Grass Is Greener

einvention: it's a word that gets bandied around a fair bit these days, what with our ever-changing industry and the fast-paced nature of the world we live in. At a place in time when one of the world's biggest hip hop artists, at the hump of his life no less, can reinvent himself as a reggae hero hearkening back to the glory days of the genre, you know that there's some mystique about the whole idea of leaving behind your past and adopting a new charisma and perspective. At least, there is from the public view.

Grass Taylor is one such musician who has found himself in this specific stage of his career. After spending years playing in various hard rock bands, such as The Hot Lies, The Scissor File and Brock Downey, Taylor left it all behind and decided to travel the world. 2010 saw his return to the fray, with a brand new outlook on his music and a refreshed passion for it at the same time. It was a decision born out of the negative aspects of the recording industry, as much as a need to forge his own path. “From a creative perspective, it was quite refreshing to approach music from a different angle and strip everything back to just vocals and guitar,” Taylor begins. “But honestly, the decision wasn't so much made by me. I come to understand that I was never really in control of my career as a band member in a signed act. When you get to a certain level as a band, it's not just you and your band mates with a say. It's your label A&R, your manager, promoter, booker, publisher, publicist and so on. Sometimes it doesn't work out. So this time around I really wanted to steer clear of that whole scene and give it a crack as an independent artist, so I set up my own artist management company, signed myself and the rest is history.”

“History” might just be a perfectly apt word for it. In the process of establishing himself as an independent artist, Taylor discovered the work of his father, Taylor Sr, a hired gun drummer that toured during the '60s and '70s. He played for the likes of John Farnham, among others. It was a surprise revelation for the young artist, and a story that would eventually lead him to adopt the 'Grass' moniker for himself. “I only learnt the depth of my father's career recently when he slipped into conversation the time he played Festival Hall,” Taylor says with some amusement. “About six beers later, and he spilled the beans of his wild partying days in the '60s, jamming with John Farnham, touring with Billy Thorpe, kicking Rick Springfield out of auditioning for his group, all these classic stories from back in the day, and then came his stage name 'Grass Taylor'. Dad was a renowned drummer back [then] for his feel and intensity when playing live. He definitely taught me a lot about timing. I thought it would be cool to continue the legacy and keep the name alive.”

One intrinsic part of the story that led to the creation of Grass Taylor is the time he took to travel the world in the noughties. Returning to Australia in 2010, Taylor had visited three continents, culminating in time spent in the Amazon Rainforest taking part in shamanistic rituals with a local tribe. “It's hard not to be humbled going to a place like the Amazon,” Taylor says of the experience. “I spent weeks living among the Shamanic people of the Shipibo tribe, partaking in their Ayahuasca ceremonies and basically gaining a very real understanding of myself. My big realisation from it was that I could also use music for something more positive and beneficial, hence why I'm still on this journey as an artist.

Grass Taylor will be playing the following dates:

Sunday 16 December - The Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
Saturday 22 December - Valve Bar, Sydney NSW