FREELANCE MUSIC, ARTS AND CULTURE JOURNALIST
Contributor: ATL Introducing, BBC Radio Ulster
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Writer: 'Dig With It' Magazine / Chordblossom.com
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Editor: EncoreNorthernIreland.blogspot.com
"Taylor will have a very successful future in the music industry. Of that, I am certain"
- Mike Williams, Ex-Editor, NME.
Previous clients: NME, BBC Radio Foyle, Q-Radio, Irish TV, Gigging NI, The Thin Air, BBC Radio 4.
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Contact: taylorjohnson549@gmail.com
ABOUT ME
Taylor Johnson is a freelance broadcaster/journalist and writer from Northern Ireland.
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At age 18, he was given the overnight show on popular Northern Irish commercial station Q-Radio, learning the art of outside broadcasting, interview technique and package creation and editing. He has been a regular contributor for the BBC's ATL Introducing show for several years, broadcasting live, curating/editing features for broadcast and writing articles for the website. He is incredibly passionate about music, particularly the local scene. In 2020 he was part of a small team headed by ex-NME editor Stuart Bailie which started 'Dig With It', a music, lifestyle and culture magazine based in Belfast, where he interviewed Ash's Tim Wheeler for the first edition.
He is the creator and editor of Encore NI, an Irish music blog.
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In his spare time, Taylor fronts Brand New Friend, an indie-pop band signed to Xtra Mile Recordings in London. They have supported the likes of Kodaline, Snow Patrol, Lewis Capaldi and Feeder, amongst others.
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Previous clients include: BBC Radio Foyle, NME, BBC Radio 4, Chordblossom.com
PORTFOLIO
Dig With It Magazine | Issue 3
Winter 2020 | An exclusive interview with Dublin's most explosive indie band in decades Pillow Queens, lockdown catch up's with Belfast trio Careeris,t and a first look at Jealous of the Birds sophomore effort 'Peninsula'.
PORTFOLIO
Live and pre-recorded feature broadcast on ATL Introducing, October 2020
"Life ain't always empty" sings Grian Chatten over rattling guitars and a hypnotic drum groove. He means it too.
The title track to his band Fontaines DC's new album, A Hero's Death shakes it's head at a planet Earth designed to make you feel like shit. It's a call to arms against self-hatred, a self-proclaimed 'list of rules for the self', spat out in his trademark southern accent. Since Fontaines' ascension from The Liberties area of Dublin (an area known for it's rich culture and literary history) back in 2017, the young frontman has became a sort of older brother type figure for teenagers and 20-somethings across Europe. Somewhere amidst Fontaines' mammoth live sound and post-punk aggression, rests a poetic voice, a gentle soul embroiled in it all...
Reassurances from a departed love, ancient Irish folk and unabashed anger at Satan himself combine at lightspeed on Joshua Burnside’s sophomore record ‘Into The Depths Of Hell’. Somewhere amidst the melting pot of sounds, Paul Simon-esque African groove can be found mingling with a post-punk atmosphere (And You Evade Him/Born In The Blood). In the darker corners his banjo from embryonic (but still brilliant) releases like Black Dog Sin is heard plucking away diligently, as if recovered from a time-capsule (Nothing For Ye). Elsewhere, metal strikes metal in a Belfast shipyard, while civil war breaks out in the background (I Saw The Night).
Where his NI Music Prize winning debut Ephrata teased moments of greatness, Into The Depths Of Hell spells it out like fireworks on a pitch black night. It shakes, stumbles and mourns alongside the listener, demanding another spin on the record player. To celebrate this landmark record, Taylor Johnson takes a dive into the depths of Joshua Burnside’s brain and 10 times his lyrics hit different...
PORTFOLIO
Live and pre-recorded feature broadcast on ATL Introducing, October 2020
"Life ain't always empty" sings Grian Chatten over rattling guitars and a hypnotic drum groove. He means it too.
The title track to his band Fontaines DC's new album, A Hero's Death shakes it's head at a planet Earth designed to make you feel like shit. It's a call to arms against self-hatred, a self-proclaimed 'list of rules for the self', spat out in his trademark southern accent. Since Fontaines' ascension from The Liberties area of Dublin (an area known for it's rich culture and literary history) back in 2017, the young frontman has became a sort of older brother type figure for teenagers and 20-somethings across Europe. Somewhere amidst Fontaines' mammoth live sound and post-punk aggression, rests a poetic voice, a gentle soul embroiled in it all...
Reassurances from a departed love, ancient Irish folk and unabashed anger at Satan himself combine at lightspeed on Joshua Burnside’s sophomore record ‘Into The Depths Of Hell’. Somewhere amidst the melting pot of sounds, Paul Simon-esque African groove can be found mingling with a post-punk atmosphere (And You Evade Him/Born In The Blood). In the darker corners his banjo from embryonic (but still brilliant) releases like Black Dog Sin is heard plucking away diligently, as if recovered from a time-capsule (Nothing For Ye). Elsewhere, metal strikes metal in a Belfast shipyard, while civil war breaks out in the background (I Saw The Night).
Where his NI Music Prize winning debut Ephrata teased moments of greatness, Into The Depths Of Hell spells it out like fireworks on a pitch black night. It shakes, stumbles and mourns alongside the listener, demanding another spin on the record player. To celebrate this landmark record, Taylor Johnson takes a dive into the depths of Joshua Burnside’s brain and 10 times his lyrics hit different...
PORTFOLIO OF WORK
TOUTS INTERVIEW | DIG WITH IT MAGAZINE
Interview with rising Derry/Londonderry trio Touts, published Summer 2020 in Dig With It magazine. Available to order here.
CAOIMHE MORELAND INTERVIEW | DIG WITH IT MAGAZINE
Interview with fast rising Belfast based DJ Caoimhe Moreland printed in Dig With It magazine, discussing the rebuilding process for the arts sector post COVID-19.
CIARAN LAVERY - PLZ STAY, BB | REVIEW
Published review of Ciaran Lavery's NI Music Prize nominated fourth record. Dig With It magazine.
PORTFOLIO OF WORK
June 2020
PORTFOLIO OF WORK
DIG WITH IT MAGAZINE: TIM WHEELER INTERVIEW
Spring 2020
Published interview with Tim Wheeler from the rock band Ash for Northern Irish music and culture magazine Dig With It. Issue 1.
January 2020 / BBC Radio Ulster
'World Exclusive' package for BBC Radio Ulster, recorded and edited for broadcast using Dalet. Studio chat all recorded live.
SNOW PATROL LIVE REVIEW / BBC ATL INTRODUCING
January 2020 / Limelight, Belfast
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CAREERIST - 'WEIRD HILL' ALBUM REVIEW / BBC ATL INTRODUCING
November 2019
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Through his work with Encore, Taylor was contacted by BBC producer Paul McClean who asked him to contribute to ATL Introducing, Northern Ireland's flagship Introducing show. It's a role he has maintained ever since. In 2017 he was approached by Irish TV to host the first series of 'Soundscapes', a music-focused Irish music show.
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Want to have your music featured?
Contact us: taylorjohnson549@gmail.com