Q&A: Taylor Bickett Releases Debut Album ‘Nothing I Can't Undo’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY ELLIE KIM☆
Cooper Smith
TAYLOR BICKETT IS A STORYTELLER AT HEART — Taylor Bickett, a Nashville-based artist, has been putting out music since before she can remember. Originally from Indiana, Bickett attended Belmont University for college which was where she found TikTok and began posting her music online. Capturing the attention of many, she gained an audience which led to her start of releasing music. Bickett’s intimate lyricism and vocal range gracefully overlay organic folk-pop production, creating introspective singer-songwriter tunes that resonate universally.
This fall, Bickett will embark on a headline tour in support of Nothing I Can't Undo. The tour will include shows in Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston and more.
Bickett talks to Luna about authenticity that comes from writing and her new album, Nothing I Can’t Undo, along with her tour this fall.
Cooper Smith
LUNA: What made you want to start creating music?
TAYLOR: I feel like I just didn’t know how not to make music. From a really young age I was always attracted to music and constantly singing. I loved it. I don’t think I realized fully what role it would play in my life, but I knew it would play some role. I also really loved writing as a child and would always tell people I want to either be a writer or a singer. I didn’t realize at the time that there was a job that combined both of those things as a songwriter. When I went to college, especially in Belmont and in Nashville with such a songwriting town, it opened my eyes to it. I realized how much I enjoyed it and I felt like I could express my feelings in such a productive way and I could make something beautiful out of pain or something like that. I knew I wanted to start releasing music but I didn’t know how. I started posting on TikTok and then I realized that I was already doing it, and started seriously putting out music.
LUNA: What was your main inspiration for this new album?
TAYLOR: I have been really drawn to the softer and more organic stuff as of late. Some of my early stuff leaned more heavily into the more pop world. I’ve been really inspired by Lizzy McAlpine, Ryan Beaty, Samia, Maddie DIaz and Kasey Musgraves. I love Golden Hour. It's one of my favorite albums of all time. Phoebe Bridgers as well, I really like her producer, Ethan’s production. He worked on Phoebe’s old music and Ryan Beaty’s record.There was a lot of that sonic inspiration and a lot of my own creative vision. What the songs meant to me also influenced how they were produced. The last two songs are softer because the songs are more intimate and sensitive.
LUNA: What does the process of making a song start to finish look like for you?
TAYLOR: A lot of times, almost always I have ideas for lyrics. Sometimes they come at the same time, I’ll have a melody and the lyrics will be there. I think my brain just works in words. I’m a word person and that’s usually my jumping off point.
LUNA: What is your favorite song of yours?
TAYLOR: It changes a lot, but I would say right now I’m really connected to my song “Wild Dogs” because I felt like I've been wanting to sway that for a long time and didn’t know how to put music into words of how I was feeling. It gives me catharsis and it’s really special to me.
LUNA: You mentioned that you write a lot, I know for other artists they don’t start off as writers and mostly do singing. The writing aspect is something they have to learn, but do you think it came more naturally to you?
TAYLOR: Yes, I would say so. I actually do feel like I was so much more of a singer before I started songwriting more heavily because that was my first love. I would say that songwriting does come quite naturally as long as I’m honest with myself and how I’m feeling. It’s much easier to write when you’re honest with yourself, crazy how those words are. I will say that a lot of my songs come from just journal writing. The lyrics flow a lot easier than the music. That’s why I love working with producers, being able to marry the lyrics and sound together.
LUNA: A lot of the songs on the album are quite personal, do you find it easy to be vulnerable online and put out songs with such personal meaning?
TAYLOR: It is easier than I thought it would be. I think I'm an open book in general. I meet someone for the first time and tell them whatever they want to know. It’s easy for me to write vulnerable songs because that’s the way I am in the world. Though, sometimes it’s really easy to write about a breakup, but it can be harder to write about a self struggle. My song “Gold Star” is about feeling unworthy and unsuccessful. It's a song where I am talking to my younger self and telling her that it’s okay to just be yourself and you don't have to win. Talking about feeling unworthy is scarier than talking about how my ex screwed me over.
LUNA: Is there any song you regret making or putting out?
TAYLOR: That’s a good question. I look back at some of my old songs and I don’t actually hate it, it’s just from a different time. There is a song of mine on my first EP that I still love, but it is still particularly harsh on my ex. I do think now as a mature 27 year old, I was 22 when I wrote that, I do think I didn’t have to go that hard on him, but it is what it is.
LUNA: There is a rawness to your music, the prevalent themes of the real world very clear within your lyrics. Do you find yourself thinking about the state of the world a lot?
TAYLOR: For sure. I think it's impossible not to these days especially. I think that the state of the world, society, cultural norms, can’t not influence art. Even if I'm writing about my relationship with myself or a breakup, the wider world themes do get incorporated. The song I mentioned, “Wild Dogs” was about my ex and the thought was sometimes people who do bad things are just insecure and scared, because I learned that wild dogs eat their pray alive because they are scared that a bigger predator is going to eat them. Initially I did think about my ex, but as I started writing, I began thinking about the real people in the world who do awful things because they are weak and insecure. I think there are a lot of pathetic men who do awful things in the world. It’s definitely prevalent right now.
LUNA: For this new album, was there a specific message you wanted to put out or send?
