Hiss Golden Messenger's Sound Comes From the Unlikeliest of Influences

The laid-back, folksy sound of Hiss Golden Messenger feels like it mainly draws its influence from earthy singer-songwriters like Neil Young. But according to M.C. Taylor, the mastermind behind the band, its influence comes from another unlikely source.

"It comes from being drawn to rhythmic music like early hip-hop — even though my music doesn't sound like it at all. That's where it comes from," he tells New Times, namechecking the first few Eric B. & Rakim records, Brand Nubians, and Public Enemy as major influences.

Taylor grew up listening to his dad play guitar and sing around the house. At 13, he picked up the guitar. "My dad taught me a few chords and then let me find my own way. I was mostly self-taught," he adds. "I was always a big reader and writer. I always loved poetry. So for me, songwriting came from words than from the music."

Eventually, Taylor found himself playing in a bunch of punk bands before finding some success as part of the indie-rock group the Court & Spark. After that band imploded in 2007, he came up with the blueprint of what he wanted to do next.

"I wanted to keep trying to crack the code of songwriting," he says. "I'm in love with the idea of a band. I think it's romantic, but I didn't want to deal with something where every decision is made democratically. I wanted my own thing. I'll find a way to pay everyone and be the boss. I love collaboration, but I needed to do my own thing and have the final say."

He decamped to North Carolina and started Hiss Royal Messenger in 2007. "I wanted to compose songs that recognized the craft of songwriting and its place in American roots music," Taylor explains. "Then I use that as a springboard to incorporate all kinds of other stuff. The center of Hiss is to make music that feels vulnerable. When I do that right, it feels special for me."
Taylor's songwriting process for Hiss Golden Messenger, which has released 15 albums, is to "sit down with an instrument and a notebook and see what happens. I try to keep how it happens mysteriously so I can keep it fresh. I give myself plenty of time, go somewhere unfamiliar, read a lot, listen to a ton of music and be in the vicinity of people making art. Then I just keep my antenna open."

Once he gets the bones of a song, he records a version of it by himself at home. Then, he'll bring in collaborators to flesh it out into a finished product.

The band's latest album, Jump for Joy, came out last August and, as the title says, is an exploration of happiness. "The record I previously made was made during the pandemic. After years of hindsight, I can see how inward I was facing. I wanted the opposite on this one; make it more outward facing," he says.

Taylor will perform this latest batch of songs with his four-piece band at Gramps on Thursday, February 29, the first time Hiss Golden Messenger has played in South Florida since opening for Mumford & Sons at the then-known American Airlines Arena in 2017. "It'll be a lot of good songs, a great band, and lots of improvisation," he promises. "The songs will be recognizable, but they come out in a different way in a live setting."

The upcoming tour is just one of Taylor's many plans for the remainder of 2024. "I'll be working on projects — some Hiss, some not; some musically related, some not," he says. "I paint for myself. I do a lot of writing. There's a book or two I'd like to write. A collection of poetry I'm trying to chase."
   
Hiss Golden Messenger. With Color Green and Daniel Milewski. 8 p.m. Thursday, February 29, at Gramps 176 NW 24th St., Miami; gramps.com. Tickets cost $31 via eventbrite.com