It’s a new month and that means it’s time to add some new music to your playlists! Cue in musician Taylor McIntosh’s latest, incredible single titled, “Clair in the Moonlight.” Based off of Claude Debussy’s renowned “Clair de Lune,” McIntosh’s soothing and remarkable song is the perfect tune to define this summer season. With the beautiful and crisp sound of the guitar, McIntosh’s terrific vocals and the overall melodious sound of the track, the 19-year-old singer / songwriter truly made something special with “Clair in the Moonlight.”
The amazing Taylor McIntosh has always had a love for music running through his veins. He’s not only a brilliant singer and songwriter, but McIntosh is also a skilled guitarist and piano player. He’s released several, outstanding songs including “Sorry Comes Too Easy,” “Repo Man,” and “Money On Your Deathbed.” The artist has also worked with many other influential figures in the industry to bring out his extraordinary, music projects. For “Money On Your Deathbed,” McIntosh was able to collaborate with both his sister, Saree McIntosh, who is a terrific singer as well, and the iconic guitarist, Richie Sambora. The “Sea Foam” singer has also worked with Grammy-nominated producer Tommy Marolda, electric guitarist Ernie White and saxophonist Steve Golden to bring his music visions to life.
Aside from working on his fantastic music, fans may also recognize Taylor McIntosh for wowing the crowd with his indescribable dance moves as a breakdancer in the breakdancing crew, Break Ninjaz. He, along with his team, showcased their awe-inspiring talent on NBC’s hit series, World of Dance. In addition to having great successes in both his music and dance career, Taylor McIntosh is also an excellent actor and has worked on projects including short films Hollow Me and Do You Know What It’s Like?, as well as Cached and Black is My Favorite Color. Talk about one multi-talented, young man!
It goes without saying that the wonderful Taylor McIntosh truly excels in everything he does! We can’t wait to see more of his marvelous accomplishments and in the meantime, if you need us, you can find us listening to his song, “Clair in the Moonlight” on constant repeat.
Alexisjoyvipaccess had a magnificent time interviewing the phenomenal Taylor McIntosh all about what the creative process was like making “Clair in the Moonlight,” what it was like for him working with the legendary Richie Sambora, where he gets his inspiration for his music and so much more only in our VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview. Taylor McIntosh even revealed which musician he’d like to work with on a future song – see what he had to say in our VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview below.
Read my VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview with the awesome Taylor McIntosh below and be sure to listen to his new song, “Clair in the Moonlight” out on all music streaming platforms here!
Alexisjoyvipaccess: Congratulations on all of the fantastic success with your career! Can you tell us what made you focus your life around music?
Taylor McIntosh: I have always had a love for music, but what got me obsessed was songwriting. When I was younger, I took piano lessons, which was my first introduction to music growing up. While I enjoyed playing, I found the lessons and theory to be quite boring, which led me to not practice and probably made my teacher pretty annoyed. As I got older, I slowly developed more and more interest in music. I played piano every day, teaching myself what I wanted to learn, which kept me more motivated than before. I never thought I would be a musician growing up. While I like playing instruments, I always thought I would play college sports as my brothers did. There’s a funny story where one of my mom’s friends, a self-proclaimed psychic, predicted that I would be more focused on music instead of sports or school. When my dad heard this, he laughed and said, “Tay’s not gonna be a musician, he’s going to the NBA.” Now, all I want to do is write songs and perform them. The world works in mysterious ways, I guess. My dad’s a songwriter, so maybe seeing him write and sing growing up made me feel like perhaps I could do that. Currently, he has been a big inspiration for me and my songwriting and good competition. Haha!
Alexisjoyvipaccess: Your stellar single, “Clair in the Moonlight” is out now on all music streaming platforms. What was the creative process like making that song?
Taylor McIntosh: Well, it started with an idea. I thought it would be cool to take a classical song and incorporate it into another piece. “Clair de Lune” has always been my family’s favorite classical song. My grandma would constantly nag me into trying to learn it because that’s how much everyone loved this piece. Then, in a random spur of the moment, my mind created the idea of using “Clair de Lune” as the basis for an entirely different song. At first, I was going to use some of the music as the intro. Then, I thought of the title “Clair in the Moonlight.” This made me realize that “Clair de Lune” should be the story for the song, making it a love song about Clair’s girl. After all of that, I wrote the entire song in one night, except for the bridge written months later.
Alexisjoyvipaccess: If you could work with any other musician on a future song, who would you like it to be?
Taylor McIntosh: I would love to work with John Mayer. My dad and I both think that he is just an incredible songwriter and musician. I probably listen to his music every day! Not to mention, he is one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and I am someone who enjoys putting an electric guitar in my songs, so I think it would be a great match. Plus, he seems like a knowledgeable guy who you could have a good conversation with.
Alexisjoyvipaccess: You also had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with guitar legend Richie Sambora on your song, “Money On Your Deathbed.” As a guitarist yourself, what was it like for you to work on a song with a great guitar icon like Sambora?
Taylor McIntosh: It was mind-blowing! I felt so honored to have Richie featured on one of my songs. It’s a dream come true to have a Hall of Famer play on one of my songs. Hopefully, one day I can get him on another song. It’s also just awesome to write a song with my family. Both my dad and my sister, who sings on the song, were writers on this track. I wrote my verses in about 30-40 minutes, and we finished writing the song in about 2 hours. It is cool being able to share something you love with your family.
Alexisjoyvipaccess: You’re a talented songwriter. Where do you get your inspiration for your music?
Taylor McIntosh: Anything can be used as inspiration. Sometimes it is just an idea or song title that triggers everything. Other times, it is chords I have been messing around with. I’ve even been inspired by movies, which happens more often than you would think. The takeaway is that there isn’t one thing that inspires me or one way to write a song. You roll with whatever you get and try to make a song out of it. You rarely have a whole song ready to go in your head. I would say that happens very rarely. I usually try to think outside the box and dig deep to finish a song, but that’s what makes it so unique.
Alexisjoyvipaccess: You also are an exceptional dancer and got to perform on the hit show, World of Dance with your breakdancing crew, Break Ninjaz. If you could describe that experience in just one word, what word would it be?
Taylor McIntosh: Worthwhile
Alexisjoyvipaccess: Lastly, if you could bring out one message to all of your fans, what message would that be?
Taylor McIntosh: Achieve what you want to achieve, be who you want to be, and never take the now for granted. You only have one life, so why waste it chasing something that brings no fulfillment. People will try to tell you to be “realistic,” but what that means is they want you to give up on your dreams, probably because they gave up on theirs. The only person holding you back is yourself, no one else. If you want to do something that others look at as “impossible” or “unlikely,” understand that you can achieve anything you are willing to fight for.