Chasing dreams is what life is all about, and Taylor DeBlock has been doing just that. After rolling out a series of singles throughout 2020, the time has come for the LA-based R&B/Pop singer, songwriter, and producer to launch his debut EP MANQUE. To commemorate the occasion, Taylor and I got to chat about the project, his journey, and other things that will totally set the mood.
Let’s get reading!
Hello Taylor! Well first and foremost, let’s start off by introducing you to everybody.
It’s awesome to meet you guys! My name is Taylor DeBlock, and I’m an R&B/Pop artist living in Los Angeles.
Awesome awesome awesome. Right now I want to give everyone some background – I know you found your love for making music as a teen. As a teen and even like now as a young adult *sigh* it’s pretty easy to question everything, question your paths in life, and being like OH MY GOD WHAT. Was making music something you immediately knew you were going to try to pursue long term?
Yeah, absolutely! So when I was in high school, my love for music really developed through chamber choirs and other choirs I was a part of. I always knew that music was what I truly wanted to do with my life, but it was more of a secret that I kept to myself because I saw it as a pipe dream. I didn’t see it as a real possibility at that age.
Yeah.
Because I was so young… I mean the people around me were going off to college to study business. I looked at my parents and their path and thought you know what, I’ll just take the same straight and narrow kind of thing. I’ll do exactly what they did and I’ll have a good life.
Saame.
But it wasn’t what I was passionate about in my core, and once I got to college I got the opportunity to really explore what I wanted and who I was. Once I got to the bottom of that, I had to keep pursuing music.
For sure, yeah. I can relate in a way because when I started college I was like Business Admin! Business Admin! And like, I don’t even know how many years in, I was like…. nope. No. Not feeling this. So now I’m in communications so I love it so much.
Yeah I know, it’s so good. My first year of college I was studying business marketing, and I thought that’s what I wanted for my life because I had seen so many other people do the same. My brother studied business and I was kind of following his footsteps. During the beginning of my sophomore year, I was on a trip, and ended up talking to this guy who was telling me to pursue more of what was in my heart and less of what was in my head, and what I thought was necessarily the right path… just because people said so.
Yeah totally!
From that point, I went home, changed my major, and started studying music. From that point on I never looked back.
You never looked back! That’s amazing. And like, life teaches you a lot of lessons along the way.
Absolutely! I think that nothing is wasted. No matter what you go through or how your path changes, it teaches you something and there’s a lesson in everything. That’s kind of how I’ve observed my life, and I don’t regret not diving into music faster because I think my character has built up along the way and kind of made me into who I am now. And I’m proud of that!
That’s awesomeee. Well today, we’re here chatting because we’re celebrating the release of your debut EP MANQUE! How does it feel to finally be able to put this out into the world?
It feels amazing. This is kind of a long time coming, because some of the songs were birthed years ago and are just now coming into the public eye. I’ve been working with my good friend Kayhann on this for a couple of years at this point. I’m really excited to have a full cohesive project that I’m proud of and I love that I can put out into the world, and give people an understanding of my music and exactly what I’m trying to portray as an artist.
We love to see it hehe. Well, one of the things I wanted to get into was the title of this EP, because that is such a deep word. Manqué. It hits! What led you to give your project this title?
So MANQUE – it’s a twofold meaning. So one, it comes from the French “tu me manque” which means I miss you. A lot of the record either speaks to either unrequited love or lost love from a past relationship. I was able to use the music to express where I was at, and the twofold meaning of that is a Manqué (the noun) actually means someone who fails to meet an expectation. It also works in the same way of me feeling like I failed in specific ways, and I was able to reflect on that. It comes through in the music, and you’ll be able to see that in the record.
I feel like reflecting is such a relevant topic for this year honestly.
For sure, a lot of people have recently said 2020 was supposed to be this big year of 2020 vision and it’s all going to be incredible.
