Courtney Taylor-Taylor

Courtney A. Taylor (born July 20, 1967), known as Courtney Taylor-Taylor, is an American singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon. He is the lead singer and guitarist of alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols, a band he co-founded. Taylor-Taylor has written the majority of the band's songs.[2]

Courtney Taylor-Taylor
Taylor-Taylor performing at the Austin Psych Fest in 2014
Background information
Birth nameCourtney A. Taylor
Born (1967-07-20) July 20, 1967
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
GenresAlternative rock
InstrumentsVocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion[1]
Associated acts

Taylor-Taylor has co-written a graphic novel entitled One Model Nation, about a fictional 1970s German krautrock band. It was released in 2009.[3] This was accompanied by a studio album titled Totalwerks, Vol. 1 (1969–1977), a fake greatest hits album by the fictional band, released in 2012.

Early life and education

Taylor-Taylor attended Sunset High School in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, and studied sociology, psychology and music at Cascade College, also in Portland. He recalls sticking out as a teenager: "You don't fit in if you're a make-up-wearing weirdo, surrounded by large, clumsy guys and cheerleaders".[4] He found refuge in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Kurt Vonnegut.[4] It was here he met future bandmate Peter Holmström.

After graduating, Taylor-Taylor worked as a mechanic while playing drums for local band Nero's Rome.[4] He was also the drummer in the Portland-based glam rock/pop band The Beauty Stab.[5]

Career

Music career
See also: The Dandy Warhols

Taylor-Taylor appears in and narrates the film Dig!, a documentary chronicling the early years of the relationship between his band, The Dandy Warhols, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Non-music career

Taylor-Taylor appeared in an episode of the second season of the TV show Veronica Mars, "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang", performing the song "Love Hurts".[6] He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film The Heart Is a Drum Machine,[7] as well as a 2011 episode of the Australian music quiz television show Spicks and Specks.[8]

Taylor-Taylor was one of the contributors to the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars by Paul Miles, published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.[9]

Personal life

Taylor-Taylor informally added the second "Taylor" to his last name around 1999.[10] On the issue of his double-barrelled surname, Taylor-Taylor has said: "There have been so many wonderful explanations that I would hate to stop that by addressing it. It's wonderfully silly and fun so let's keep it that way".[11] Taylor-Taylor has also said: "I was just tripping on the 'my parents are still married' thing. Basically, when my friend Gina Williams started dating my other friend Kevin Williams, they decided to hyphenate their names. So she started calling herself Gina Williams-Williams, and then I became Courtney Taylor-Taylor".[12]

Like his cousin and bandmate Brent DeBoer,[13][14] Taylor-Taylor is of Dutch ancestry.[15][16]

As the chief songwriter for "Bohemian Like You", Taylor-Taylor earned approximately 1.5 million US dollars in royalties for Vodafone's use of the song in television commercials in the telecommunications company's native United Kingdom (and other territories Vodafone operate in, including Australia and Greece) in late-2001. With part of these earnings, he purchased a quarter-of-a-city block and turned it into a complex with space for recording, film editing, and web design.[17]

On December 22, 2007, Taylor-Taylor married long-time girlfriend Lockett Albritton at the Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Oregon.[18][19][20] Lockett Taylor is a yoga practitioner and instructor.[21] On February 1, 2010, she gave birth to their first child, a son, Ajax.[22][23]

Taylor-Taylor has left wing politics. When British conservative politician Theresa May used the song "Bohemian Like You" as she walked away from a conference stage, Taylor-Taylor wrote "Why don't these assholes have right-wing bands make them some right-wing music for their right-wing jerkoff politics? Oh, because right-wing people aren't creative, visionary, or any fun to be around."[24]

References
  1. The Dandy Warhols. "Courtney Taylor-Taylor". The Dandy Warhols – Official. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  2. "BMI". bmi.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  3. Amorosi, A.D. "Q&A with The Dandy Warhols' Courtney Taylor-Taylor". Magnet.
  4. Diaz, Silva (May 16, 2003). "Fast And Louche". independent.co.uk. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  5. Clarke, SP (2011). "History of Portland Rock 7 : spclarke.com". spclarke.com. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  6. "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang". Veronica Mars. Season 2. Episode 3. October 12, 2005. CBS.
  7. "Courtney Taylor-Taylor – IMDb". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  8. "Episode Eleven". Spicks and Specks. July 20, 2011. ABC.
  9. "Rock Stars". paul-miles.com. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  10. Geoghegan, Kev (July 2, 2008). "Dandy Warhols' subscription plan". BBC News. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  11. "Q&A with Courtney Taylor-Taylor from The Dandy Warhols". The Oregonian. December 10, 2010.
  12. Chan, Alvin (August 3, 2008). "The Dandy Warhols". Music OMH.
  13. Krohn, Jef. "DeBoer. Himself". PDX Magazine.
  14. Scott-Travis, Shane (August 20, 2013). "The Dandy Warhols: The Vivascene Interview". Vivascene. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014.
  15. "The Dandy Warhols – A Hard Day's Night (live acoustic in SF) – YouTube". YouTube. October 3, 2006. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  16. "Exclusive Preview: Courtney Taylor-Taylor's "One Model Nation" Pictures". Rolling Stone.
  17. Sullivan, Caroline (August 19, 2005). "Just dandy". The Guardian.
  18. Chase. "The Day Auntie Lockett Allbritton Became Auntie Lockett Taylor". The Chase Is On. Blogspot.
  19. Allen, Dave (December 23, 2007). "A Dandy Warhols Wedding". Pampelmoose. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014.
  20. "A Dandy Warhols Wedding". PDX Pipeline. December 24, 2007.
  21. "Lockett Taylor Yoga". Lockett Taylor Yoga. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  22. Nedic, Dunja (October 27, 2010). "Interview: Peter Holmstrom, the Dandy Warhols". Lip Magazine.
  23. "The Dandy Warhols". Faster Louder. August 27, 2010. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  24. http://www.dandywarhols.com/news/about-this-political-rally-in-the-u-k-playing-boho/
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