TAYLOR: I heard someone say “You’re always just within the same song over and over” and I actually think there’s a beauty in that. I feel like the song I keep writing over and over is “It’s okay, give yourself grace. You are not horrible, you’re a human being” and all my songs, that finds a way in there. I would say the overall theme of the album is my indecision, my fear of commitment, my want for safety, my desire for adventure and it’s like a push and pull. That’s why the artwork for the album is me being pulled or pulling something. That is the main idea but the undercurrent is “You don’t have to have it all figured out. You can live in that limbo,” and as a control freak, I have a hard time with living in the in between.
LUNA: Within this album, are you talking about the same person? There is quite a shift in tone from a few of the songs, especially the switch from “Wild Dogs” and “Genesis?”
TAYLOR: No, it’s not. Pretty much all the good songs are about one muse and the bad songs are about another. I think I was processing one breakup at the same time as falling in love with someone else. The jumping back and forth and juxtaposition was the way my brain was working. The shift between the two songs is definitely the most intense in the whole album. Everything is horrible, you're horrible and then “lalala you’re happy and in love” but I think that’s just how it goes. While I did consider the tracklist order, I was focused on making it a story, not so much focused on the chronological order of it, but the ups and downs. I wanted it to be a listening experience that allowed people not to get so wrapped up in the order and being able to take the album as a whole whether you listen to it top down or however.
LUNA: One of the songs you previously mentioned, “Gold Star” is my favorite from the album. When I heard the songs, I thought it was about your childhood, your younger self and growing up with expectations? Was that how you meant it to be interpreted?
TAYLOR: It definitely is. I put a lyric video of mine as a child because how I envision it is the verses being from the perspective of me as a teenager feeling never good enough. The chorus is my current self talking to that version of me, so I jump back and forth. The chorus is saying “what’s the rush, what's the race” not just repeating it to my younger self, but also my current self because I still need it. I’m talking to her, but I am still her.
LUNA: “Something in me is rotten / Can I outrun it or is it too deep” is a lyric that really stuck out to me. It’s not exactly the typical growing up with academic pressure, what is the song about?
TAYLOR: I think that of course academic pressure is part of it, but you’re right, that line is a lot deeper. I think I felt this feeling, like I said earlier, for some reason I’ve had this belief that something is wrong with me. Like there’s a piece of me missing, everyone else is complete but I am not there. That has informed a lot of me being an overachiever and making people believe it’s not there, just run run run. That’s not my reality though, it’s a feeling, I think a lot of people feel that and the point of that there’s nothing to fix, there’s nothing wrong with that.
LUNA: Do you think music and pursuing a creative job helped you get rid of the more toxic mindset of being perfect all the time?
TAYLOR: I always do this to myself constantly making myself uncomfortable, but I guess that’s how you grow — but I put myself on this path where I am so visible. It’s a career where people are constantly criticizing you and judging you, and maybe I’ve subconsciously chosen that because I have to achieve something. I think pursuing a career in music is harder actually. I have so much more perspective just with age, but it’s no picnic.
LUNA: Did you see yourself as someone who would always work a creative job though?
TAYLOR: I always knew that this was my true desire, it was just a matter of if I felt brave to pursue it. I was trying to decide what to do during high school, and I was nervous. But you have one life, you might as well go for it.
LUNA: In terms of AI, are you worried about that at all?
TAYLOR: I’m definitely worried about its effect on our culture as a whole and our planet, but I do think that art will prevail. Maybe in a different way than we are used to, but I think people want to connect and want authenticity. It’s become clear what is a cash grab and what is genuine. While AI is blurring those lines, I don’t think anyone’s crying in their room to an AI song. They are making this slop, I don't know who they are, but true art will make its way to the top in its own way.
LUNA: Were your parents supportive of you choosing this path?
TAYLOR: They were very supportive. Initially they definitely were pushing me to choose a more practical path, but I think they saw my passion for it. They felt like it was possible because they believed in me and my talent. They knew I’d work really hard at whatever I did, so why not this? They smartly let me figure it out and have always been very supportive. They put me in music lessons and theatre when I was younger and I’m super grateful for that.
LUNA: You’re going on tour soon! How exciting is that? Thoughts and feelings?
TAYLOR: I have performed a couple opening tours and a handful of headline shows. I’ve dipped my toe a little bit into the world of touring and now I'm super excited to do it on my own, not as the supporting act, but as my tour. There is some pressure of course, but I’m so excited.
LUNA: How did you choose your openers? Mori was actually one of the first interviews for my other interview series with Velluchor Literary so this is super cool.
TAYLOR: It was so hard because there are so many artists who I know and who I don’t know. I have five different openers coming with me. It was sort of a decision between me and my agent, it wasn't just me entirely. We looked for people who were a good fit sonically, but also could bring an audience, and people I just enjoy. Most of the openers are friends of mine, like Mori, but others are just who I enjoy. It’s always a weird thing because you sort of can have everyone.
LUNA: Any thoughts about upcoming work?
TAYLOR: Who knows what the future could be. The rest of the year, I am definitely focusing on touring. I am planning to record some live versions of the songs and also considering getting some features because I feel like there’s more life to give to these songs before releasing new things. I’m very excited to start figuring out what the next project is, I'm always writing and ideating.
Cooper Smith
