It’s no surprise that the two brothers behind Hudson Taylor have followed in the same line as many other Grafton St busking graduates, with the narrative of going from humble origins to international success applying itself to yet another Irish band full of graft and soul. Having taken their talent beyond the realms of busking and YouTube, Hudson Taylor rode a wave of brazen self-releases and critically acclaimed gigs to land themselves where they are today.
It’s endearing to hear that they haven’t lost any of that spirit in the advent of their success to date: “We still do busk occasionally in cities we tour, I think we did it last in Germany. It’s totally free, that’s what makes it enjoyable”, recalls Alfie. Harry concurs: “You get a very instant reaction from people who don’t actually know your music and if it’s connecting with them in any way. If they stop by and give you a bit of change then, yeah, that’s a pretty good, that must be a decent song.”
Ultimately it’s this kind of experience that makes Hudson Taylor the great live band that they are, with Alfie asserting that “live is where we’re most comfortable”. That said, it’s clear that the duo have become more and more accustomed to time in the studio and they’re keen to express an aim to capture the essence of their live performances in recordings. “You’d like for it to be more equal though, that it would have the same thing as we have live … So far we don’t necessarily feel like we’ve achieved that, maybe a few times we have, but hopefully in the next run of recordings we hope what we do can get to that same level”, laments Harry. “We’d love to come up with something radio wise or something that gets people to listen to us a bit more on Spotify. People seem to like our live show and we love our live show, it’s our favourite thing, so we’d like to be able to be known for good recorded music”, he adds.
People seem to like our live show and we love our live show, it’s our favourite thing, so we’d like to be able to be known for good recorded music
Their next run of recordings appears to be well underway, as the brothers, who have named the band after their surname, begin preparations for their follow up to the hugely successful Singing for Strangers. Their sophister record is likely to follow on directly from their initial releases in terms of sound, retaining many of their signature elements. “Folk is a huge influence for us and the use of harmonies and stuff like that, that’s always going to be there”, Harry details. However, Alfie also mentions how they’re now honing in on a more refined, impactful sound: “We’re actually stripping it back a bit too. We noticed last year when touring, we were with a whole big band. Now though we’re only gigging with three people and it’s working well, so we took that very same idea into the studio … The first album we kind of threw the kitchen sink at it and recorded everything we could possibly play”.
To further bolster their next effort, the duo have once again enlisted the services of fellow Dublin songwriter and frontman of The Coronas, Danny O’Reilly. O’Reilly co-wrote album track “Butterflies” on their debut record and further collaboration is also likely to surface in the near future. “We were writing with him earlier in the year actually”, Alfie reminisces, “and we have a couple of new ones with will end up being on an album or EP in the future for sure.”
Despite this progress, the brothers are in agreement that they’re still on somewhat of a learning curve, but it’s certainly one of self discovery. Tasked by their label to add to the track list of Singers for Strangers, Harry and Alfie were given free reign over production. “It’s definitely put us more in the driving seat and that has already helped us massively. With new stuff we’re much more involved in making decisions on where the sound is going to go”, Harry claims. Alfie shares a similar sentiment, with this type of experience lending itself to a greater creative process outside of the studio: “Harry’s much more into it now on the recording side, in recording our own tunes and home producing. That’s really helped us getting down songs. In a day, writing a song and getting a demo together ourselves, and to be able to do that pretty decently as well, means a lot.”
This independent recording style has allowed Hudson Taylor to become more focused on their core values as a band, again adding to the refined sound they’ve begun to develop. As Harry attests: “We’re trying to build it and make it more around us. Me and Alfie’s vocals and guitars now being the centre point and everything else supporting that, rather than going in and bashing out live band things without thinking about what that really means for the sound.”
Despite initial successes for Hudson Taylor, there’s an idea floating around in space somewhere that the Irish music scene, in general, is quite insular, and is perhaps a limiting factor in enabling groups like Hudson Taylor from flourishing further afield. “I think I’d be inclined to think the reverse of that”, Harry asserts.” I don’t think it’s as insular as it is friendly and as welcoming, a collective.”
“I know a lot of our friends that play in bands in the UK are almost a bit jealous when they see Irish bands having each other up on stage. That’s what it’s all about, that kind of collective, playing music and sharing it and that’s the best part.”
It’s no shock to anyone to hear that Irish crowds are fantastic. In London people for some reason have the same attitude that they have on the tube. Everyone’s a bit reserved and a bit quiet
It seems as though this very community they describe is drawing them home, at least for now. “We’re sharing 50-50 between the UK and Ireland and moving everything back home soon enough because we can kind of live anywhere now”, Alfie states. “We don’t have to be stuck to one place, we’d like to travel a lot more with our next album anyway and hopefully get out to the states and stuff. But yeah, we’d definitely like to be home.”
Nevertheless, an Irish base means more Irish gigs, an aspect of returning home that the brothers are very much looking forward to.”It’s no shock to anyone to hear that Irish crowds are fantastic. In London people for some reason have the same attitude that they have on the tube. Everyone’s a bit reserved and a bit quiet”, chuckles Harry. A return to Dublin might also see a return to the streets, perhaps as a means of acid testing some of their new tunes and ideas. “We’re going to do a lot more busking, aren’t we Harry?”, Alfie chirps. Whether they be on stage, in the studio or busking on the streets, it seems that this duo are becoming more and more entrenched in Ireland’s ever-diversifying music scene and, with new releases on the horizon, their progress is certainly showing no signs of relenting.
Hudson Taylor play Whelan’s on Thursday, December 29th.
