The last time I covered Tay Temple was for the release of one of her singles back in March of 2021. Much of her initial development as an artist happened during the pandemic, so things have naturally progressed for her as she has had more opportunities to test her sound.

Starting as a country artist, Tay fell out with the style after feeling that it held her back from expressing herself in the way she truly wanted to. She has since pushed herself out of her comfort zone to write rock music. This new style can especially be heard in her latest tracks, ‘Ain’t Me’ and ‘Still Here’.

Tay has long been outspoken about her experiences as a woman and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and the subsequent issues that she has faced. Much of this can be heard in her lyrics.

I caught Tay during an exciting time, and she had a lot to tell me about her reasons for adapting her sound, and how she has been faring in the competitive Manchester scene as an independent artist. We sat in the enclosed beer garden of The Castle Hotel – an iconic venue set in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter – listening to the sound-check of one of the supporting bands for the headline show that she had organised. Not only was she playing that evening, but it was also her 23^rd birthday, and the evening of Eurovision 2023.

The introduction of the electric guitar 

Your sound has evolved quite a lot since I last wrote about you – I think the track was ‘Train’.
Yeah, that’s no longer available anymore – well, it is, it’s on my Bandcamp, but I’ve taken it down from everywhere else. That Painfully Aware EP that I did was me figuring out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to write about. I feel like it doesn’t really do me any justice to keep it up there. If other people were to look on my Spotify and listen to that, they would put me in a box, but that’s not what I do, sound-wise. I’m so detached from what that was, I want to remove myself from it. I feel like I’ve had a ‘reborn’ era. I know who I am now, I didn’t know who I was then.

How did we get there? What was the driving factor?
Electric guitar came into the mix (laughs). It’s completely changed my sound, like 100%. It’s massively affected my range when it comes to singing because now that we’re writing heavier stuff, I’m pushing my vocals to go more ‘rocky’, and I’m starting to growl a bit more – which is actually really cool. I’m like, “Oh, I didn’t know I could do that! I quite like this!”

There’s a lot of experimentation, as well, now that we’ve got Anthony [the drummer] onboard. From November 2021 ‘till October 2022 we were working with Red, who is an amazing drummer. And we recorded with her, but she was crazy busy so we both agreed that it was for the best that we parted ways. She’s been in London playing on Beauty and the Beast on the West End. I still have a lot of love for her.

And then, getting Anthony on board, it just kind of clicked, and we’ve just been writing and experimenting like crazy. And I think through my new guitar, and that newfound solidarity, it’s been allowing us to blossom and get excited about it again.

I got to a point where I was doing it for the sake of it, but I’ve fallen back in love with it. When people ask me what I do, I say, “Oh, I’m an artist”, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to be that, and it got a lot. At one point, I had to ask myself, “Do I want to do this? Or am I just doing this because I told people I’m doing it?” But that is long gone now, I love this. I watched a Zane Lowe interview with Paramore on the most recent album, and Taylor the guitarist [for Paramore] was saying how much he didn’t like ‘Out of Time’, that song on the [Paramore] album, and I was like, “That’s the best song on the album!”

A lot of your music is about relationships with other people and yourself, and it’s about identity. I read somewhere that “Ain’t Me” is about an identity crisis that you had. Have you found that this new style has helped you to express that? Or is it more of a fun thing?
No; definitely. I see rock as a lot angrier. I was doing folky stuff, which you can still write politically, and now I’m still writing about the same themes, it’s just the sound that’s changed. And the way I perform has changed, I’m a lot more energetic now, and I feel a lot more confident in my abilities. I think that was a big, big thing that was pulling me back. I never saw myself as a guitarist, and I wouldn’t say I am, but I’m a lot more confident in my guitar skills, and I feel like my songwriting has gotten a lot better. I feel that my voice has come into its own. Just overall, I feel like I’ve finally found who I want to be and what kind of style I want to go down.

I suppose that is what “Ain’t Me” is literally about.
That’s it! It’s exactly that!

The ethos of creating DIY music

Everything Tay Temple does to promote herself is created, organised, and paid for independently by her. In the video for her most recent single, ‘Ain’t Me’, Tay, her band, and her friends can be seen acting.

Much of Tay’s imagery supports the assertive and confident attitude that she brings to her music, and her online personality is defiantly supportive of her community. In some of her latest promotional material, she is photographed brandishing a barbed-wire-tipped baseball bat.

Another thing that I think is cool about you guys is that a lot of the stuff you do is self-driven. I saw you do your own music videos. Is the baseball bat – is that real barbed wire?
Oh, yeah! Oh yeah, it’s real.

Where does that live? Do you just keep it in the house?
Oh yeah, it’s in my house! I just have it in my bedroom. And if I’m ever feeling like – ah – if I’m ever feeling like I don’t feel powerful, I just pick it up and look at myself in the mirror and go, “Yeah, you’re a bad bitch, it’s fine!” It hypes me up.

Imagine that in a house inspection.
Yeah, I know. I’ll have to hide that. She’s [the bat] actually with me tonight, she’s making an appearance.

You hear ‘DIY’ thrown around a lot. A lot of artists are turning towards being independent and doing stuff themselves because, obviously, a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff is expensive. How does being independent impact the stuff that you do? Is it something that you take pride in?
Yeah, 100%. I’ve had a few people ask me if I’m signed and I go, “No.” And they can’t compute that I’m not. I just do it off my own back. My music videos – I do them with a mate who’s good with a camera and does me a decent rate. Places that I hire out are other mates’. It is literally completely through other people and through networks that I’ve built upon. It does get really difficult at times, though, because you’re wearing about ten hats. It’s like I’m the musician, and I’m the songwriter, and I’m the marketing, and I’m the content creator, and I’m the editor, and I’m the person who posts [the content], and I write the captions.

