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Taylor Sorensen
We met and got to chat with Taylor Sorensen at the 2005 GMA Week activities in Nashville...
MQ: Your latest album, what are some of your influences?
TS: Lyrically, I'm a poetry fan. So, I like to not necessarily just go right out there and say it, but rather paint a picture. A lot of times, I think a picture or a story can tell you something about love, hope, peace or something a lot better than just saying 'love', 'hope', 'peace'...do you know what I mean? Musically, some of my biggest musical influences have been Bruce Springsteen, U2...a lot of other classic stuff like the Who, or Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin.
MQ: How would you describe your sound to someone who is not familiar with it?
TS: I've heard it described by other people probably better than I could describe it, so I'll describe it that way. Some people say "like an English Tom Petty" - or like "an American Echo and The Bunnymen" or something like that.
MQ: I noticed the Overflow title came from a John Piper book. Can you talk a little about that?
TS: Yeah, it came out of this book that he wrote that I read last summer - 'Desiring God'. It just really had a big impact on me. In that book, his definition of love 'is the overflow of joy that gladly meets the needs of others.' Love is sort of a big theme for me in my music. Just because, I believe that real love, when used right, is incredibly powerful. We live in a world where there are millions in need of it. A lot of the stuff I sing about is sort of a call to the church, that we need to 'step up'. But also, it appeals to a broader market because everybody has some idea of love - and it connects to people in ways that other certain ideas wouldn't necessarily.
MQ: What would you hope that the listener would get from your album?
TS: I just want to do what other music does for me. Like the stuff that I'm inspired by, I want my music to inspire others - whether that's inspiring them to do good art, to create well - that's great. The big thing for me is inspiring someone to think twice when they walk out the door and come across this homeless man, you know what I mean? Rather than just passing by, maybe one of my songs will make you think twice about, "How do I react to this person?" (and think about this person )?
MQ: What do you love most about music in general?
TS: Umm, I think just the power that it can have. And the power for change and for action. There's not a whole lot of other kinds of medias that I think can move people to do amazing things. The down side is that music has been used to inspire people to do some pretty terrible things, but when it's used as I believe it ought to be, it can inspire you and me to do some pretty revolutionary stuff. I think that's what God intended it for - to cause people to change, and think about their lives and other peoples lives in different ways.
MQ: Yeah, there's a quote where someone said, "I don't care who writes the laws, show me the ones that write the songs" ...referring to the power that songs can have on people. It lead to a cultural phenomenon. It's arguable that Bono is just as much or more influential than our elected representatives because he seems to be more active and involved where others may seem to be just all show.
TS: Yeah, he's got a song, "Where the Streets Have No Name" to back him up! (laugh)
MQ: Exactly!
TS: That causes a lot of people to move in different ways than a politician saying, "Here's what we need to do." You know what I mean?
MQ: Yeah.
Switching gears a bit...are you touring right now?
TS: Right now, we're kind of in this waiting period. I'm playing one-offs here and there, but a lot of the stuff we're doing right now is trying to setup showcases because we're working on new stuff and getting it ready to showcase for some other groups of people.
MQ: So, you're currently working on writing new material?
TS: Yeah. Most of it has been written.
MQ: Is there any kind of theme?
TS: Hmmmm, music will always be that agent for change, you know? So, a lot of the same things will be there. Musically, it's definitely more rock and roll and not as smooth as the last album. It's certainly darker than the last album - I'm a little bit more angry on this record. (laugh) One song is called, "Has anybody around here heard anything about love" - which is a long title I know - but I'm just kind of writing from a new perspective. I've started, rather from writing from my own experience, thinking about what it would be like to be this person and writing from their perspective. So, this song is kind of from a homeless person's perspective. I'm trying to think about what this guy thinks when a thousand people walk out of church and pass him by. You know what I mean? They don't give him the time of day. So, he's asking the question, "Have any of you guys heard about love? Do you know - because I could really use it. You are the ones who are supposed to be giving it and I'm not getting it."
MQ: True.
TS: Towards the end, he gets pretty angry. Because if I was in that situation, I think I'd be pretty ticked off at those people - especially the ones that you know are supposed to be a certain way (laugh) - and they're not! So, in that sense, you want people to come across that and be changed - and that maybe next time they come across some homeless man, they'll think, "Is he asking that question in his head as I walk by"...which may then make that person stop and actually acknowledge this man and find out what's going on in this guy's life. And if anything, take him to get a bite to eat - you know what I mean? That could be the difference between a good and bad day for that guy. So, yeah, it's kind of a new take on things for me - and just trying to write from another person's perspective.
MQ: On tour, what can people expect? I assume you'll have your full band?
TS: Yeah, I try to do that as much as possible. Rock and Roll just doesn't translate as well by myself! (Laugh)
MQ: You've worked with World Vision, correct?
TS: Yeah.
MQ: Can you talk a little bit about what you've done with them?
TS: World Vision has really helped me do what I do and connect it and give it a tangible form. Because a lot of people are like, "I hear you sing about this stuff, but how can I help?" - and I say, "Well, here's World Vision and they can help out this way..." So, you can sponsor a child - that's one way of helping. World Vision is an organization that helps underprivileged classes in third world countries, basically. The bit of World Vision that I work with is called The Hope Foundation - and the focus is to help children and orphans in Africa - specifically. So, it helps me and in turn I'm hopefully helping them - for obvious reasons - by the packets for sponsoring children. So, it's just a way for me to go, "Ok, here's this person's hand and here's World Vision's hand - and maybe all of the three of us together can make really amazing things happen for a family. That's just another way for me to put love in motion, like I'm trying to push other people to do. I need to be just as much of a mover and a shaker as I'm calling other people to be. I'm also involved with the International Justice Mission. I think as an artist, any opportunity you get to have an effect like that on your world, you should take it. The thing that I try to make clear is that you don't have to be an artist to make this stuff happen. This is the role that I get to play, to help make people aware of what's going on and help to bring ends together so that you can have someone to work with - like World Vision, or International Justice Mission. If you go to their website, you'll find out how to get involved and help these orphaned girls who are being thrown into the worst situations imaginable - and help International Justice Mission get those kids out of those situations. So, you take a step back from it and look at it and go, "I'm here - World Vision is here - International Justice Mission is here - Pure Vida Coffee is over here (which helps work for free trade and help farmers in third world countries get a fair price for their product so they can, in turn, buy medications and things that they need). And then you've got the listener over here...who finds out about those things because it's on a website or I talked about it at a show or something like that. Then you get a whole other vision of the body at work. It's hard for me to see these things and go, "Oh, I'll only work with you" or whatever. If anyone picks any of these things, it's great because that means someone is connected to World Vision, or someone is connected to Pure Vida Coffee and getting their life changed. But at the same time, if I take on every one of those that come my way, I might not be able to help as much as I could by working with a few. You can never assume that someone else will do it, but you can not also put so much pressure on yourself to think that you're the only one who will.
MQ: Yeah, it's important to stay balanced.
TS: God didn't call you to do everything. He calls you to do what you can.