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KAYNE TAYLOR
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*Kayne Taylor Interview
*Kayne Taylor Discography (titles available from Whammo)
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KAYNE TAYLOR - THE WHAMMO INTERVIEW - JUNE 16, 2004


It's 5 minutes before my interview with Kayne Taylor, Popstars Live champion. I'm not sure whether I should be interviewing one of these talent contest graduates. Don't shows like Popstars represent everything I hate in the music industry? The answer is 'yes', so I call the record label and try to cancel. I get that silent treatment that tells me I may have to reconsider. Jeez, they're really giving this kid some exposure. My only experience with Kayne was The Jack Awards when Jabba (Channel V) wrote off the show brilliantly, only to find out that the winner was sitting in the first row. I eased Jabba's conscience by making light of the situation and telling him that I'd be interviewing Kayne, a perfect chance to smooth out their differences. So, here I am, trapped by my magnanimous willingness to please my favourite label contact and staring at the phone, scratching my head, wondering 'what the f**k am I gonna ask him'. I could wield the mighty blade of my cutting editorial style and chop the fella down to size, score a few points among the rock elite and appeal to the more cynical among my readers; or I can give this bloke a chance (another way of saying 'let him dig his own grave').

Kayne calls on a mobile (yes girls, I've got his number). He sounds exhausted but relaxed. I mention that I'm the last of his media commitments and concede that it must be good to finish the scheduled interviews. But Kayne is fired up with enthusiasm and no jaded music hack is going to spoil his afternoon. Despite my obvious attempt to tackle the pop versus rock argument, Kayne is well grounded and only miffed about the rock snobs' obvious ignorance and lack of knowledge when it comes to Kayne. Because, unbeknownst to myself, this is a man who's been battling as a musician for years and those dreaded Jack Awards are a good example of closed-minded attitudes within the industry:

"Jabba never mentioned my name so it was okay," he says, remembering his relief on the night. "I was ready to jump out of the seat and run out the doors. The funny thing is that a rock singer won Popstars and here I was at a rock awards night, getting bagged out about the show!"

Who among the crowd of inebriated luminaries bothered to check whether Kayne could actually play a musical instrument? I mean, that seems to be the credibility judiciary process among my peers. My hoity attitude begins to dissolve as Kayne talks about playing bass then drums...not to mention a bit of didge. Oh, so I can't write him off by saying he's just another karaoke star. Damn, I'll have to try a different angle. Surely, he wouldn't have any say in the process of recording his debut album.

"I'm working with a producer from Universal Records," he says with infectious enthusiasm. "We've written 12 songs together and we'll write another 7 or 8, then choose the final tracks from that. They're giving me a say in how the songs take shape. It's more than I could have ever imagined. So, I'm just concentrating on that side of things and letting them handle the production. I'm honoured that they're making me a priority and giving me a lot of say. "

Foiled again. There must be a chink in this guy's armour...but no, just to kick me while I'm down, Kayne adds the lethal blow.

"Not one of the previous popstars have played an instrument and very few were rock artists."

Jeez, that's true. Isn't that why I hated those puppets? After all, I don't care whether you can play every Eddie Van Halen lick, only using your tongue: I don't rate anyone who doesn't write their own songs. But after I've spent years writing hundreds of songs with very little success, I'm not going to let this ring-in label himself as a songwriter. I'm guessing he knows little about the intricacies of penning tunes and even less about writing lyrics. I put him on the spot by asking where he gets his inspiration.

"Shitty relationships, both with women and in general." he says, slightly embarrassed. "It may be a cliché but I've got to say, it's easier to write when you're feeling your worst, like when you've just come out of a relationship."

Oh my God, that's so true. When you're writing songs, there's no worse impediment than happiness! So, okay wise guy; why would anyone from a rock background, who plays and writes music, ever get involved with this atrocious media circus?

"My mate made me do it for his birthday as a dare. On the morning of the first audition I was saying, "I hope he forgets about it". He put the whole blackmail shit on me: 'I'm your mate, you've gotta do it.'"

This is getting serious. I'm in danger of liking this guy. Now my only chance of reducing him to the ranks of the belittled and humiliated is to hone in on that confidence and expose it as abrasive ego. So, Kayne obviously went into the process thinking he was a big chance?

"I was absolutely shit scared," he counters with blunt honesty.

