At Shaky Knees music festival, SCAD Radio Music Director El Smith met up with a few musicians. Among them was Taylor Janzen, a singer/songwriter with an interesting celebrity obsession.
What’s your favorite kind of bear?
Taylor- Polar bears are cute. They’re adorable. Koala bears are cute, too. I’d say a koala bear.
How do you like traveling? You’re from Canada?
I love traveling because I like being able to see so many beautiful cities. I live in Winnipeg, so there’s never a direct flight anywhere. It sucks. It’s nice to have a good “home base” for when I’m traveling. I love it! I like being out and about doing things.
Do you have a favorite place that you’ve done a show?
I did a showcase in New York, and I love New York. I just feel very comfortable there, which is weird because being from such a small city, I’m typically overwhelmed by big cities. But New York for some reason made me feel comfortable. I don’t entirely know why, but I’m very happy about it.
What inspired Shouting Matches, your EP that just came out?
It’s all inspired by life experiences… I wrote a lot about my religious upbringing mainly because songwriting is my way of sifting through things as I think about them. I wrote a lot about relationships, not necessarily romantic ones, but relationships in general. So just everything in my life.
Do you have a favorite song from it?
“New Mercies” probably, though I have a soft spot in my heart for all the different songs. “New Mercies” was the first time that I wrote [a] song and entirely envisioned what it would sound like with a full band. I went to Omaha and worked with [producer] Mike Mogis for this EP, and he just brought it to life in such a beautiful way. I think it’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.
What artists inspire you?
I’m really inspired by Brandi Carlile. The way that she sings with such vulnerability… she can go from doing a beautiful, delicate song to just screaming, and I think that’s so cool. I’m also inspired by MewithoutYou, they’re one of my favorite bands. The lead singer, his lyric writing has inspired my writing so much. Just how out-of-the-box it is and how honest at the same time.
I have to ask, I’m sure everyone does, what is it about Dennis Quaid?
It started as a joke. I really liked The Parent Trap growing up, it was my favorite movie. I really liked that video of him on Ellen when he went to Starbucks with the earpiece and was like “Dennis Quaid is here! Dennis Quaid wants a coffee!” So I’d start walking around everywhere being like “Dennis Quaid wants a coffee!” What started as a joke turned into real life, and now I love him. Then I had a song I didn’t know what to name. Everyone would give me suggestions and they were all stupid, but I was like “Screw it, I’m gonna name it after Dennis Quaid.” It has nothing to do with Dennis Quaid, but I’m gonna name it after him ‘cuz I love him.
Do you think you’ll go in a similar direction in future releases?
Yeah, I’m really loving the full band thing because when I did my first EP Interpersonal it was recorded in a house in Winter with my friend. I obviously didn’t have access to a full band, but I always wanted to play with a full band. For this EP, I got to do what I’d always wanted to do, and I really wanna explore more options with that.
For more on Taylor Janzen’s music, click here.
