An Interview with Chris Taylor
We have many talented musicians at Oasis, including Chris Taylor and his band Midsummer. Recently, we caught up with Chris to ask him more about Midsummer, songwriting and what’s next for them as a band. Here’s a taster of their music; a song all about the greatest city in the world…
How did Midsummer form?
Lizzy and I played some folky Christmas carols as a one-off at the Oasis carols in December 2014, along with Josh Swan and Ben Williams. It was fun and we really enjoyed doing it. Danielle Wilson saw us at the carols and asked if we would support her band Eeek! at Impact the following October (10 months away). We didn’t have any songs, and Josh and Ben W were due to finish university and probably leave Brum that summer, but we said yes!
So Lizzy and I spent the next 6 months learning to write songs together, pulling together a short set and playing a few open mic nights. In the summer we started to gather musician friends, mainly from church and previous bands I’d been in. The idea was to have a ‘collective’ of musicians who could join in with Lizzy and me so that each gig would be different depending on who was playing. We played the Impact gig, and we kept getting asked to do more. We carried on writing songs and it grew from there.
Which gigs have been particularly memorable?
I love playing gigs and each one is memorable in one way or another. But there are a few highlights:
- The first ‘gig’ we ever played was at my house to a few friends and our neighbours as practice for the first Impact gig– that really felt like the start of Midsummer as it is now.
- It’s always great to play outside. The Impact Summer Sessions at the MAC was fantastic. And we played a gig for Birmingham Promoters at The Old Crown pub in Digbeth. We didn’t know what to expect from this one. The stage was an old shipping container, it was outdoors on a summer evening and there was a really fun audience. It was a fantastic night!
- We recently played a stripped-down set for BCU with a couple of other bands. It was a really small room with a small audience and it was being filmed and recorded by the Student Union. All the bands were rooting for each other and there was great sense of community and being on the same side.
But to be honest, I really think we’re at our best when playing acoustically in my living room. Anyone’s welcome to come round and listen some time!
What inspired you to start writing songs?
I’ve been trying to write songs since I was a teenager. Although there were some good moments I found it really hard and I think I was trying to portray myself as someone else. After a while I stopped. But when we started writing songs for Midsummer it was so much easier — it felt like I had something to say and I could just be myself.
I think a lot of my songs are about looking for home, community and a sense of belonging, and wanting to build something that will last. Lizzy’s songs are more immediate, I think, and describe specific situations and feelings that you can easily relate to.
I think between us we’d like to be like a combination of Carol King, James Taylor, Damien Rice, Eva Cassidy and Frank Turner!
Speaking for myself, I really love Frank Turner’s songs. I don’t agree with everything he sings about, but I love the honesty in his lyrics and how he paints a picture of his life, opinions and worldview. I find them really uplifting, and I like the way he’s trying to make sense of the world and gather people together.
I hope Midsummer makes music that’s uplifting, that creates connections with others, makes people want to join in and be a part of it, inspires hope and is fun to listen to!
How does your faith play a role in your music?
I’ve made a conscious decision to not try to write about my faith. I think I would have a tendency to portray things different to how they are, and pretend to be someone else. But I do want to write honest songs about me, my life and my views on things. So my faith plays a part in this music in that it plays a role in my life.
I think Midsummer has a sense of community about it, both within the band and also with the audiences we play to — I think the music draws people into it. And community is something I love about church — I think everyone is looking for that in one form or another.
I know some of the songs we’ve written have affected people in different ways, and helped them deal with things like being away from home or missing family. It’s an interesting surprise when a song you write means something to someone that you never intended when you wrote it.
Where can we catch Midsummer over the next few months?
Our last gig was at The Roadhouse in Cotteridge on Sun 25th September. This may be our last gig for 2016 as Lizzy and Gracian are getting married and Sinéad and I are expecting another baby. We’ll be back performing in the new year. We played a stripped-down gig at The Eagle and Ball on 17th September. It’s been recorded and a clip will be available online (I think) so keep an eye out for that.
In the meantime we’re in the middle of recording an album with Andy Gordon! We’ve been recording some songs over 2016 and I think we’re about half way through. We hope it will be ready around Easter time 2017.
We have an idea to collaborate with local artists we know, so each song has a piece of artwork associated with it (for example painting, cartooning, film, re-mixing, musical collaboration… ) If you want to know more, have any other ideas or want to or help us with it please let me know — I’d love to talk about it with you. We need help with the artwork, design, production, distribution, (and yes, the finance too!) and it would be great to get lots of people involved.
If you want to keep an eye on what we’re up to, you can find us on Facebook, Soundcloud and Twitter!
