By: Daniel P’Lopez
Photos by: Shaun Vadella
Stewart Taylor is an artist with many tricks under his sleeves. He is a queer and fluid artist who officially came out when he was seventeen. He grew up in New Canaan, a small town outside of New York City. Stewart admits that he basically grew up on stage since he was a young child and has been singing, dancing, and songwriting since he was four.
Stewart pretty much influenced himself from a very young age with his original songwriting, “I’d be out with my family and all of the sudden I would just start singing a song so it was like I’ve been channeling some things since I was a little kid.” At the age of seven, Stewart started watching MTV and VH1 and was significantly influenced by the Jacksons, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Madonna, as well as pop artists like NSYNC, the Backstreets Boys, and Britney Spears.
One of Stewart’s first CDs was from Christina Aguilera’s debut album, which significantly influenced Stewart’s soul-full tone as well as many prints of Motown music. “A lot of good soul music raised me.” Says Stewart.
At the age of eighteen, Stewart quit theater because he was told he sounded too pop for theater, with more of an R&B sound. Stewart went to Berkeley College for music and moved around a bit in his early career. While at Berkeley College, Stewart met Kara DioGuardi a famous songwriter and producer who also had some fame in American Idol as one of the judges. Kara ended up becoming a teacher at Berkeley, and he auditioned to get into her songwriting class. He got in, as did Charlie Puth and many others who have gone on to have great careers in the industry. He then moved to New York and gigged on the Lower East Side until he eventually settled in Los Angeles.
Stewart writes his own songs and music and comes up with the concepts based on whatever he is going through in life, especially if he is dating or in a relationship. Stewart also acts and models and started modeling on a HULU show called Exposure. He has also done a few music video appearances with Neon Trees in a video called “Bad Dreams,” and another with Justin Timberlake and Ty West called “No Angels.” Stewart admits that his true passion and dream is in music and songwriting.
Stewart has done so much groundwork in the indie scene over the past decade, gigging in different parts of the country and just meeting people at parties and recording and writing sessions. That was what got Stewart in the music industry professionally. He got his first songwriting cut by a pop star in Europe called Antonia, and the song was called “Lies I Tell Myself.” More recently, he got a cut with K-Pop star Josh Cullen with a song called “See Me.”
Stewart has had many different artists in the industry help him and give him pointers and advice on editing his music videos. Stewart has also helped others. “It has been a lot of hard work the past decade hitting the ground running and working with many different managers and different labels and co-writers.” This led to him signing his first record with Sapphire Records, based in Los Angeles.
Stewart has a new single out called “Even,” a song about the demise of his relationship with his ex. The video shows them jumping in and out of a video game, with Stewart trying to get revenge on him. Stewart was highly inspired by Joesph Oren, a designer in Berlin with a futuristic style, who also dressed him for the “Even” video. Stewart is working on his debut album, an untitled album coming out later this year.
With many projects to look forward to, Stewart loves his pets; he has a puppy, a mini golden doodle, and a cat that takes up much of his free time. He also advocates for anti-bullying causes, especially “The Born This Way Foundation.” He loves to hike in LA and hang out with his friends. He wants to get into filmmaking and co-direct and produce his videos. Stewart is not in a serious relationship but has his eye on someone and says he is quite the catch.
We wish Stweart the best in his career and with his music and dreams. You can follow Stewart on TikTok and Instagram @Imstewarttaylor. You can also check out his website for news and upcoming shows and appearances. Stewarttaylorofficial.com