Show Notes
Tune in to today's episode of LaunchLeft, where Rain Phoenix is joined by MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger to launch Johanna Samuels. Rain and MC engage in conversations about the artistic process, exploring how the emotions and creativity of artists contribute to the final musical outcomes. They agree on the irreplaceable human element in music creation and songwriting, asserting that AI will never replicate this human touch. Johanna and MC recount their initial meeting, her new record, and the importance of a songwriters community. Listen to the end to hear Johanna's powerful song "Holy Mother."
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LAUNCHLEFT OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://www.launchleft.com
LAUNCHLEFT PATREON https://www.patreon.com/LaunchLeft
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FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/LaunchLeft
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LaunchLeft Podcast hosted by Rain Phoenix is an intentional space for Art and Activism where famed creatives launch new artists. LaunchLeft is an alliance of left-of-center artists, a curated ecosystem that includes a podcast, label and NFT gallery.
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IN THIS EPISODE:
[02:OO] MC Taylor speaks about the inspiration for his music and his roots.
[07:35] He discusses the passion and process of creating music.
[10:27] MC Taylor talks about AI and its role in creativity.
[14:00] MC Taylor shares how he and Johanna met, and they all discuss playing in smaller local venues in the LA area.
[18:21] Johanna describes what her future schedule will be and discovers the “why” of what she is doing.
[21:52] MC Taylor talks about his current state of happiness, how that has affected his recent writing, and how he’s feeling now.
[33:15] Johanna describes her innermost feelings about music.
[35:38] Listen to Johanna as she sings Holy Mother.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Artists are influenced by their emotions and world events. They want to be able to write from their heart and not by what they are directed to write.
MC Taylor would rather create his music, which fluctuates financially, than secure jobs he hates.
AI fails to enable the humanity of music creation due to the absence of emotion in the creative process.
BIOGRAPHIES:
HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER “I went looking for peace,” says songwriter M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger about his new album Quietly Blowing It, out June 25, 2021, on Merge Records. “It’s not exactly a record about the state of the world—or my world—in 2020, but more a retrospective of the past five years of my life, painted in sort of impressionistic hues. Maybe I had the presence of mind when I was writing Quietly Blowing It to know that this was the time to go as deep as I needed to in order to make a record like this. And I got the time required in order to do that.” He pauses and laughs ruefully. “I got way more time than I needed, actually.” Quietly Blowing It was written and arranged by Taylor in his home studio—his 8’ × 10’ sanctuary packed floor to ceiling with books, records, and old guitars—as he watched the chaotic world spin outside his window. “Writing became a daily routine,” he explains, “and that was a ballast for me. Having spent so much time on the road over the past ten years, where writing consistently with any kind of flow can be tricky, it felt refreshing. And being in my studio, which is both isolated from and totally connected to the life of my family, felt appropriate for these songs.” Between March and June, Taylor wrote and recorded upwards of two dozen songs—in most cases playing all of the instruments himself— before winnowing the collection down and bringing them to the Hiss band. In July, the musicians, with Taylor in the production seat, went into Overdub Lane in Durham, NC, for a week, where they recorded Quietly Blowing It as an organic unit honed to a fine edge from their years together on the road. “We all needed to be making that music together,” he recalls. “We’ve all
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