Get Messy with Stewart Taylor

Stewart Taylor is a singer, songwriter, and dancer who released his latest single “Mess Your Hair Up” earlier this year. Becoming a hit, the R&B- and funk-inspired track was featured on Logo’s NewNowNext and made Queerty’s Top 10 Songs of the Summer.

Inspired by his own long-distance relationship at the time, Taylor encourages people to be playful and adventurous with their significant others in “Mess Your Hair Up.” The song is also a marked departure from “Liberation,” Taylor’s inspirational, LGBTQ anthem from four years ago that was featured on several anti-bullying platforms. Taylor’s own coming-out story was featured in Dan Savage and Terry Miller’s bestselling book It Gets Better.

Starting his career in the underground Boston and New York club scene, not only has Taylor grown and matured, so has his music. These days, his songwriting focuses less on coming out and more on navigating through the good, bad, and ugly of relationships. His optimism shines through in “Mess Your Hair Up,” and OUT FRONT had the opportunity to chat more with him about the undeniably catchy single.

Let’s begin by talking more about one of your hottest hits of the year, “Mess Your Hair Up.” You said it was inspired by your own long-distance relationship?
Yeah! ‘Mess Your Hair Up’ is like one of those funny songs that just kind of comes to you. I wasn’t in the studio at the time; I was walking around Hollywood about to meet a friend, and my boyfriend at the time sent me a picture of himself after getting a haircut, and he looked so cute. I was like, ‘Oh my God; if I could just jump through the phone right now and mess your hair up and jump on you [laughs].’ Then I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the song,’ and I started singing and immediately started recording what would be the chorus in my phone recorder. I brought it into the studio a week later, and the song was written and produced.

That’s awesome! I’m curious, what kind of hair does your boyfriend have?
Well, we are not together anymore, but we are still good friends. Long distance wasn’t ideal. We were together in New York when I lived there and was gigging for two years. We were very serious for a long time, and he has, like, dark, black hair. Very luscious!

It’s a shame that long distance did not work for you guys.
Yeah, thank you. I had to move out to L.A. for music business stuff and recording sessions. I write pop music, so all the sessions that I had to be in or got called to come to were all in L.A., so I was like, ‘I need to be there.’ That’s where all my collaborators started ending up, so I had to make the move. It was a tough call.

Related article: Sound Up! Stewart Taylor

What did he think of the song and music video?
Oh, he loved it! He’s been listening to the demo of this song for well over a year. While I was conceptualizing the music video and getting all my ducks in a row, like meeting with directors, producers and just finishing the song and making sure the music was going to be everything I envisioned it to be, he was sitting on this song for a long time. He was like, ‘Can I show this person? Can I show this?’ Like, stop showing people; it’s not done yet! He was very supportive.

That’s great. The song was released at the end of May, but the music video came out right before Labor Day. What did you think of the great reception it got last summer?
It’s been good. The first day the music video came out, it got picked up by a lot of blogs, and I got some magazine write-ups for the first time, which was very exciting. And I sent them all to my ex-boyfriend because we are still very good friends, and I’m like, ‘Thank you so much for sending me that picture. I got an entire music video and song out of it.’ It’s been good and mostly positive.

The music video celebrates not only the hairstyles of white people, but also African Americans, Latinx people, and even drag queens. Diversity is very important to you, isn’t it?
It is. Also, I think it speaks to the fact that I am friends with a very diverse group of people. Every single person in that music video is a friend of mine. Being in the entertainment industry and living in Hollywood, I am surrounded by actors and dancers and people that are good friends, and I collaborate with them. The video ended up being very diverse. I’m sorry if I missed some people. I definitely did not even cover the full spectrum of hair, but I tried.

Have you always wanted to be a singer?
Yes, always. I always explain it this way to people. Singing and songwriting is just something that I have always done. Like, one of my earliest memories is coming up with songs as a little four-year-old and singing and walking into the next room and my whole family being like, ‘We can hear you,’ and me running out of the room in embarrassment. No one made me go on stage; no one made me start singing or writing songs; it’s just something that I started doing. I have done it my entire life, and I feel like it’s my destiny.

It’s definitely in your blood.
It is. My aunt is a singer, and we grew up listening to her. She still writes songs, and she pursued it for a while, but now she has a quiet life in the South. She always sounded just like Stevie Nicks and inspired me. We have it in the blood. My great-grandfather was a singer and sang a lot in New York, and my grandmother sang on the side, as well. No one really pursued it like I’m pursuing it.

You have gone on record saying you have been passed up by major TV shows, executives, and record labels simply because you are gay. Is there still a major lack of diversity and LGBTQ visibility in the music and entertainment industry?
So, what I meant by that, I think things have gotten better in our industry over the years, but when you look at the artists that are available to the mainstream public right now, like Sam Smith, Adam Lambert, and Troye Sivan, those are the only huge, mainstream, gay artists that are out on Top 40 radio and being celebrated. I feel like, and I’ve heard a lot of them say this too, that’s not a lot of people.

There’s Justin Tranter who’s writing for people all over Top 40, and he’s an openly gay singer/songwriter. Even he still says there needs to be more visibility in our business. I still think that’s true. I think things have gotten better, but in the past decade, I used to go to Jive Records in New York when that was still open, [and I got] passed up saying you’re too effeminate; you’re too this, or your songs aren’t good enough; it’s too theatrical.

It’s been hard, but there has been a lot of progress in the last decade. Just for me coming out when I was 17, throughout the years when I started submitting songs to record labels or going to meet execs or going to audition for American Idol or any of those shows, I remember casting directors specifically passing me up because it was too theatrical.

Three years ago, one of my representatives sent a single to a record label and they said, ‘No, this is too gay, or I can tell he’s talking about a guy. This is not going to sell; I’m not going to take a chance on this,’ and that can be very disheartening, but at the same time, if Justin Beiber was singing this song, it would sell, if he was singing the exact same lyrics, and I think my lyrics are generally universal. I try to be as broad as I can. Overall, I do think it is getting better. I have found more opportunities as an out, gay artist, especially in Hollywood.

As a singer, what is your ultimate goal?
My ultimate goal is to keep making music. I’m like anybody else in this town. I would love to get some songs on the radio and get more cuts with major label artists. I would love to be able to continue pursuing my career as an artist and songwriter, and I think I am in the right place right now.

What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
I can’t say too much, but I am in talks with a couple shows. At this point, I am going to start releasing more singles as I go. I think in the future, I would love to be able to release a debut album, but at this point, I think the best plan of attack is just to keep releasing singles every couple months and build momentum that way.

“Mess Your Hair Up” is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and all digital platforms. To stay up to date with Taylor, visit stewarttaylorofficial.com, or follow him on Instagram @Stewarttaylormusic.