Insider's View: Steve Taylor

Originally recorded: 9/28/2011
Hosted by: Harry Chapman

Steve Taylor earned his "Renaissance Man" stripes (Prism Magazine) from a body of work that's garnered him multiple Grammy, Billboard, Telly, Addy and Dove awards and nominations. A Southern California native, Steve was raised in Denver, Colorado and studied music and film at Colorado University. As a film student Steve wrote and directed the comedy shorts Joe's Distributing (1980) and Baby Talk (1982),then hit the road for a year as director and co-writer for the musical comedy troupe Jeremiah People. In 1983, Steve began a career as a recording artist that spanned twelve years, selling over one million albums worldwide and garnering him two Grammy nominations for Meltdown (1984) and Squint (1993). In the process, he made history as the only artist to twice win Billboard Music Video Awards for self-directed music videos. As a concert artist, Steve and his band headlined four international tours, including acclaimed appearances at L.A.'s Universal Amphitheater and London's Hammersmith Odeon. Steve was also lead singer/co-writer in the MCA-signed modern rock band Chagall Guevara (1991).
Steve's work as a music video director and filmmaker has earned him two Billboard Music Video Awards, as well as Dove, Telly, and Addy Awards. His many credits as a director include music videos for Sixpence None the Richer, Fleming & John, Rich Mullins, Guardian; a documentary on England's Greenbelt Festival (1989); the long-form Newsboys comedy Down Under The Big Top (1996); and the highly-acclaimed Squint: Movies From The Soundtrack (shot in ten countries around the globe including Vietnam, Nepal, United Arab Emirates and Turkey). Steve's work has received recurring airplay on major music networks, including VH1 and MTV, and his Sixpence video for "Kiss Me" (filmed in Paris) was featured by VH1 as a "Pop Up Video."
Meanwhile, as a record producer Steve's resume includes the Platinum-certified Sixpence None The Richer and three Gold-certified albums for the Newsboys: Going Public, Take Me To Your Leader and Adoration. All four albums earned Grammy nominations. (Steve also contributed to most of the Newboys tracks as a songwriter.) His production efforts have appeared in numerous television programs and motion pictures, including Pump Up The Volume (1991), She's All That (1999), Snow Day (2000) and Here On Earth (2000). Steve's greatest success as a producer came with 1999's #1 international smash hit "Kiss Me," performed by Sixpence None the Richer. He also produced the band's follow-up hit, "There She Goes." In 2002 he produced and co-wrote the Newsboys album Thrive, which yielded two number one singles. He also produced and co-wrote the end title track for the hit animated feature film Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie. In 2003 he produced and co-wrote the hit Newsboys album Adoration, which again yielded two number one singles, including ASCAP Song of the Year recipient "He Reigns."

In late 1997 Steve launched Squint Entertainment, a record label and film production company. Squint's worldwide success in the pop music arena was a first for a Nashville-based label, and Squint was subsequently nominated in 2000 by R&R Magazine for Independent Label Of The Year alongside industry stalwarts DreamWorks and Hollywood Records. In addition to Sixpence, Squint's roster included Chevelle, Burlap To Cashmere, The Insyderz, Waterdeep and hip-hop collective L. A. Symphony. Steve led the company until 2001, when it was sold to AOL/Time Warner.
In 2005 Steve wrapped production on The Second Chance, marking his debut as a feature film director/co-writer/producer. The movie was subsequently picked up for a 2006 theatrical release by Sony Pictures Releasing. He's currently in post-production on his next feature -- an adaptation of the New York Times bestseller Blue Like Jazz.
Steve lives in Nashville with his wife, the artist D.L. Taylor, and their twelve-year-old daughter.

In 1973, Belmont first established a music business program designed to prepare students for operational, administrative, creative and technical careers in the music industry. The program grew in both size and reputation, leading to the advent of the full Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business in 2003.

Currently home to more than 2,700 undergraduates with majors in music business, audio engineering technology, entertainment industry studies, sport administration, songwriting, media studies and motion pictures, Curb College boasts an impressive faculty of academic scholars and authors, entrepreneurs, songwriters, producers, journalists, filmmakers, sound and recording engineers and entertainment executives. The college serves as a world leader in music business and entertainment industry education and is the only freestanding college of its kind.

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