David j Taylor Recording Artist Biography
David j Taylor is a highly prolific Canadian Recording Artist and award winning Record Producer based out of Campbell River BC. David grew up in Calgary Alberta and began songwriting at age 12. He moved to Vancouver BC in 1990, where he recorded his first 10 song album "Graphic Profile", a self-produced effort that David wrote/recorded/engineered and mixed on a 4-track tape recorder. Realizing he had a new-found love David decided to pursue a career as a record producer, recording engineer and began work at the world renowned Greenhouse Studios (54-40, Nickelback, k.d. lang) in 1994 after a few years of freelancing and attending recording school at CDIS in Burnaby. That same year David founded the Vancouver Ska-Pop-Punk outfit "Big Cookie". The band would go on to tour Western Canada over 20 times in the 90s, releasing 4 studio albums and 2 music videos in that period. David also began performing as a side-man in the industry/hardcore/folk outfit "Biffy Perdu" in 1999 and did 2 tours.
In 2000 David and his partner Russ moved to Regina Saskatchewan where he continued producing records and began work as an audio post engineer/music supervisor in Saskatchewan's growing film and television industry. He founded the Regina rock outfit "Dollar Store Mary" in 2001 and released 2 albums 01-04. He also performed as a side-man in the Regina rock outfit "Whyte" at this time. David then moved on to play with the outfit "Generals and Majors" from 2003-2006, the group released 1 album. As a solo artist, he continued through the 2000s his torrid pace and released 6 solo studio albums. Through the 2000s David also continued touring, seeing him hit the road a further 15 times, and seeing David perform for the first time east of Winnipeg (he played in Montreal in 2005). In 2006, David began flirting with Kim Fontaine and Northern Pike founder Jay Semko in a number of capacities. The 3 "Amigos" finally got together in 2010 and made a full-length album as the new trio "Semko, Fontaine, Taylor". David then went on to produce/record and release his 15th album "Goodbye Hazel" in 2011. In 2012, David and his partner moved back to BC to live in a purple house on a hill in Sechelt. David continues writing new material for his 16th album - but at this time he records/produces one song at a time and posts them on his soundcloud page as they are realized - for eventual inclusion on a full album. An exciting change. David has also become a prolific abstract painter with the move back to BC, alongside his love of abstract painting. David spent the majority of the 2000s live looping with a line6 DL4 pedal (a la Imogen Heap). David occasionally performs in this manner these days but also prefers the intimacy of simplistic live performance - just voice and either piano or guitar. Either way; Live - David j Taylor is the consummate seasoned performer.
Career Highlights:
15 album releases 1990-2011
Over 30 Western Canadian Tours 1994-Current with: Big Cookie, Biffy Perdu, Dave Taylor, Semko Fontaine Taylor
2007 Western Canadian Music Awards "Producer of the Year" Winner and 2008 WMCA Producer of the Year Nominee
Worked on 2012 Academy Award Nominee "Wild Life"
Has toured with" nomeansno guitarist Tom Holliston, Dave Lang, Jasmine Whenham, Geoff Berner, Michelle Boudreau, Kim Fontaine
Has shared stages with: limblifter, The New Pornographers, Men Without Hats, Odetta, Danny Michel, The Northern Pikes, Speed Control
Mainstage performance at Regina Folk Music Festival
Headline performance Smithers Music Festival 1998
Has performed live on VTV, CiTR, CTV, CBC TV/Radio, CKUA, MuchMusic.
David has seen songs he has written or co-written placed in sync with Kyle XY (ABC Family), Degrassi The Next Generation (CTV), Stoked and the feature film "Surveillance" by Jennifer Lynch (Producer David Lynch).
