Q & A with Jesse Taylor

Jesse Taylor's indie folk sound should be fairly familiar to our Coast readers, with the artist having performed quite often in our venues. With a new tune out in 'Waters', and an appearance at this weekend's Sea N Sound Festival at Mooloolaba, we thought we'd catch up with Jesse...

Hey there Jesse… congrats on the latest single, ‘Waters’. Compared to your earlier material, this
track’s production sounds different - almost deeper… was there a different approach or feel you
wanted for this song?

Hey there… Yeah, the song was actually recorded in my bedroom when I was bored. I have done
it before in previous tracks like ‘Take You Away’ and ‘Untold. However, I really enjoy the raw
production ‘muddy’ish’ sort of sound. I literally just plugged my mic into the interface and went from there in garage band haha! I like having a mix of different styles of production.

It’s very reminiscent of 90s Elliott Smith, with the drenched vocals, and the softer guitar…

Well… you have just introduced me to an artist I am not familiar with. I will definitely have to listen
to him sometime.

Will this be leading up to an EP later in the year? If so, who are you recording with, and when
should we expect to hear it?

Okay, so it’s either going to be a big EP or pretty much an album. I am planning to release the
“album” most likely nearing the end of the year.
So some of the tracks that need more instrumentation I am recording with Tom Dodd from Byron
Bay and Jarryd Adlam from the Goldy. They produced a lot of my previous ‘Coastline’ EP.
Some of the tracks will be recorded at my mate’s little studio and yeah where ever really. I just the
recording bit by ear. I like to work with many different people to through ideas around and what not!

You’ve got the Sea N Sound Festival coming up VERY soon (June 9th). Want to fill us in on that
one?

Yeah, so one day I got an email asking me to play this festival called ‘Sea N Sound’ but I didn’t really know what it was. I looked up the previous years and they had some cool local acts and some really rad major acts like Boy and Bear! So I didn’t really think… I was just like “yep I am in!”.
Especially when I heard Paul Kelly was headlining, what an Australian legend!
But yeah tickets are still for sale on the Sea N Sound website. It’s going to be such a good night!

AND, to follow up, you’re doing one of Solbar’s guest Selecta spots on June 10th. These are great little ‘gigs’ to showcase your influences OR, really mess with people. Any gems you plan on
bringing out for that?

So yeah, I got asked to do this little Solbar guest thing and was super stoked! It is going to be a
biography sort of thing but using music. So really, music that influences my sound and what I listen to. It’s very surprising to people, but it literally goes anywhere from Bob Dylan and Angus Stone to full reggae Alborosie, Peter Tosh to like some indie folk with bands like ‘The Paper Kites’. So it’s going to be a big mashup and I cannot wait!

Thanks Jesse!

Catch Jesse Taylor at Sea N Sound Festival this Saturday, June 9th (tickets here), and as guest DJ at Solbar on June 10th.