Courtney Taylor-Taylor
Encyclopedia
Courtney Taylor-Taylor is an American singer-songwriter
from Portland
, Oregon
. He is the lead singer and guitarist of alternative rock
band The Dandy Warhols
, a band he co-founded. The vast majority of the band's songs are written by Taylor-Taylor, including hits "We Used to Be Friends
" and "Bohemian Like You
". Taylor-Taylor wrote a graphic novel titled One Model Nation (Titan Books
) to be released with a recorded album by the same name on 31 January 2012 (The End Records
).
and Kurt Vonnegut
, both of which have been referenced in The Dandy Warhols' work – "Nietzsche" from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
, and Vonnegut in the title of the band's fourth studio album, Welcome to the Monkey House
, directly referencing his assortment of short stories of the same name
.
-based glam rock
/pop
band The Beauty Stab.
, a documentary about the relationship between his band The Dandy Warhols and sometime friends/rivals The Brian Jonestown Massacre
.
He made a cameo appearance in the film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
(credited as Courtney Alan Taylor).
Taylor appeared in an episode of the second season of the TV show Veronica Mars
, "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang", performing the song "Love Hurts
".
Taylor-Taylor appeared in a 2011 episode of the Australia
n music quiz show Spicks and Specks.
Courtney was one of the contributors to the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars
by Paul Miles, published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.
in Beaverton
, a suburb of Portland
, Oregon
, and studied sociology
, psychology
, and music at Cascade College, also in Portland. It was here he met future bandmate Peter Holmstrom. After graduating, he worked as a mechanic
while playing drums for the local band Nero's Rome.
Courtney informally added the second Taylor to his last name around 1999. One theory for this name change involves Courtney repeating his last name for clarity while leaving a message on the telephone. The taker of the message mistook his name as "Taylor-Taylor".
Like his cousin and fellow bandmate Brent DeBoer, Taylor-Taylor is of Dutch ancestry.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
from Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. He is the lead singer and guitarist of alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The band was founded by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström, with keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford later joining. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by...
, a band he co-founded. The vast majority of the band's songs are written by Taylor-Taylor, including hits "We Used to Be Friends
We Used to Be Friends
"We Used to Be Friends" is a song by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released as the lead single to their fourth studio album, Welcome to the Monkey House, in 2003. It single failed to chart in the US but charted neatly in the UK where it peaked at number 18. The song is...
" and "Bohemian Like You
Bohemian Like You
"Bohemian Like You" is a song by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released in 2000 as a single from the band's third studio album Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. On its original release, it failed to even reach the Top 40 in the UK, peaking at number 42...
". Taylor-Taylor wrote a graphic novel titled One Model Nation (Titan Books
Titan Books
Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
) to be released with a recorded album by the same name on 31 January 2012 (The End Records
The End Records
The End Records is an independent record label, founded in 1998 in San Diego. Founder Andreas Katsambas initially wanted to bring attention to some underground bands he admired. In 2002, The End moved to Salt Lake City, when his wife took a job at the University of Utah. The label moved...
).
Early life
Taylor-Taylor recalls sticking out in his hometown of Beaverton as a teenager. "You don't fit in if you're a make-up-wearing weirdo, surrounded by large, clumsy guys and cheerleaders." He found refuge in the work of Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
and Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
, both of which have been referenced in The Dandy Warhols' work – "Nietzsche" from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia is the third album by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released on 1 August 2000 on Capital Records...
, and Vonnegut in the title of the band's fourth studio album, Welcome to the Monkey House
Welcome to the Monkey House (album)
Welcome to the Monkey House is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. "We Used to Be Friends" was a popular single from the album, which later went on to be the theme song for the cult TV show Veronica Mars....
, directly referencing his assortment of short stories of the same name
Welcome to the Monkey House
Welcome to the Monkey House is an assortment of short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut, first published in August 1968. The stories range from war-time epics to futuristic thrillers, given with satire and Vonnegut's unique edge...
.
Music career
He was the drummer in the PortlandPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
-based glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band The Beauty Stab.
Non music career
Taylor-Taylor appears in and narrates the film Dig!DiG!
Dig! is a 2004 documentary film directed by Ondi Timoner, and produced by Timoner, Vasco Nunes, and David Timoner. Compiled from seven years of footage, it contrasts the developing careers of the bands The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the bands' respective frontmen Courtney...
, a documentary about the relationship between his band The Dandy Warhols and sometime friends/rivals The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
.
He made a cameo appearance in the film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a 2004 American Teen musical comedy film directed by Sara Sugarman and produced by Robert Shapiro and Matthew Hart for Walt Disney Pictures...
(credited as Courtney Alan Taylor).
Taylor appeared in an episode of the second season of the TV show Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
, "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang", performing the song "Love Hurts
Love Hurts
"Love Hurts" is the name of a song, written and composed by Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by The Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is also well known from a 1975 international hit version by the rock band Nazareth and in the UK by a top 5 hit in 1975 by Jim Capaldi.The song was introduced...
".
Taylor-Taylor appeared in a 2011 episode of the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n music quiz show Spicks and Specks.
Courtney was one of the contributors to the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars
Sex tips from rock stars
Sex Tips from Rock Stars: In Their Own Words is a book by Paul Miles that quotes answers from twenty three rock stars to many questions on a broad range of sexual topics...
by Paul Miles, published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.
Personal life
He attended Sunset High SchoolSunset High School (Portland)
Sunset High School is a public high school in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. The school currently offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme...
in Beaverton
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...
, a suburb of Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, and studied sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, and music at Cascade College, also in Portland. It was here he met future bandmate Peter Holmstrom. After graduating, he worked as a mechanic
Mechanic
A mechanic is a craftsman or technician who uses tools to build or repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, motorcycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, general mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and...
while playing drums for the local band Nero's Rome.
Courtney informally added the second Taylor to his last name around 1999. One theory for this name change involves Courtney repeating his last name for clarity while leaving a message on the telephone. The taker of the message mistook his name as "Taylor-Taylor".
Like his cousin and fellow bandmate Brent DeBoer, Taylor-Taylor is of Dutch ancestry.