I was 21, and I was like, "Man, am I really gonna start over and try this whole thing over again? Do I want to start over and be in a rock band again and try to act like a 17-year-old for as long as I can?" Because that was what I was doing with Simon Dawes band. I decided that if I was going to go on playing music, I was going to try and work on it. So I got into Leonard Cohen and Will Oldham, guys that really inspired me not only as songwriters but also through their music as people, and that's kind of what the shift was for me.
Taylor GoldsmithI'm hoping that when people hear a live Dawes song on YouTube or at a show and then they get that studio version, hopefully they're excited, rather than saying, "Oh man, I wanted completely new material I've never heard before."
Taylor GoldsmithThat's happened a couple times: Billy Joel. It was just, "You sound like Billy Joel." And I get really upset about that. No offense to that guy, but it's not for me.
Taylor GoldsmithI understand why some bands don't like test new songs, but for us it's been very helpful and it hasn't really backfired. I was nervous that our second record was - you know, you could hear the whole thing on YouTube before the album came out because we played it all live, but it ended up being something that people appreciated.
Taylor GoldsmithIt's not a lot, but we have 8,000 people following us. I get the biggest kick out of it, to hear words that I wrote and chords that I wrote being sung by somebody else. It's a true honor, and it might sound intense, but it's one of the most rewarding parts of the songwriting experience.
Taylor GoldsmithI think that the oversaturation of music market right now will eventually start taking care of itself, where some bands are like, "We just don't want to do it anymore," and other bands say, "Things just keep getting better." It just depends on where you bring your joy out of it. We're lucky because we are happiest when we're onstage.
Taylor Goldsmith