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Skylyne Spotlight: Brock Taylor
- Edward Sun
- Aug 4
- 9 min read
Brock Taylor turns small-town restlessness, anxiety, and hard-earned work ethic into songs for the misunderstood.
Skylyne Spotlight: Brock Taylor
One of the best parts of working with independent artists is finding someone whose music immediately makes you curious about the person behind it. There are plenty of songs that pass through your headphones and disappear just as quickly, but every now and then, an artist makes you pause, go back, and spend a little more time inside their world.
Brock Taylor was one of those artists for me. There is something very direct about the way he presents himself and his music. Nothing seems overly polished for the sake of looking impressive, and there is a real personality behind everything he shares. When I checked out his social media, what stood out was that he wasn’t trying too hard to chase trends. He was simply being himself.
Brock’s debut album, Broke and Tired, is out now, and he is already moving into his next chapter with “Going South,” having released on July 24. Skylyne recently connected with Brock to talk about his life, his relationship with music, the path that brought him here, and what he is building next.
Skylyne: For people who are just finding you for the first time, how would you describe Brock Taylor as an artist? Beyond genre, what kind of feeling do you hope your music leaves people with?
Brock Taylor: When hearing my music for the first time, someone who grew up in the 90s or very early 2000s might think ‘hmm this feels familiar’. This is because I grew up listening to bands like Smashing Pumpkins, American Hi-Fi, Weezer, Radiohead, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and my favorite of all time, The All American Rejects. On top of that, I grew up in a very southern household which led me to listening to all of the country stars at that time. This leaked into my own creation of music, making some songs have a sense of “rebellion” while others are more hopeful and sweet. Music is my therapy. Most of the songs that I write, tend to write themselves. I later sit and reflect on what it all means, critique a few lines so it makes better sense for the listener, and only hope that they find some sense of therapy through the song.
Skylyne: Let's go back to the beginning. How did growing up in Milan, Tennessee shape the way you hear music, tell stories, or write songs?
Brock Taylor: Growing up in a small rural town definitely influenced my style of music. I was used to seeing people get stuck there post high school graduation almost as if they didn’t even know that they could leave. That part really freaked me out at a young age. I grew up racing motocross as well and for a long time I thought that it would be my ticket out into the world until I was at the age of 21. I officially hung up the boots due to head injuries throughout my career which has overall affected my mental health in present time. These mental health issues have found themselves in my songs plenty of times and has become something that I care much about spreading awareness for. During my youth, I was looking up to these bands that I had mentioned previously and was seeing only a sliver of the lives they lived through their live performances and music videos on YouTube because social media was not much of a thing back then. I didn’t know much but I knew there was much more out in the world that I wanted to be a part of. The music that I make today is a combination of fear, anger, drive, and hope for myself and others in my life.
Skylyne: Before those stories became songs, you were writing poetry. What role did writing play in your life at that time?
Brock Taylor: I wrote poems when I was younger because I struggled pretty badly with anxiety and depression. I could never get to sleep at night because of this and the only way to cope was through writing. Every night, I’d sit up in bed and write either a short or long form poem about the day that I had experienced. Then I’d lay down and read it over and over in attempts to memorize it until I finally fell asleep. Honestly, once it became music, nothing really changed. The only difference is that I write at any time of the day, sometimes have recorded versions and sometimes not but I still lay down at night and replay the songs in my head until I fall asleep. Like I said before, my music is my therapy and it always has been.
Skylyne: Music also came into your life through the drums. How has starting as a drummer affected the way you now approach guitar, melody, and songwriting?
Brock Taylor: Yes, I grew up playing the drums first because my oldest brother was a singer/songwriter at the time and wanted someone to jam out with. The only issue was that we were almost 10 years apart. He wasn’t sure if I’d be able to drum at such a young age but he had convinced my parents to get me a drum kit for Christmas. Sure enough, at the age of 7, I started drumming. My oldest brother and I began bonding through music even though he was thinking about going to college and I was thinking about what game I’m gonna play at recess with my friends the next day. We overplayed Foo Fighters and Nirvana songs together which shows in the music that I create now. As a drummer I never thought about chords, only feeling. When I started playing the guitar, I played based on feeling. In my opinion this makes my music feel unique in a way because I don’t always play the “correct” chords or necessarily structure the song the correct way. It also reflects in my strumming patterns, they often mimic a hi-hat/snare rhythm.
Skylyne: Outside of music, your early working life looked very different. What did working in telecom and construction teach you that you still carry with you today?
Brock Taylor: Working in telecom and construction taught me how much can get done in such little time if you absolutely grind at something. There was one time in particular when a storm came through and knocked down a 200 ft tower with several hundred customers being fed off of it. I was a part of the wireless department for United Communications at the time and we only had a handful of people. Half of those people were out of town on this occasion and I was on call. We dragged the old tower out of the way, reconfigured new equipment, set new guyed points, I stacked the new tower for an entire day, flew up new cables and equipment, powered it all on and had customers back up in under 72 hours with only 3 or 4 guys. That happened during my last week there, when I had officially decided to pursue music while living in Nashville. I use that work ethic as much as I can in music in hopes that it pays off one day.
