Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of Taylor’s new album.
Listen to The Ridge in its entirety and read our quick chat with Julian Taylor below…
Talk us through how you decided to put this album together. What made you decide to do a Julian Taylor solo album at this juncture? How did the album song selections come together? Did you have more that didn’t make it onto the album? How long of a “writing phase” is covered by the songs on the album?
I wanted to record an album that didn’t have all the theatrics that my band has. I love fully produced records and believe that they have their place, but I’m a musician and songwriter with roots in the world of bare bones authenticity and performing. The band’s last record, Avalanche, was a conscious step in that direction, and I really enjoyed recording that one. I wanted to continue that process and had a handful of songs that I didn’t feel would fit the band. Last summer when I was visiting my family in Kahnawake in Quebec, my cousins and I jammed on a few of the songs, and they had this kitchen party vibe that really clicked. Most of the songs I had in my pocket where about family, so it just made sense to ask my cousins to be part of the family band that you hear on this record.
In the past four years, I’ve recorded three albums with my group Julian Taylor Band. One was actually a double album. I was working so hard trying to break the band. We’d done very well and have made huge in-roads, but I felt like I was burning out a bit. When performing with the band, I call on a lot of physically demanding energy. It’s a full-on show. Ever since I began my career in music, I’ve had two sides to what I do – one being the extroverted big rock show, and the other being this introspective, folk-singer vibe. I felt like it was time to rest a little and chill out on a stool with my acoustic guitar.
I essentially recorded this album twice. The first time around I wasn’t happy with it, so I ditched the whole thing. Well, not entirely. Many songs from past sessions made it into the fold, but a lot were left behind. Maybe one day I will release the ones in the vault, but not right now. It’s a funny thing – not being proud of the work you’ve done and sending yourself back to the drawing board. It’s was a good thing though, because it forced me to really dig deep for the material. I was extremely hard on myself and wanted to express something that I thought would connect rather than something people might like, so I started making video letters to myself and addressing them to the people in my life that I love and care for. Once I did that, the narrative for The Ridge began to reveal itself.
How was the recording process for the album? What was the studio vibe like? Any great stories from the studio or nuggets to share about the creative process overall?
Like I said, I tried twice. I think capturing something is about timing just as much as it is about preparation and experience. Take for example a photographer who captures that wondrous, fleeting moment in time with a click of their lens. Music is the same. In producing this record with my friend Saam Hashemi, we discussed how we wanted to finally approach it. The tracks needed to breathe and have a sense of life. We didn’t use any click tracks, and we decided to do as much of the record live off the floor as possible. All my vocal takes are one take and just as they are, which I’m very happy about. When instructing the band, I didn’t give them much time to learn the songs or arrangements. At first, my cousin Gene was a tad confused about that, but at the end of the day I do remember him commenting on how he loved that I kept him guessing. I have this feeling that the first time anyone plays something there’s this excitement that they have about being in it that is very hard to recreate. Once that’s gone, it’s not easy to get it back. You’ve got to step away and revisit the song later. That’s how I see it.
This is an extraordinarily personal album as each song is about family. Was it difficult for you to share these parts of yourself? How so? And also, was it therapeutic to tell these stories and explore these family dynamics?
Yes, it was difficult for me. When I recorded the video letters to myself, there were a lot of tears. Luckily, I was by myself walking in the woods with nobody around to witness my personal breakdowns. Life isn’t easy, and I’ve always had this fear of becoming a casualty. I don’t know how to quite pinpoint it, but it’s there. Perhaps part of it comes from being a Black Indian. I know that’s not very PC to say, but I don’t care. That’s how it was growing up, and my family has suffered from a lot of trauma. Trauma that has trickled down from generation to generation and continues, too. Speaking to that trauma, and speaking to myself about how I behave as a result of that trauma, is an ongoing conversation. I look at myself as somewhat of a cynical optimist and decided on purpose not to share everything within my compositions. Rather than lyrically tell the listener what’s happening in my head and heart, I try to paint a picture in their head and leave them with the feeling of what’s in my head and heart.
What do you think defines the Julian Taylor sound? How do you feel about the finished album?
People have told me that they find it hard to define what the sound of Julian Taylor is, and I can’t say that I blame them. I’ve always made music on my own terms. I’ve always set out to make music with deep, meaningful, emotional narratives and lingering hooks. It’s personal, it’s somewhat yearning and reflective, and always soulful. One review said: “ He’s the artist that, after one listen, you’ll wonder how on earth you haven’t heard of him before.” I really appreciated that comment because I’ve been told that when people hear my work that it has this way of becoming immediately familiar.
Each song I write is etched and carved out of my own human experience, one that I feel has really been lived so far and has a desire to keep on living. In one breath, one could say that the music fits into the folk category, and in another one could say it fits in the rock and soul bracket, but I’ve touched on blues and reggae and pop, too. At the end of the day, I’ve tried and will continue to carve my own path and create genre-free music with a generosity of spirit, because I believe so much in the healing powers of song. When it comes to what category I get placed in, I think I will leave that to the listener to determine.
Julian Taylor’s The Ridge is due out this Friday, June 19 on Howling Turtle Inc.
Album pre-order: https://ffm.to/k3dypj
Photo Credit: Lisa MacIntosh