4 Saskatchewan Flatland Music Festival Main Stage Performances 2000-2005
Side-man performance with Juno Award Winner Cara Luft, 2008 WCMAs
Side-man performance with Kim Fontaine SXSW 2008
SXSW performance with Semko Fontaine Taylor 2011
Album Catalogue:
1990 Dave Taylor "Graphic Profile"
1994 Big Cookie "Just Baked"
1995 Big Cookie "Log Hop"
1996 Big Cookie "Golden Hips"
1998 Big Cookie "Clean"
2000 Dave Taylor "I'm Pretty"
2000 Dollar Store Mary "For your listening pleasure"
2001 Dave Taylor "I'm Still Pretty"
2002 Dollar Store Mary "Self Titled"
2003 Dave Taylor "My Aren't you pretty"
2004 Generals and Majors "Self Titled"
2004 Dave Taylor "Taylor Made"
2005 David j Taylor "This Town"
2006 David j Taylor "Don't throw it away"
2009 Semko Fontaine Taylor "Heartaches and Numbers"
2011 David j Taylor "Goodbye Hazel"
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2011 Release of "Goodbye Hazel"
Goodbye Hazel is David's 15th album release as a solo artist and with various groups since the early 1990s and is David's first solo release since 2006's "Don't throw it Away" and 2005's "This Town". David is also excited to tell the world that he and his partner have moved back to BC and are now located in beautiful Sechelt, on the sunshine coast.
"I was running at an album a year pace from '94 to '06 with constant touring, media promotions, tv/radio appearances and the like. I was always producing records for others all the while, alongside audio post work in TV/Film as Music Supervisor and Re-Recording Mixer and saw my production/engineering career take off so much so after winning the WCMA Producer of the Year award in 2007 that I no longer had the time or energy to really go after my own music as such for a time. It was really the making of the album with Jay Semko (of Northern Pikes fame) and Kim Fontaine in 09/10 and subsequent promotion/touring of that SFT album that led me to get the itch to get back on the horse... so to speak," says Taylor. "In 2011 I applied for funding to make a new album and received a Rawlco Radio 10K20 grant alongside and FACTOR demo award. With their generous support I was able to full-release this album," says Taylor... beaming with excitement! "I just can't wait for people to hear my music again... it's been awhile".
2011 saw David step outside of the recording studio and back into the limelight. His recent album release with Saskatchewan Super-Group, Semko, Fontaine, Taylor "Heartaches and Numbers" (released Nov 2010 on Busted Flat Records/Universal Music) saw the group perform at The South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) in Austin Texas in March and tour the prairies. David performed live on CBC radio to release the new album in April 2012. The recording has since been played on Souns Xchange in Saskatchewan and is slated for an eventual Canada Live broadcast, which will be David's 3rd recording to appear nationwide on CBC radio (alongside his 2006 solo recording and SFT's 2011 live recording).
"It just felt like the right time to get back out there," says Taylor. "I mean, don't get me wrong, in my career I've produced albums for tonnes of great artists and I'm so thankful with how my career has panned out. Out of respect for their creative processes I've had to silence my "inner songwriter/artist" as it were. I've also lead this double life as an audio post professional as a Music Supervisor, Composer, Re-Record Mixer, Foley Artist and a myriad of other creative things. All that work in audio has had a tendency to leave me feeling creatively spent, but then along came Semko, Fontaine Taylor and a chance to play music for the sake of music again. As I hold this master recording in my hands, so to speak I just can't wait for everyone out there to hear these songs and be like "that producer guy is a SONGWRITER too?".
Professional:
3 Time Juno Award adjudicator, 5 Time WCMA Judge, Gemini Award adjudicator, Yorkton Short Film Festival Judge and past Factor Super Jury Participant
Record Producer: Over 120 album productions 91-16 Notables: Geoff Berner "Light Enough to Travel", Despistado "The Emergency Response", Megan Nash "Tough Love", Smokekiller "13", Sylvie "I wish I was driving", Ultimate Power Duo "We're in Control Now", Joel Fafard "Fowl Mood". 2007 WCMA Producer of the year award winner and multiple WCMA nominee.
Audio Post (as foley recording, music supervisor, re-record mixer): 6 Gemini Award Nominations for Best Sound 00-10 Notables: Corner Gas, Betrayed, Saskatchewan River Delta (re-record Mixer), Prairie Giant "The Tommy Douglas Story, The Englishman's Boy, renegadepress.com, Wild Life (National Film Board Animated Short - Foley Recordist)