Skylyne: By the time you left that work behind and committed to music, was there one song that made you realize what kind of artist you wanted to be?
Brock Taylor: The start of my debut album was “When You Call Me Home”. It was the first song that I wrote where I was like “oh, I get it now”. That song gave me a sense of direction and purpose that led to me writing the rest of the “Broke and Tired” album.
Skylyne: From there, Broke and Tired began to take shape. What made 2024 such an important turning point for you creatively?
Brock Taylor: 2024 was the year that I wrote the album. It all just began to click and I felt really good about where I was at as an artist. The producer who I was working with and still am to this day, Matt Royer, was originally just going to produce “When You Call Me Home”. Shortly after starting on production, I showed him a few more songs and he liked them so much that he wanted to do the full album. This was the year that truly catapulted my reality in music into really believing that I can make something of all of this.
Skylyne: Once you’re actually in the process of writing, what usually comes to you first—a melody, a lyric, a feeling, or something else?
Brock Taylor: My writing process can happen when I sit down with a guitar and start humming a melody and striking a few chords or when I’m driving in silence and start singing lyrics. It is usually very spontaneous and I like it that way. I’ve learned that when I “plan” to sit down and write a song, it doesn't always feel as complete as it does when it naturally comes out like it is ripened fruit, ready to be pulled from the tree that it grows on. Because of this, I try to live a little bit and take breaks from writing to allow my songs to grow and when they’re ready to be written, they’ll write themselves. With that being said, I love writing with others, in other genres whenever I can because at the end of the day I love making music and want to all the time. Writing other genres is a great way to learn more ways to write, sing, and play an instrument. It is also a great way for me to stop thinking about myself and my own music and to focus more on others and their music.
Skylyne: When a song begins to reveal something personal, how do you decide how much of yourself to leave in it?
Brock Taylor: The people who know me know that I am always me no matter who I am around or where I am. This translates in my music. I write for myself and don’t worry about what someone else might think of a line in my song. I’ve always leaned towards artists who you can seem to get to know through their lyrics because it’s just them. I think that has something to do with why I can get more personal in my songs as well.
Skylyne: For someone hearing your music for the first time, which song would you want them to start with, and why does that one feel like a good introduction to you?
Brock Taylor: With “Meadow Cove” literally being about the street that I grew up on, giving a quick backstory of me for the listener, I’d have to choose that song.
Skylyne: And once someone finds that first song, who do you hope continues listening?
Brock Taylor: Someone who might feel misunderstood or overlooked in some aspects of life. They experience a lot of self doubt and are looking for ways to change that. They might just be in it for the vibes as well, not everything has to be so deep. Life can be exhausting and music is a great way to cut ties with reality and just feel the music and some of my songs are great for that as well.
Skylyne: When you’re performing live, what do you hope people feel in the room that they might not get just from streaming the songs?
Brock Taylor: I hope that people see that these songs actually mean something to me, which helps them find more meaning in the songs. I use music as a way to let go and be more outspoken about some of the things that go on inside of my head. I want people to experience the freedom to be who they want to be and who they truly are, that is what makes us so special.
Skylyne: Bringing it back to where you are right now, is there a lyric you’ve written recently that feels especially close to you?
Brock Taylor: “While my face is all lit up, by things I’ll never touch, I’m doom scrolling as the world, it turns to dust”. In today's time, it’s so easy to get glued to your phone. Watching everyone else do everything while you’re not doing anything at all. It’s a reminder to put down the phone and go out and do things yourself because one day it’ll be too late to do anything.
Skylyne: Beyond the writing itself, what has been the hardest part of getting your music in front of the right listeners as an independent artist?
Brock Taylor: It can be frustrating at times to not have a budget for campaigning a song to a certain target audience. Throwing content out into the void in hopes that the algorithm does its job doesn’t feel “professional” and can seem like I’m getting very little out of a lot that I put into it. At the same time, I still find the right people, and it still blows my mind to know that there are people out there who are genuinely fans of my music.
Skylyne: Now for a fun question - since your story literally includes climbing towers, what feels more terrifying: heights, Nashville, or putting your most honest song into the world?
Brock Taylor: While I have definitely been in some sketchy situations on a pole and a tower, it can be mentally draining to put art out into the world. Something you work so hard on can feel like it’s all for nothing or not good enough. Something about that, whether I want to feel it or not, hurts pretty bad. This is why reaching out to artists that you listen to, even if it’s just occasionally, is so important. As an artist, knowing that one person is listening, is enough to move mountains.
Skylyne: Thank you so much again for taking the time to answer these so thoughtfully. To close things out, here’s your spotlight: what do you have going on right now, and what should people be looking forward to next?
Brock Taylor: After the release of my debut album “Broke and Tired”, I have since released a few singles that can be found on all platforms. There is a very big project in the works that is ultimately the biggest and best thing I’ve ever done up to this point in my career that will be releasing this late fall. Be on the lookout for “Shipwreck”!
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