INTERVIEW: Taylor Sheridan on ‘Stories’, music and family
An in-depth conversation about a rich and varied creative life
[Listen to the audio version of the interview above or watch it on YouTube.]
When I interview an artist for the first time I have no idea how it will go. I do my research, I prepare my questions, and then I hope for the best. Primarily I hope that they will have a good experience so, by extension, the listener or viewer does, and maybe that person will then want to seek out the artist’s music or go and see them play live*. Once the interview starts, I never follow my questions to the letter; I follow the conversation instead. And one of the most interesting conversations I’ve ever had was with Taylor Sheridan.
Sheridan has already had a rich and varied life as a musician which includes releasing his first album, Troubadour, last year, and it continues with the release of his new single, ‘Stories’. He’s also been on tour with Jimmy Barnes, and that’s after spending five years as a member of the band Taxiride. So his musical life alone would have been interesting but there was so much more to talk about.
My opening question about his upbringing in rural Victoria led very quickly to insights into how he formed and what interests him as an artist. When he was a child his father was seriously ill, and instead of that sinking the family it led to the pursuit of a dream, and in that early example – of watching his father determine to follow the road that might have been otherwise not taken – we can see how Sheridan might have come to commit himself to the never-always-smooth creative life. His single, ‘Stories’, gives us a good sense of that life and hopefully there will be more songs soon.
This chat went for longer than I expected, and could have gone for longer still except it was nighttime and Sheridan has a young child and I figured he probably had things to do, like sleep! Hopefully there will be the chance to talk to him again soon.
Listen to ‘Stories’ on Apple Music
Listen to ‘Stories’ on Spotify