MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger spoke with Jill Riley of The Current’s Morning Show about the new album I’m People, and his upcoming performance at The Current’s Happy Hour series at Surly Brewing Co.

Listen to the full interview in the player above, and find a complete transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, I'm Jill Riley. Well, The Current Happy Hour series, it is the time of year to get out and to experience some live music with other like-minded individuals, and the series continues this afternoon at Surly Brewing Co. And we're looking forward to a performance from Hiss Golden Messenger, and in fact I'm on the line right now with MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger. How are you?

MC Taylor: I'm doing great, thank you.

Jill Riley: Well, we're looking forward to your performance. Before we talk a little bit more about the record, I do have some more questions for you. I wanted to thank you for doing an album listening party with The Current for I'm People. We really enjoyed the way that you talked about the songs and the context, and I think a lot of us agreed at The Current that you have a wonderful voice for radio, so ...

MC Taylor: Well, that's yeah, that's my backup plan in case the music thing doesn't work out. Thank you very much, and I mean, I recorded that in my studio, so I could, you know, I have my vocal chain here that I use, it's much richer than maybe my phone voice, I love doing that. Thanks for letting me sort of expand on the record that way.

Jill Riley: Yeah, it was great. The new record is I'm People, and there was a particular name that caught our ear when you were talking about songs from the record, and the guy that you described as "the engine that makes I'm People swing so hard," and he's one of us, Minneapolis' own drummer, JT Bates. It was nice to hear his name. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about when you started working with JT Bates, and what's your connection to him? How long have you guys known each other?

MC Taylor: I probably met and played with JT for the first time — what year are we in, 2026? — maybe like 2015 or 2016, I met him sort of through the Bon Iver camp, I would say. He played in Hiss Golden Messenger, sort of on and off back then for a little bit. Yeah, I just really think he's like one of the greatest living drummers, I mean, without hyperbole, like he does something that it's very rare, so yeah, you guys have a bona fide master in your backyard.

Jill Riley: Yeah, he's a great drummer, I think that's why he's so in demand. He has played with so many different kinds of artists, and at the end of the day, he's just a really kind, friendly person. I've never had a bad interaction with JT Bates.

MC Taylor: Yeah, JT is, he's in it for the music, and I think he has a really beautiful detector of stuff that is maybe pretending to be about the music, so I love his takes on things, because you know he's he's been doing forever, and he's like truly an amazing musician, and such a great hang, like I love being with him.

Jill Riley: And it makes sense that you guys were connected, because when I think about, Minneapolis and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and then kind of the kind of the North Carolina crew, there's — I feel like there's so much crossover and interaction between Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Carolina with the circle of Bon Iver or the Cook brothers [Phil and Brad]. There's just so much great music and collaboration that's happened, and I wanted to ask you, on this new record, when it comes to Hiss Golden Messenger, really you are the main vehicle behind this, but do you look at it as a band, or have you always viewed this as kind of a collective of musicians that come together, and depending on the record, maybe who contributes to it.

MC Taylor: It depends on the era of the band, I would say. There have been times when I thought of it, or hoped for it, wanted it to be more of a band, the way that we think of bands in a romantic sense, as like this sort of fixed personnel that's been very attractive to me, and there have been other times, sort of like where I feel like I'm at right now, which is like I love the idea of a kind of floating membership that brings with it a little unpredictability that can be really fun if you have established a level of musical trust with everybody that's showing up on stage. I've been really liking that lately. I'm the kind of person that really likes order, and I realized that life is not orderly, so this idea of taking joy and a floating membership is like a really good exposure therapy for me that I've been doing like the whole time that Hiss Gold Messenger has existed. So I have a family of musicians, I have a pretty deep bench of musicians at this point that I can call and generally assemble a really cool band.

Jill Riley: Yeah, it's great to be connected to so many great people and musicians who are contributing to this record, Sam Beam, and Sarah Watkins, and a couple of the Goldsmiths from Dawes, pretty incredible circle of people, and the record is called I'm People, and I like how you touched on how life is not predictable, you wake up in the morning, you never know how the day is going to go, and the record is described as intensely human, and I kind of love that it's not “We're People,” it's I'm People, and that seems really intentional. Can you talk about the title of the record and just what I'm People means to you?

MC Taylor: Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is that I feel like I contain multitudes of people within me, sort of like ancestors, and people that I look to as sort of inspirations, I think another part of it was just touching on this idea that I'm not alone, I'm with people, and that's something that is for me maybe aspirational, because I generally have been sort of a very interior, introverted, lone wolf sort of person. I mean, I'm in my studio here alone, just puttering away. I would happily do this forever, but that's not like — I don't know that that's totally what life is about. So, you know, it's like a lesson for me, it's a reminder for me. I also like the way that the two words "I'm people" which are so common, like, put together grammatically, it's kind of funny. It's not something — even though the words themselves are so common — it's not something that I've ever heard anyone say. It sort of felt like something Curtis Mayfield would name a record.

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current. Hiss Golden Messenger, MC Taylor, is on the line this afternoon. The Current Happy Hour series continues at Surly Brewing Co, it starts at 4 o'clock. Hiss Golden Messenger taking the stage at 6 o'clock, and we would love to see you out to enjoy some music discovery, to enjoy being with other people and enjoying live music. As you said, that you contain multitudes, my brain went to Bob Dylan, and then my brain went to Woodstock, New York, where you recorded the record. I've never been to Woodstock, New York. It's kind of a bucket list thing for me. When you recorded the record there, what is Woodstock like? What was it like being there for you? Did you find even the place to be inspirational to making the record?

MC Taylor: Yeah, I mean, we chose the place intentionally because of the legacy of music that we associate with the place. I think it kind of depends what you're looking for. If you go in with a musical frame of reference, then chances are you're going to encounter that stuff. I do think there's something to this idea that there's a really specific energy that exists in that place, and I can't even say exactly why, but you know, being there, it's not surprising that it has attracted so many different types of artists for so long; long before the 1960s were happening, you know, whole schools of painters and writers and bohemians. So there is definitely a charge to the air in that place that is really unique, and I think Josh Kaufman, who produced the record with me, felt the same way, and we kind of wanted to be in touch with that lineage, you know, the Bob Dylan and The Band and the Basement Tapes and Van Morrison, and you know, all this stuff that we love, Karen Dalton, and all this music that we love, that was attached to that place. So that was an intentional move for sure.

Jill Riley: Well, it was a good one. And if I ever get to go there, I hope to feel that specific energy, and then I'll know exactly what you're getting at, maybe without even having words for it. Hiss Golden Messenger, the new record is I'm People. It is out, and MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger will be at Surly Brewing Co. in The Current Happy Hour series, 4 o'clock this afternoon. Hiss Golden Messenger on stage at 6 o'clock, and then I know you'll be coming back to Minneapolis in the fall, when you're on your tour, so you can also catch him October 14 at Icehouse in Minneapolis. Well, MC Taylor, appreciate you checking in with The Current, and we look forward to seeing you.

MC Taylor: Thank you for having me. I can't wait.

Credits

Guests – MC Taylor
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer - Natalia Toledo

External Link

Hiss Golden Messenger – Official Website