This Bangles song sums it up for the day...sigh
Manic Monday on Wikipedia -
"I'm just tryna touch you,
Black hole, bright star
I can't help but love you" - Honey Don't Leave Me, Tender MisfitStewart Taylor |
“MAYBE WE SHOULDN’T TALK”
Stewart Taylor is out now with the visual for “Maybe We Shouldn’t Talk”, his catchy true-to-life pop tune about breaking ties with an ex-lover. Directed by Benjamin Farren and filmed primarily at Vasquez Rocks National Park in California, the video depicts the unraveling of Taylor’s last serious relationship. “It can be extremely difficult to move on from someone you love,” he reflects, “even when you know it’s bad for you. Sometimes the only thing you can do to stop the unhealthy cycles of a toxic relationship is to stop talking altogether.” Stewart Taylor’s "Maybe We Shouldn’t Talk" is being distributed independently and is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and all digital platforms.
“My ex and I argued over anything and everything,” Taylor continues from his LA home. “If there was a boundary that I set, he would cross it every time. I’m not saying he was a bad person. I did things, too, that hurt the relationship. It’s just that we all have our demons. I didn’t respond well to his and he didn’t respond well to mine. Some people simply shouldn’t be together.”
The video for “Maybe We Shouldn’t Talk” reflects on the song’s portrayal of the struggles of a venomous relationship. Taylor made sure to include a game of tug of war to depict the constant push and pull. There are also scenes with the two lovers chasing one another, battling it out and then passionately making up, all in front of a fantastical canyon backdrop. “It was fun to recreate my life through the lens of fantasy,” he says. He admits he took some creative license. “Did my ex and I ever fight and chase each other through a desert? No. But it’s more interesting to recreate our dynamic against that backdrop because it represents how it often felt for me emotionally.”Jake Dean Taylor plays the role of the ex-boyfriend in “Maybe We Shouldn’t Talk”. Australian Actor Stephen Multari and up and coming pop artist Kelechi also play troubled love interests in the video. Dancers are Kyle McCraw and former Glee cast member RILAN. Julie Vegliante, who has worked with Lady Gaga, choreographed the video. The role of the snake is played by Beau, a real-life sweet and well-behaved python that was provided by the same family of handlers who supplied Britney Spears with the seven-foot python she performed with in her “I’m A Slave 4 U” production at the 2001 VMA’s.
Stewart Taylor is an LA-based singer, songwriter, dancer, and MMG model. He grew up in a small town outside of New York City, performing in local talent shows and Lower East Side clubs. He graduated from Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
He has collaborated with a number of Grammy-nominated songwriters and producers including Charlie Puth, Kara DioGuardi, (P!nk, Katy Perry) and David Pramik (Selena Gomez) and has released multiple singles, notably 2019’s “Mess Your Hair Up,” 2021’s “Cover Boy”, and 2022’s “Maybe We Shouldn’t Talk,” a song Stewart Taylor premiered earlier this summer at California’s first-ever Venice Pride Festival.
“My look, sound, and artistry have changed dramatically since I first started releasing music in 2015,” Stewart Taylor acknowledges. “Back in college, I was heavily inspired by David Bowie and everyone I came across expected me to sing rock music. I love rock, but my heart is in soul and pop, more in the line of early George Michael and Prince. I’ve worked hard to get in touch with the R&B influences I grew up on and I’ve become a better dancer, singer, and songwriter in ways that I never could have imagined a decade ago.”
If there is one thing Stewart Taylor has learned these past few years, it’s the importance of great friends, creativity, and walking away from unhealthy relationships. “I learned the hard way that being half of a destructive duo will never make a person whole,” he says. “Walking away is so much easier said than done, but if I can leave the toxic relationship I was in, I believe anyone can.”
Stewart Taylor’s “Maybe We Shouldn’t Talk” is being distributed independently and is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and all digital platforms. Visit stewarttaylorofficial.com. Follow on IG @imstewarttaylor
Brandon James Gwinn Releases “You’ll See,”
a Duet with Broadway’s Alexa Green
The Second Single and Music Video from His BULLIT Album
Brandon James Gwinn and Broadway’s Alexa Green sing in the new video for “You’ll See,” the second single from Gwinn’s BULLIT album. Written by Brandon James Gwinn and co-produced with M.P. Kuo, the song is a pop country crossover track, in the vein of Shania Twain and Lady A, and follows Gwinn’s previous release, “Cristal Conners.” While the track may feel like a 180 departure from the comic queerness of “Cristal Conners,” the two songs are actually quite similar in their country roots and unconventional storytelling. “I think both are indicative of the eclectic journey of the album as a whole,” explains Gwinn. “Much of BULLIT is about how life and love can be beautifully chaotic, and “You’ll See” acknowledges the mess. It says “I don’t know what I can promise you and it might be a disaster, but I don’t want to leave and neither do you, so let’s figure it out.”
“The song is an anthem of faith,” adds Alexa Green. “Its two people on the brink of deciding which path to choose. Go forward and risk it all or end things where they are and possibly never know what could have been. Everyone wants to be in love, right? The question is; is it worth the risk?”
“You’ll See” is being distributed by Indie Chameleon and is available on Apple Music, Spotify and all digital platforms, along with Brandon James Gwinn’s BULLIT album. Its video is available on YouTube.
“This song combines emotional influences from a couple of different relationships I’ve been in and out of over the past few years,” Gwinn continues from his NYC home. He wrote “You’ll See” with Alexa’s voice in mind. “I just kinda naturally heard her singing it in my head, so I leaned into that and made it a duet.”
