Born Roland Stephen Taylor on December 9, 1957, Steve Taylor grew up to become one of the most intelligent, energetic, humorous, and outspoken artists in the music industry. A Christian who isn't afraid to criticize or mock Christianity (when due), he has also become one of the most incindiery and controversial musicians the world has ever seen, earning a good dose of character assassination in a book by Jimmy Swaggart, and even having a major portion of a tour cancelled due to his controversial lyrics.
Even his primary influences are unorthodox for a Christian singer. He writes, "When I picked up the Clash's 'London Calling' it all finally made sense. Musically, that album saved my life. It had raw passion, it had lyrics that were a slap across the face, it had everything but hope. The Clash saw the problems of the world with startling clarity, they just weren't offering much in the way of solutions. To sum it up, I'd found my mission".
Why is he so controversial? Just listen to songs like "I Want To Be A Clone", "I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good", "Lifeboat", "Jesus Is For Losers", or "Easy Listening" and you'll know.
He says, "Probably the thing that drew me towards writing the kind of songs that I do is because I think you have to engage people's minds, as well as their emotions, in an effective presentation of Christianity, and it's very hard to do that. Much of modern Christian songwriting does a really good job of engaging the emotions, but doesn't do a very good job of engaging the mind. Probably some of the satire and word play in the songs that I write is a result of feeling that that's an important element of it all."
Taylor was also a member of the all-too-short-lived band Chagall Guevara (their name taken from artist Marc Chagall and freedom-fighter Che Guevara. Hmmm.perhaps a statement about artistic freedom?) which, though comprised of Christian recording artists, recorded for a mainstream audience on the MCA label. Their only album received rave reviews in publications such as Rolling Stone, but due to lacking promotion on MCA's part, sold poorly. Never being given a second printing, the CD is now widely-sought, but difficult to find. Chagall Guevara toured the U.K. in 1992 as the opening act for Squeeze.
Speaking of touring, his concerts are known to be a little wild. Regarding his last tour, Steve says, "It was a pretty physical tour. You can hear it in the recording (The "Liver" CD), especially the parts where my voice goes in and out from thrashing around. I came home with plenty of souvenirs: a cracked rib in Colorado Springs, a bloody nose in Lancaster, cuts and bruises virtually every night. In Houston, while doing the obligatory cartwheel, I somehow kicked the tuning peg right off of Wade Jaynes` bass, It was a perfect, clean break, and it just sailed across the hall over the heads of the audience. The guys in the band quickly learned when to duck and where to dodge, but I think the nights with smaller stages made everyone a little edgy. And of course, audiences now are much more physical too, as far as moshing in the pit. Its actually a lot more fun playing live these days than it was ten years ago. It seems like the wall between stage and audience is a lot thinner these days."
Having become disillusioned with the constraints imposed by both mainstream and Christian recording labels, Steve has only recorded one solo studio album in the last decade. He says, "The music business needs to undergo a radial re-alignment.Record companies have too much power and artists get treated like indentured servants." Oh this is a fan-site. In 1997, Taylor formed his own record label, "Squint", so that he, and the bands which sign with the label, can record without being stifled by the difficulties he's had in dealing with other labels. One band that signed, Burlap To Cashmere, was courted by many major record labels, but were refused when they refused to tone down the Christianity in their lyrics. Squint was about the only label that would give them mainstream exposure without constraining their lyrical integrity. Sadly, the label was disbanded in September 2001.
In the last several years, Steve has taken to writing and producing for artists such as Phil & John (folk), Guardian (heavy metal), The Newsboys (pop-rock), and Sixpence None The Richer (alternative). Squint has already released CDs by Sixpence NTR, Burlap to Cashmere (folk-rock), The Insyderz (ska), Waterdeep (light rock), and Chevelle (hard rock).
Taylor says, "My generation didn't listen to politicians or sports heroes. We got our world view, for better or worse, from our music. The trick was discovering how to communicate my Christian world view in a medium that mattered."
He also says, "It is probably true that I've written songs in the past, sort of cautionary tales and they were cautioning myself as well as the listener. I suppose I've set my markers on life's path as far as different songs to nail down a stake in the ground to, 'Don't cross off into that direction because you wrote songs like that and you're going to look like an idiot if you do.' The fear of embarrassment can be very potent."
