Oakland native, Taylor Vicks who goes under the artist name “Boy Scouts” began her music career as a DIY artist, recording songs on her laptop and using Garageband as her framework, she’s released a total of three albums. Taylor’s proper debut album “Free Company” was released on ANTI-Records this year. The tracks are a blend of highs and lows, her simplistic instrumental approach focuses on her unique melancholic voice which puts you at ease, and her heartfelt lyrics create a sense of familiarity and connection within each song. Boy Scouts will be opening for Jay Som on her nationwide tour this fall.
Hello Taylor! Thank you so much for your time, where are you currently?
I’m doing well, I’m currently at where my parents live in the Central Valley, we’ve been doing a little band practice for these couple past few days before the tour.
Your new album “Free Company” was released a couple of weeks ago, congrats! How did you celebrate the release?
It ended up coming out on the day that I also finished work, I worked for a summer camp program called “Music with Kids” it was the end of this really busy summer, so we had an end of the summer staff party that night, but it was also the day my album came out, and my co-worker also released an album so we celebrated many things all together.
There’s a lot of relatable songs about the feelings after a relationship ends. How autobiographical is the material? Post-relationships are always tough, are there any songs that are the most personal to you and why?
I would say pretty autobiographical, a lot of the stuff that I end up writing, even if I have the intention of not making it personal, it kind of just ends up being personal in a different way. Sometimes I write through different perspectives on a situation, but it ends up being about a situation that I’ve experienced.
I think the song “alright” is probably the most personal I guess, the way I wrote it was just one of those magical moments that kind of flows out, it didn’t take too much time. It’s interesting, I experienced that more so while I’m recording, because there’s the writing of the song, and then going and recording it.
I kind of go back to that place, but performing is such a different beast because you’re in front of all these people, and usually, when I’m performing the song, it’s been written for quite a while and I might feel differently than I did at the moment. There are definitely certain songs that kind of like bring me back to the place when I wrote it but it’s from a different perspective because so much time has passed since I wrote it, it’s kind of like a little flashback.
This is your first album on a record label (ANTI-Records) and your first collaborating with a producer (Stephen Steinbrink). What was it like having a wider selection of tools to work with vs. the minimalistic approach you took with your previous work?
It was awesome but the label came afterward, Stephen and I had already worked together and made the whole thing. I hadn’t even really thought about the audience that it would reach, because I hadn’t imagined it being on a label like this, its something I’ve never done before. definitely working with Stephen he’s justs super talented and such a great person to work with, it was really wonderful and really positive experience, recording with and hearing his ideas, and working together on something and really liking the outcome of it.
You’re about to embark on a tour with Jay Som (aka Melina Duterte), who you’ve been friends with for a while, both being from Oakland and having contributed on her recent album. Did she give any advice or help in making the new album?
I would go to her with little small questions or just pick her brain about how her experience was at first signing to the label but when I told her about the fact that Stephen and I were recording together she was pretty excited because she also loves Stephen’s stuff.
How do you prepare yourself before a performance, what are some of the things you’ll do differently for your set during this tour?
I’ll probably start doing some vocal warmups, I’ve never really done that before but its something that I started doing with Stephen before his shows, he got me into this specific little vocal warm-up thing it’s like a 20 minute long , it’s kind of cool to just get your head into this different space, kind of like a meditation to do right before going on, I’m gonna experiment with that.
If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?
Wow, that’s a good one, I don’t know if there are many things that I’m super similar to like a golden retriever, I grew up with one when I was seven years old, and she was just the best absolute best dog, very noble. So now when I see them I’m like ‘awww’ i don’t know if its something necessarily that I see myself as but it’s something that I strive to be like.
Boy Scouts Fall 2019 Tour Dates
09/11 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge #$
09/12 – San Diego, CA @ The Irenic #$
09/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex #$
09/14 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore #$
9/15 – Guerneville, CA @ Save The Redwoods Benefit
09/17 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial #$
09/18 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos #$
09/19 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge #$
09/20 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux #$
09/21 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge #$
09/24 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge #$
09/26 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada #$
09/27 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda #$
09/28 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) #$
10/15 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada %#
10/16 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry %#
10/17 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon %#
10/18 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall %#
10/19 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement %#
10/21 – Detroit, MI @ El Club %#
10/22 – Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground %#
10/23 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB %#
10/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere %#
10/26 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair %#
10/27 – Burlington, VT @ ArtsRiot %#
10/29 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry %#
10/30 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel %#
10/31 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings %#
11/01 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Purgatory Stage) %#
11/02 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt %#
#supporting Jay Som
$ w/ Affectionately
% w/ Gia Margaret