Spotlight: Faye Leonne 'Modern Day Love Story'
☆ By Jackson Wald ☆
FAYE LEONNE’S MUSIC COMMANDS YOUR ATTENTION - In her debut EP, Modern Day Love Story, Leonne guides her listener through a series of intricate and devastatingly honest accounts of love-lost and love-found. In only eight songs, which span almost thirty minutes, Leonne seamlessly shifts between mood and genre; her range is strikingly apparent in songs like “His Girl” — an alluring, seductive tale of an ex-lover which, on first listen, sounds like it belongs in a smoky ballroom — and “Won’t be Waiting,” where, with lush, booming vocals and a commanding resolution, Leonne finds solace in moving on from an ex-flame.
Recently changing her name to Faye Leonne, Brianne Taylor largely credits her love for music, and her ability to flow through genres, to her upbringing: her father, who currently writes and sings in a band, introduced Taylor to iconic groups like Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Doors as a child. “He liked explaining lyric meanings and how certain sounds can tell a story even without lyrics. I think that definitely shaped how I view music today and gave me early interest,” Taylor recalls.
However, while Taylor was engaging with and shaping her taste in music from the 1980’s and 90’s, music from the early 2000’s — what she considers to be the “prime of pop culture” — inspired her to pursue a career as a musician. “I remember once at maybe 6 or 7 years old someone asked what I wanted to do when I grew up,” Taylor said. “And I immediately thought ‘singer,’ and I think from then on I realized there was nothing else I truly saw myself doing.”
Taylor’s music is in large part shaped by her surroundings; born and raised in Queens, New York, the intimate camaraderie and community found in the city that never sleeps had a substantial impact on her. “There’s so much inspiration everywhere,” she noted. “I grew up on a street where the kids would all come out and hang out in the dozens.”
It was also the breadth of culture — from constant and immediate access to other creatives to the plethora and availability of live music and concerts — that helped Taylor lean into a career of music. From her first concert-going experience (the Christina Aguilera-PussyCat Dolls-Danity Kane tour at Madison Square Garden) until now— the power of live music made her crave being the one performing on stage.
“Honestly, it changed everything for me,” Taylor said. “Because at such a young age I realized the power of live music and it became a driving inspiration.”
As an adult, Taylor has carved out a role in the underground New York City music community. Taylor collaborated with Brooklyn based band The Basement Sounds on two songs — “Wildfire [Intro]” and “B.A.S”— on their debut project Vol.1; the latter features N.A.O Quelly, the first artist signed to Joey Bada$$’s label BADMIND.
“If I didn’t live in New York City I can’t even imagine where I’d be right now. Everyone I’m friends with and everyone I’ve worked with is in my life is because of the unique and creative scene that New York City provides,” Taylor said. “There’s an event for every type of artist here. That’s probably my favorite thing about this city.”
Modern Day Love Story, according to Taylor, is best defined as a time capsule. Created in a three-year period between 2016 and 2019 — when Taylor was living in San Diego, then New York — the music in the EP is hyper-specific to her experiences from the time. “I could listen to some of the songs today and not relate to them at all because I was in such a specific place in my life when the song was made,” Taylor recalls. “But it takes me back to the lesson of that experience.”
Taylor also valued cultivating eight songs that resonated for her personally, rather than crafting and organizing a project that is solely similar in genre or sound.
“I decided to choose the [songs] I loved, rather than songs that just sounded good together because they’re similar in sound or genre,” said Taylor. “Now listening back I feel like although they’re all different, they more accurately represent my sound as an artist.”
As is apparent in the title of her EP, love is the driving motif in Taylor’s music. Her music finds its origin in real pain; the kind of hurt and despair that hits you in the face like cold water; that chills you to the bone. It feels impossible for someone to sing so eloquently, and with so much conviction and sincerity, and not have gone through such pain. “When I’m hurt, I find the words for how I feel in music,” Taylor says. “Love has helped me realize who I am, even though I’ve been really hurt. And not just by romantic relationships, by friends and family too. By expectations of others and being let down.”
Yet, for Taylor, music is a vehicle for her to channel her hurt — and reclaim the power it once had over her. “But I just love the pain —and the journey of that pain —expressed in love songs,” she said. “Music represents that kind of pain unlike anything else in my opinion.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic has run rampant since March, Taylor has taken the time to reflect on what she loves about being an artist, and how she can continue to push herself and progress. She has started to DJ again after a long hiatus and is planning on live-streaming herself DJing while simultaneously vocally freestyling.
So, what’s next for Brianne Taylor? Nothing. Even though the artist will still be writing and performing, Taylor is retiring the moniker “Brianne Taylor,” in favor of a new name: Fay Leonne. Taylor will be releasing all her new music — which, she notes, is coming very soon— under this name. She feels like this name more accurately captures her as an artist.
“Changing my name and creating under [Fay Leonne] oddly makes me feel like I have more freedom as an artist,” said Taylor, “It definitely is a psychological thing, but it just makes me feel more confident in doing more than just releasing songs. I want to create all kinds ...of content— short films, live-streaming...and this name creates an energy for a brand that I want eventually to be my career.”
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