Mmm...humble as well. Kayne explains that every performance was preceded by a heavy bout of intense fear. It was one thing to get up in front of a crowd, but a totally different ordeal to perform in front of so many capable singers. And then there were the judges. Here's another chance to expose this dude as a fraud. Surely he'll slag off the judges who gave him a hard time and celebrate anyone who offered partisan support. So, who was his favourite judge?

"Christine, only because she was the most critical of me." he answers with a laugh. "Christine was straight up with me. Shauna gave me a lot of crap at boot camp. It helped me to be a better performer. I couldn't open my eyes before the Popstars competition. Another difference was the faith in myself. Now, when I have nerves before a show, they're good nerves and they disappear as soon as I get on stage."

My interview time is running out and I'm beginning to catch myself smiling and being entertained by Kayne's blunt honesty. But I have to put in an effort for my cynical readers. I can't let this kid win Popstars, hit the top of the charts and gain support through Whammo. I'm clutching at straws here. Maybe I can get him to shamelessly slander the winners of rival pop comp, Australian Idol. But no, goddammit, he considers those guys as peers!

"Guy, Shannon and myself: the three of us have been through the same process and I only hope that I can be as successful as those guys."

Let's stick to basics here. There are thousands of budding musicians, sponsored by Centrelink, sitting in front of their computers, wishing I'd deliver the death blow and sink my linguistic boot into this overnight sensation! So I get to the core of every struggling muso's ire and suggest that Kayne has skipped the whole process of doing the hard yards; that he's climbed to the tippy top by default.

"I have no argument with the fact that it's been a pretty quick process." he answers more seriously. "I'm appreciative of that. But I've been a musician for years, so it's been a long time to get to this point."

Right. Unfortunately for the purposes of this interview, Kayne has cut his teeth in the usual manner: jamming out endless tunes in the oppressive sensory depravation tanks we know as rehearsal rooms. But now that he's successful, surely bound for an obligatory #1 chart position, I'm guessing that he'll turn his back on the rock and cater to the whims of the record label, becoming a slightly roughed-up version of Justin Timberlake. This ought to throw him off track (insert evil laugh here).

"Solo guitar artists seem to be the in thing at the moment,” he says, as though he's already planned his musical direction with no adherence to the desire of his label. "It seems like a good time to come out as a rock artist. Bring back the musicians, I say. It sounds so cliché but that's where I'm coming from."

But in a market full of R&B; cardboard cutouts, self-infatuated Emo crybabies and Horlicks-laced acoustic crooners, how is this bloke going to fit in? Surely, he can't expect to have a career with longevity and sustained success!

"I'm hoping I can carve my own style and I'm hungry to earn a bit of credibility,” he says hopefully. "I want to be working internationally within 5 years; working with international songwriters and producers. That's the plan: straight to the top and beyond."

I call him ambitious and he laughs.

"You envision things as a musician and that's the best case scenario."

All right. I'm a beaten man. I'd rate myself as the most cynical, jaded, critical S.O.B on the face of the planet, but even a crusty old hater like myself has to admit when he's been beaten. I'm a shell of my former self; a mere spectre representing the confrontational egomaniac I was a half an hour ago. Meekly - half afraid of the answer I'll get - I ask Kayne why the people of Australia voted for him. I'm squinting, expecting the final blow.

"Sincerity."

Oh shit.

"My honesty."

I was afraid he'd say that.

"How genuine I was."

I'm beginning to understand, but Kayne spells it out anyway.

"I can't live the bullshit. I'm too old to run the facade. I've established who I am and if I'm not honest, I can only be half the person I want to be."

I'm not sure if I've ever been silenced quite so poignantly, and just when I'm picking myself up off the deck and lamenting the past 20 minutes of unsuccessful prodding, Kayne dishes out the mercy killing...

"This is the best interview I've done all day."

Oh.

"Yeah, you've asked some really interesting questions."

Jeez, there's no need to kick a man while he's down. I timidly thank him for his time and remind Kayne that he's got a plane to catch. 'What's next?' I ask, expecting him to describe an agenda full of TV and shopping centre appearances.

"I'm going home to make love to my girlfriend."

Oh God, I give up.

HEARTBREAKER (2 TRX)
KAYNE TAYLORKAYNE TAYLOR
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