MHMMMMM… (@ myself)
It was more so a year of reflecting if anything, because we’re inside and we have nothing better to do than think. Once you complete all of YouTube and you watch everything on Netflix, you hit a point where you’re alone and have time to think and dive into yourself. I think a lot of people have done that this year.
Totallyyyy! So, I know you’ve got three new songs on this project – “Slow,” “Say,” and “Call Me.” I’m about to be evil for a second because I know this is like picking your favorite child, and nobody likes to do that! But, out of these three, which is your personal favorite, and can you tell us the story behind it?
Ooof. Man.
HAHAHAHAHA I KNOW!
So I’ll say this. Sonically, I love “Slow,” just because of the way it feels. In the shortest way to say it, it’s such a vibe.
As a song, I would say that “Say” stands out to me as one of my favorites because of the meaning that it has behind it. More so what I was trying to say through that song was, you’re holding onto this love that’s on it’s way out, and this song is me giving a last cry in hopes of redeeming that love.
We kind of took an interesting… in terms of me sonically… this was kind of a jump for me because the vocals are fully auto-tuned. That’s not really my thing, but on this one we dialed it all the way up. It was kind of a nod at The 1975 who did the same thing on a couple of records ago. Maybe initially it’s kind of weird because we’re not used to that, unless you’re listening to T-Pain. It’s not going to come up very often, but it was an artistic choice that turned out really well and I’m really proud of it.
Sometimes you just gotta try new things, and we’ve been doing that all this year, right?
Absolutely, and I think certain people will latch onto certain sounds and certain people won’t enjoy them the same… and that’s totally okay!
But that’s what art is all about! Just experimenting, trying trying tying, you might like something and go with it, or you might want to scrap it. Or, you might want to be like Kanye West and go… I’m re-doing everything and I’m not going to put this out until it’s like EXACTLY how I want it, and if there’s one teeny tiny detail that’s not right, we’re SCRAPPING it.
I know this year has been a little weird, but what has been one of your favorite musical moments? Whether it be your own or seeing what other artists have done.
Something that excited me recently was watching Ant Clemons… he was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Album. He is an artist that I’ve loved when he was at his start and when he started working with Kanye. Then he put out his record, and for me sonically it’s what I love to hear. So maybe I’m being selfish in that way, but watching him get nominated for a Grammy as such a young artist was inspiring to me as another young artist. Like wow, there’s people obtaining that. It was exciting to see someone like him see success that fast, it’s just incredible.
That’s kind of how I felt with Chloe X Halle too, like damn you guys got this! So yeah. Is there anything you’re looking forward to in 2021, other than like, you know, things hopefully going back to “normal”?
I think we’re all getting used to the new normal, which is okay. I’m looking forward to new music. I’m looking forward to music I believe in even more than the record I’m about to put out. I am so proud of this record, I’m proud of the work we put into it, but even more, generally as artist I think we grow with time. We refine our sound, and we get better at our craft. I’m just excited about all the new music that’s coming, because I feel like the further I go, the better it gets!
I think once everyone listens to this, they’re going to be very proud too.
Thank you, thank you.
But to wrap everything up right now, what are your all time favorite holiday songs?
Wow. My all time favorite holiday songs would probably have to go to two people. One would be Frank Sinatra with his legendary Christmas album. In totality, I think it’s amazing. I think it just feels to me like New York City at Christmas time. It’s my ultimate nostalgia moment, being in New York City, going to see the tree at the Rockerfeller Center. He makes me feel like I’m there and so that’s one. Two would be Babyface’s Christmas album. My dad’s been playing that since I was a kid, so I listen to that every holiday season. I know those aren’t songs but yeah.
It’s a whole vibe. There’s just some albums where you’re like, I can’t listen to just one song. I gotta listen to it from start to finish. Come on.
Exactly. Especially now because I memorized the flow, so as soon as I hear one song and it ends, I’m ready for the next. I know what’s coming next, so I have to hear that too.
You can listen to MANQUE from start to finish below! As you’re jamming out, be sure to say hi to Taylor DeBlock on Instagram and Twitter @taylormdeblock.
