and emotions.

And then that really helped me work through it.

So I, you know, I've tried to move past that and more recent work, but that's always an element of my sound.

Well let's let you get to your music.

Talk about the first song that we're going to hear.

“Learn to Love.” What inspired that?

Yeah, so I wrote that song in 2019 and it was kind of a reaction to, you know, gun violence in schools and just a lot of social unres that was happening at the time.

And I was just, you know, you just kind of get beaten down reading the news each day about those kinds of things.

And so I was just like, you know, I wanted to write something that's like, why can't we al just get along, learn to love.

That's right.

All right.

Well, let's let you get to it.

Taylor Paul, our musical gues today on KRWG Music Spotlight.

Can we learn love?

Can we hope to see all the broken hearted people finally find peace?

I don't want to believe it's just meant to be.

Can our voices rise above, to make history.

Today I read the saddest thing 10 little lives lost their fight today And we can't let their loss be in vain.

If we ever want this world to change.

Can we learn to love?

Can we hope to see all the broken hearted people finally find peace?

I dont wanna believe it's just meant to be?

Can our voices rise above to make history.

And waking up is the hardest part.

How do we move on when others won't even start And holding on to what we think we need?

Sends us back down a road, I can't even see.

Can we learn to love?

Can we hope to see all the broken hearted people finally find peace?

I don't wanna believe it's just meant to be.

You know.

Can our voices rise above to make history.

Can we?

And I don't know how to shake this empty feeling.

Something I cant really make peace with Im hoping for someone to come get things right when they can't even get it themselves.

And I can see that you scared.

And I know that time isn't always on your side.

We can go farther and I know if we try.

I know that we're gonna survive.

Can we learn to love?

Can we hope to see all the broken hearted people finally find peace?

I don't wanna believe it's just meant to be.

Can our voices rise above to make history?

Can our voices rise above to make history?

Can our voices rise above to make history?

How's it going, guys?

This is Taylor, Paul, and this is rain in the windowsill.

At the end of the day, I'm still not tired.

And my mind is always running wild.

But she sits me down so gently and makes me feel like I am at ease.

And yes, you can see that is true.

I'll never let the light fade on you and I'll always, I'll always be there to sit and watch the rain in the windowsill with you.

They say no man is an island.

I get so wrapped up in what has been.

We gotta stick together.

If we're going to beat this weather and see the sunshine in our lives again.

And yes, you can see that it's true.

I'll never let the light fade on you.

And I'll always I'll always be there to sit and watch the rain in the windowsill with you.

Hey, guys.

Hope you're doing good.

My name is Taylor Paul, and this next song is called Don't Give Up on You.

When I was young, I learned to walk by the river and the trees they talk.

You got to keep your feet on the ground.

Don't let them push you down.

I trip and I fall As I go through this life, it's easy to feel like giving up.

Am I getting old or is this road just going cold?

Can I still see the sunrise and don't you know that time is short?

And the sun doesn't shine forever.

But I'll be there when you fall down.

I know theres more to do So dont give up on you.

And here I am, almost 30 years old and I still haven't learned a thing.

Tomorrow never knows.

and I hope the cancer don't grow.

I just want to feel at ease and don't you know that it's our time is short.

And the sun doesn't shine forever but I'll be there when you fall down.

I know there's more to So dont give up on you.

Hey, this is Taylor Paul, and this song is called 25.

I'm 25 and I'm barely alive is there something left for me.

I'm 25 and barely alive is something left for me.

All this time I've waited for my moment to shine.

Oh, Lord, won't you take these tears from me?

They fixed this thing in my head but they can't fix my heart.

They fix this thing in my head but they can't fix my heart.

All this time I've wondered, does the pain ever leave?

Oh Lord I don't have much left to give.

I see her in everything that I try to do.

I see her in everything that I try to do.

Maybe one of these days I wont feel so lonely.

Oh Lord, wont you give me some peace?

I'm 25 and I'm barely alive.

Is there something left for me.

I'm 25 and barely alive.

Is there something left for me.

All this time I've waited for my moment to shine.

Oh, Lord, won't you take these tears from me?

Thank you guys again so much.

This next song is called Fairy Tale.

When I'm feeling cold, I know not to old.

To feel love.

I always wanted.

I feel like giving up.

I can't I gotta to stay tough to try to turn it all around.

And now I'm starting to see the forest for all its trees.

And I was down when you found me out.

and in the end, the fairy tale came true.

And in the end the fairy tale was you.

When I was feeling down, this sweetheart came around.

When I was feeling lost, we found each other.

We carved out our own way and made our own history.

and then all our worries just fade away.

And now I'm starting to see the forest for all its trees.

And I was down when you found me out.

and in the end, the fairy tale came true.