“When Brandon told me he wrote us a song, I was all over it,” says Green. “Brandon is my best friend. I will always sing anything he ever writes but honestly, the song is so haunting and catchy. It really speaks to me.”
Brandon James Gwinn and Alexa Green met ten years ago, shortly after Green completed the San Francisco production of Wicked. They connected on many levels, sharing a love of amazing meals, travel, taking too many selfies, and glam. They have been best friends ever since and regularly work together, with Green singing demos for Gwinn’s musical works and performing in many of his readings.
They have fun, in-and-out of the studio. “Alexa has definitely almost gotten into a bar fight for me when some drunk guy was spewing homophobic garbage,” laughs Gwinn. Brandon James Gwinn is a queer man who identifies as gender fluid.
Their tomfoolery can be seen in the music video for “You’ll See.” Filmed by Tyler Milliron, the studio footage is legitimate B-roll. “OK, there’s not always champagne in our sessions,” Gwinn admits, “but there was that day, and I definitely didn’t mean to spill it all over my producing partner, M.P. Kuo… or did I?”
Brandon James Gwinn was raised in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee. After college at Middle Tennessee State University, he continued his studies at NYU, earning his MFA in musical theatre writing. He has enjoyed a prolific career in theatre, writing ten stage musicals that have had various levels of production from college to regional and even Off-Broadway. He was nominated for a Drama League Award and won the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Richard Rodgers Award for his and EllaRose Chary’s musical TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix.
He entered the pop realm with the production of two albums for RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Trixie Mattel: 2017’s Two Birds and 2018’s One Stone; both of which he performed on. He released his first EP, Not Too Late, in 2018 and performed the songs live as opening act of Trixie Mattel’s USA tour.
Visit brandonjamesgwinn.com. Follow him on Instagram @ brandonjamesg.
Michael Fairman |
Michael Fairman’s Shot at Music Stardom is
“Better Late Than Never”In “Better Late Than Never,” Michael Fairman responds to those who believe he has missed his chance at attaining his music dreams. Written and produced by Fairman and Kyle Mangels, “Better Late Than Never” is a soulful groove song, the likes of Tinashe, that combines the classic R&B harmonies of a Stevie Wonder tune with the Pop/R&B feel of a modern-day Nick Jonas track. The song’s message is simple yet profound: if you believe, you can achieve. “If you want something bad enough, isn’t it worth trying for it rather than forever wondering, ‘what if’?” Fairman asks. It’s an appeal that has special relevance today as the world prepares for the Olympic games. It reminds listeners that sometimes, in order to reach one’s goal, you must first endure heartache, pain, negativity, and disappointment.
“I originally considered calling the song ‘Hail, Mary’,” Michael Fairman continues from his Los Angeles apartment. “Unfortunately, it didn’t fit vocally with the song, but I love the analogy: it’s the final moments of a football game and there are mere seconds left on the clock, and the quarterback must throw the ball into the end zone and pray his receiver catches it. Nine times out of ten, the ball will be dropped, and the game is lost. But if it’s miraculously caught, you score, and it’s victory!”
“Better Late Than Never” builds on Michael Fairman’s previous releases, “Thing About Me” “Can’t Let You Go” and “Other Side”; three songs about the seemingly insurmountable challenges faced by the underdog, whether at love or in life. Michael’s songs are often-anthemic in nature and while they reflect on the harsh realities of the human condition, they offer positive messages of inspiration that can fit into listeners’ own life stories, encouraging them to feel and know that they are not alone.
“As a man in mid-life trying to get my music heard, I know about climbing mountains,” says Fairman. “I am told multiple times a week that this is a pipe dream, but I don’t let it stop me. I’m proud to be representing boomers. It may have taken me an extra thirty years than it did Shawn Mendes to get to this point, but my life experience makes me more confident now in my craft as a singer-songwriter. I know my strengths and weaknesses, and how to deliver a potential hit song, so I guess it truly is, ‘Better Late Than Never’.”
Michael Fairman grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Music was always his passion and first love. As a teen, he released his first recordings through a small label in Chicago. Once he graduated high school, he moved to Los Angeles and then to New York to pursue his career as a recording artist. He formed a band to back him. They performed in clubs, recorded, and tried to get the A&R reps from the record labels to come out to his showcases, but due to a myriad of excuses, they seldom came. The rejection and the financial drain eventually convinced Fairman he needed a major change. He put music on hold and moved back to Los Angeles where he began a career in TV Production and entertainment journalism.
“The time wasn’t right, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try again,” Michael Fairman says. “Back then, artists were at the mercy of someone seeing them live in order to land that major label deal. In today’s digital age, artists can put out their music for the world to hear and decide if it fits their musical tastebuds.”
Michael is ready to lay it all on the line. Even a pandemic won’t stop him. When he and his team went to record “Better Late Than Never” in early spring, commercial studios were still closed due to Covid restrictions. Fairman recorded all the vocals from his apartment while Kyle Mangles engineered the single from his home studio.
It’s why Fairman names one particular line in the song as his favorite: Don’t want to be left behind, because I’m working overtime. “We’re all on the clock, life is going by, and for some, things come easier than others. Figuring out how to make things work with the technology available during Covid threw a bit of a curveball my way, but we worked through it. I learned so much from the process, grew as an artist, and the fact that this song sounds just as good as if we cut it in a studio makes me realize that when the time is right, one can be unstoppable.”
Michael Fairman’s “Better Late Than Never” is being distributed independently and is available on Apple Music and Spotify. Follow Michael Fairman on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
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