Q&A: meet Taylor Roche, Auckland pop artist drops new release

22 year-old Taylor Roche has honed in on his passion for writing and has just dropped his third single Never Like That. The song came from the concept of what people become and how they react after a break-up. Showcasing this new side to their personality that wasn’t necessarily visible when together. Taylor captures the feels of a break-up with this punchy song that has a catchy chorus. 

The emerging pop artist from Auckland has always aspired to be a musician. From a young age music was something that got him firing. At age seven he grabbed the mic, got up on stage in front of a bunch of people and sang some classic Back Street Boys. The BSB’s were iconic let’s be real and Taylor really did want it that way. It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of a large group of people. After this year and being cooped up inside, I can barely speak to more than 4 people at a time.

More recently though his music has taken him across the globe to spend his time in New Orleans, Miami and Mexico, performing as the lead vocalist for a nine-piece pop party band that was based on the largest cruise line corporation in the world. A real Zack and Cody On Deck operation. 

We caught up with this New Zealand slice to talk about his new track, the bests lies to tell when you’re late and his 2021 goals.

Check out all that is Taylor below. Here’s a snippet of our conversation:

Hey Taylor, tell us a little bit about how you got into music?

Hey guys! Thanks for having me! Kinda all came about when I was 7, I was obsessed with the song Incomplete by the Backstreet Boys. I used to lock myself in my room after dinner and put it on repeat, pretending I was singing at their show - can imagine the rents got sick of hearing that haha. I entered a talent show at my school fair with that song, butchered it, and walked off with the biggest grin a 7 year old could have. My parents enrolled me for lessons and the rest is history really! The past 2 years I’ve been super lucky to be able to do music full time and it’s taken me all over the world which has been an absolute blessing.

Tell us a little bit about your new song Never Like That?

I recorded the first demo of Never Like That last year while on a cruise ship with my band in Mexico. It was about 1am and we had just finished a let gig. Prior to the set I had fallen out of a relationship and I remember just sitting in my cabin writing down feelings into my notebook. I know it sounds super cliché but expressing my feelings through lyrics is like therapy to me. Eventually I just hit record and the first vibe for the song came with the repetition of the phrase “you were never like that.” The song basically explores how some people completely change their personality or surround themselves with crowds that they never once associated with as a form of escape from the pain they feel inside after falling out with someone they once and still love. At the time, I was working via the internet with Auckland-based producer Sam Jones and when I got back to New Zealand, we knew it was a track worth pursuing and recorded it with our mixing-engineerJacob Rush back in Auckland.

What was it like filming the music video, are you excited for its release?

Yeah really exciting! It came out on the 19th! Initially I had actually budgeted for a proper music video project for this single earlier in the year, however due to a lack of funds with having my gig in America cut short, I started planning ways I could release a more simple visual project. I spent a night watching music videos of artists that I vibe with and noticed how commonly they release visualizers instead of actual music videos. I really like the simplicity of these types of videos so I decided to focus on more of a lyrical visualizer concept than a full music video project, in a way that will still be interesting and true to myself. I’ve always had a love for retro and vintage film grading and ‘old school’ music videos - for the Never Like That visualizer, I drew inspiration from Bob Dylan’s video for his 1965 song Subterranean Homesick Blues. That video is just him standing in the middle of a street, staring dead at the camera while flicking through his lyrics on pieces of paper - a super simple video that I just find weirdly captivating. I spent an afternoon just writing down the lyrics onto a notepad and filming myself flicking through them pretty motionlessly in a kind of vibey/retro attic room here in Auckland - and that’s the video!

Is performing something you love to do?

Without a doubt. That ecstatic high you get from being on stage is a feeling I can never get enough of. I actually used to be super into the musical theatre scene as well with probably my biggest theatre gig being cast as Sonny in an arena show of Grease in Dunedin back in 2016. That was a huge week-long show with sold out arena crowds - that was sick. I’ve recently been performing with my band over in America for the past year which for me has been an incredible developing curve in my vibe on stage as an artist. Having an impactful stage presence is not something that just comes with being an artist, it’s a craft within itself and when people come to my shows, I don’t want them to just watch me sing, I want people to come share an experience and feel something.

Who was your first celebrity crush and are they still a vibe?

Lizzie McGuire 100% and she will always be a strong vibe.

What’s the best excuse you’ve heard or used for being late?

To be honest I’m really low key in the sense that I’m not normally one to make up an excuse as to why I am late, I actually really hate being late to anything, although I am definitely guilty of blaming “the hectic traffic” a few times haha.

What’s your favourite line from any movie or tv series?

One line that kills me every time is Michael Scott on The Office when he says “I’m not superstitious....but I am a little sticious.” Everything about that show is so iconic it hurts.

What’re you most looking forward to for the rest of the year?

I’m currently planning out my live show which is super exciting! We’re now going back into lockdown again over here which is really niggly but it gives me heaps of time to create and plan ahead. There’s a few upcoming projects I’m working on which I am really excited for and obviously like everyone, am pretty keen to whip out the Xmas tree so we can hurry up and call this mare of a year and just start out fresh again for 2021. But definitely excited for gigs this summer!

Taylor’s lie for being late is simple and effective. I do the whole let the phone ring out a few times, not reply to a few texts then show up 30 minutes late and say “omg sorry, the Uber driver was taking me on the weirdest route and I accidentally sat in the front seat so I had to talk to him so I couldn’t reply,”.

Taylor’s music is exciting and fresh and we can’t wait for him to kick goals this year and next. Hopefully we can get over to NZ before the years end to go to one of his gigs.

Check out his new track below or head to our new Snap, Crackle and Pop 🎤 playlist to hear more fab songs like this one.

By Samuel Seedsman.