Chris Taylor is a musical renaissance man: A serious musician since age 11, he plays a variety of instruments (including bass, flute and saxophone), produces records, manages his own label Terrible Records and now is making his debut as a solo artist.
Taylor, who produces and plays bass for the band Grizzly Bear, will be coming to the High Noon Saloon under the moniker CANT on Sunday, Oct. 16. His first album Dreams Come True is a radical shift away from Grizzly Bear's Beach Boy harmonies and poppy atmosphere, invoking dark city clubs with ominous electronics and vocals that seem to come from the shadows around streetlamps.
For Taylor, making a solo record was not much of a surprise to him, considering everything he does on a regular basis with Grizzly Bear and his label.
""I like working on music, and it's pretty much that simple. So I decided I'd make a record,"" he said. ""It's not out of step with my usual creative output, by any means.""
In addition, Taylor said making Dreams Come True was a nice break from his usual duties playing and producing for other people.
""Working on other people's records is really cool, very interesting, I learn a lot,"" Taylor said, ""but ultimately it requires a lot of my time and energy and stuff, and I just felt like seeing what would happen if I invested that time and energy into something a little more personally rewarding.""
For Taylor, pursuing CANT has been for fun, in lieu of greater recognition or attention away from Grizzly Bear.
""My solo stuff is my own direction, it wasn't some conscious, decisive effort to show my independence or any sort of cock crooning, feather puffing thing like that,"" he said. Taylor added, ""I am one fourth of Grizzly Bear, and [Dreams Come True] doesn't sound like Grizzly Bear.""
Taylor had much to say about producing, his method of producing and what he wants to achieve producing a certain band or artist.
""There's a certain amount where you have to let the musicians have fun and express themselves and make something they personally came with,"" he said. ""There's a point too where I feel I can help guide what they're doing, to a place I'll like more, and that they will also like more.""
Taylor also talked about managing Terrible Records and how he came about deciding to start a label.
""As things progressed I guess, it seemed like an interesting and fun idea, in the sense that I record and work with bands, I thought it'd be cool if I could offer that,"" he said.
Taylor spoke broadly about the mission of Terrible Records as well.
""We're only going to release things we really, really believe in,"" he said. ""We need to keep things modest, so we don't over extend ourselves and disappoint the bands and let them down.""
Finally, Taylor talked about performing CANT material live and the response people have been giving him during shows.
""It's four of us all together—keyboards, drums, guitar, bass. I'm really happy with the band,"" he said. ""In many ways, I think we're kind of improving on the record, which is really exciting for me, to see it unfold.""
For Taylor, CANT is like a breath of fresh air in his otherwise hectic life.
""Having the full time job of Grizzly Bear and producing other stuff—I just have no time to sustain a kind of normal life—it's sort of been freaking me out lately,"" he said, laughing. ""I've sort of made a point to scale back … doing the parts I love the most, which is writing, recording, and going on tour.""