And in the end, the fairy tale was you.

It's hard to see you go and it's hard to lose control.

We had our fun.

Just let it be.

I know I'm growing old and I know it's time to go, but I know we're gonna be okay.

And now I'm starting to see the forest for all its trees.

And I was down when you found me out.

and then the end, the fairy tale came true.

And in the end the fairy tale was you.

It's KRWG Music Spotlight my guest is Taylor Paul.

Well let's talk about the last song you just sang fairy tale.

What was that?

What was the inspiration behind that?

Yeah, you know, that's kind of my.

My attempt at a love song about just kind of ups and downs in life and trying to find, you know, find someone that you can really connect with and someone that can really help you be the best version of yourself.

Well, do you have a general process in songwriting lyrics for music first, or do you just leave yourself open to them, to the musical gods?

I think we're all kind of to that, but I know that everybody's different, and I think that's really interesting for me a lot of the time I get the idea of the title of the song or a line in the chorus first, and then I try and think about, Well, what would that sound like?

You know, putting music to that sound, what would that sound like?

And then I from there, I start to arrange the song, come up with the chord progressions.

And then after I've kind of got the the song arranged and I know what the title of the song is, then I kind of have to revers engineer and figure out, well, what is this about?

Well, you have a metal side.

You have a little side thing Taylord, right?

Yes.

So talk about that.

Yeah.

So in high school, my my friends, they all wanted to play heavy metal music.

So I kind of got I got pulled into that world a little bit and I was able to find music in that space that I really connected with, particularly progressive metal music, which is not always, you know, not always ten out of ten aggressive rock, all the time.

There's a lot of variation.

There's a lot of, uh ethereal textures to the sound and a lot of clean singing in there as well.

So while I don't do vocals over that kind of music, you know, I was always really inspired by it.

And so that was kind of where when I learned how to compose and how to write songs was I was kind of with a metal backdrop.

And so I was in a band conscious about like going back to songwriting process.

If a song comes to you a title like, Oh, this would be good for Taylord or this be good for Taylor.

Meet you.

Yeah, yeah.

They're very different worlds, you know, And I'm usually playing it on different guitars and different using utilizing different equipment.

So it's pretty easy for me to decide which way it's going to go.

Well, earlier you mentioned that you were diagnose with testicular cancer in 2019.

You were 23.

Uh huh.

Wher are you at with that right now?

I'm.

I'm doing really well.

Uh, most of 2019 was kind of a blur for me, you know?

And then it's interesting coming out of that righ into COVID, into the pandemic.

So that made for an interesting couple of years in my life, for sure.

But aside from a couple of things here, and ther have been in really good shape the last few years, I've been very thankful.

Well, how does that diagnosis and the treatments that we receive says how did that influence your songwriting at all, your outlook?

Absolutely.

You know, that's kind of seems like a thing that happens to other people, and there's not ever anything until it's so close to home, let alone yourself.

So it's it's it really took a long time to process and come to grips with what was happening.

But, you know, your twenties, you're most people definitely don't expect it.

You feel that's when you're supposed to be feeling invincible and like you want to take on the worl and do whatever you want to do and and to have everything shut down like that.

And I put a really different spin on, you know, what this is all about.

And like, you know what?

What do I want to be doing in my life and what's important to me?

Right.

Well, what about new music?

Do you have any new music out now or coming out?

So I put out a couple of singles this year.

I put out Don't Give Up On You.

And then I recently put out Rain in the Windowsill.

Those are Taylor Paul singles that you can find on on my YouTube stuff.

And but I'm working on another record and I hope to have that out hopefully at the tail end of this year, if not the top of next year.

All right.

Well, we have about a minute left.

What advice would you give to a young musician who is just starting out what they want to do it professionally?

I know you're going to ask this question, so I know I do it every day trying to think about it.

Yeah, I think a lot about this Berkley talk that John Mayer gave several years ago.

It's like a six part series that's on YouTube.

And he really talks about the importance of defining your expectations.

So there's a lot that you can do in the space of music, and I think it's important to like, identify what you want to do and then kind of adjust what you're doing to make sure you meet those goals, whether it's be a fantasti bass player or be a songwriter.

Do you want to travel Do you want to go on the road?

Do you want to be in a variety band and do that thing, you know?

So there's a lot of space spaces that you can occupy in music.

So that's something that I think about a lot and so grapple with sometimes.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, Taylor Paul, it's been a pleasure to have you as a guest.

Yeah.

Thank you so much, Scott.

KRWG Music Spotlight.

Thank you.

And be sure to catch our past performances on YouTube.

And like us on Faceboo to keep up with future episodes for KRWG I'm Scott Brocato and thank you for joining us for KRWG Music Spotlight.