It’s a lot, and hopefully one day I won’t have to do all that; someone will be able to come in and do the admin shit so I can focus on just writing my songs and being on stage. But for the moment, I feel like it’s really beneficial because if someone was to take that over, I’ve built a very strong foundation and brand identity that they would understand immediately. Who I am, what I’m trying to reach, and what I’m trying to do.

I feel like it’s allowed me to authentically find myself without having labels saying, “Oh, you need to be this style, or you need to be that style, or you need to be that style.” I’m not saying that labels always do that, but I feel like not having that has allowed me to try things and not have the pressure of deadlines. Though I give myself deadlines – I hold them to the bible. If I’ve got a deadline, it needs to be done. But it’s on my terms.

So, it is you organising and doing a lot of the admin stuff by yourself? The band are just the band?
Yeah, they do help in every way they can – they do offer all the time, but I can video edit – I have those skills. Plus I’m a control freak, so it would probably stress me out more letting one of the guys do something rather than just doing it myself (laughs).

I wanted to say, as well – I like the new shirt design. I feel like that is something quite different.
Yeah! Well, it matches the Docs! [Tay shows me her Doc Marten’s, which are covered in symbols drawn in marker pen].

It does match the Docs. Did you do that as well? [I say, pointing to her Docs]Yeah! And my amp [which is also covered in the same marker-pen drawings].

I wanted something that was like streetwear [referring to her t-shirt merch design]. Something that I would wear. I do like band merch, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like at the minute it needs to be something just a bit more.

Can you expand on that? Where did you find the inspiration for that? And why do you think unique merch designs are important for artists?
If people want to support you, they’ll buy it, no matter what it is. But I wanted to do something where they’d go, “Ah, that’s really fucking cool, that. That’s a really cool design, I want to wear that.” And in my head, I want someone to see it and say it’s really cool, and ask where it’s from, and not realise it’s from a band. Just seeing it as a cool item of clothing.

Have you got an online store?
I have, yeah, just on Bandcamp, because I thought that was the easiest way to do it.

I was going to ask about Bandcamp, as well. I know you are on Spotify and Apple Music, but I saw that you are on Soundcloud and Bandcamp, too. The latter has been around for quite a while, and several years ago, there was a real push for pro-independent platforms. But since Spotify has taken over, they have dropped off a bit. Do you think it is important for people to still use those services?
Personally, I think Bandcamp is really helpful for merch, in the sense that it helps bands who are selling their merch, and for people who want to support and chip in. It’s a difficult one, though. I only really use Bandcamp to buy merch. I don’t really listen to music on there. And Soundcloud is mainly for press kits if I’m sending out a track.

I can’t remember where I heard it, but I heard that Soundcloud is coming back for the hip-hop and drum and bass scenes – the DIY scenes.

Obviously, Spotify is…
A monster.

What’s the alternative? How could it be better?
I’m not smart enough for this. [We joke about solving all of the music industry’s problems while sat in the smoking area of The Castle Hotel]

I think Spotify has done a lot of good for artists who aren’t signed, because it’s given them a platform to put [their music] up there without a barrier. But it’s also watered down the value of music. It’s so hard for independent artists to make a living out of it because of how easier it is to get [your music] out there. It’s a really weird paradox.

That’s why I wanted to bring my merch into it. I want my brand to be more than just music. Obviously, I am a musician, but I want to be more than that. I want to talk about important issues, I want people to feel safe, and I want to create a community of queers and everyone else who wants to join and who believes in what I believe in. Because the world is so separate right now. It’s scary how bigoted people are. So this is who I am, this is what I believe, this is how I want to feel; if you want to come along for the journey and create a little community, [you’re welcome].

Gentrification takes its toll

Since before the pandemic, Manchester has been plagued with several venue closures. Before I moved to the city over five years ago, Manchester lost Sound Control, much to the lamenting of various Manchester music scenes. Now, Night and Day – one of the city’s oldest and most respected venues, opened by Jan Oldenburg in 1991 – is being threatened with closure due to noise complaints from new residential flats surrounding it. In an interview with Manchester Evening News, the current owner, Mrs Smithson stated that she could not understand why the council was not supporting them, despite the fact they were running the venue in the same way as they had for 31 years, since they took over ownership. The lawsuit was opened in July 2021, and has since received over 90,000 petition signatures in support.

Venues. Venues are an issue. Night and Day is having issues, Brunswick Mill has gone; there are a lot of opinions on this. How have you dealt with this? What has this meant for Tay Temple?
It’s been really disheartening because we’re just coming up on the scene and are starting to get gigs in these kinds of places. It’s heartbreaking. We want to play all of these shows but the venues are getting less and less. I mean, Brunswick Mill [the rehearsal studio] – we used to rehearse in there, but that’s gone.

Are you in the new place now?
No, because we couldn’t get in. We managed to get one with a friend of a friend – we were very lucky to get it – touch wood. And that’s pretty decent – we share it with a good few people. But you do feel so hopeless. You’re like, “Why is the council even negotiating this?” Don’t build flats on top of a music venue that’s been there for – how many years? It’s stupid landlords who see an easy way to make money without looking into it properly, and then when people live there they complain.

If you actually researched into something and didn’t see it as just a cash-grab, you would understand. People are so detached from culture that they just see a quick money-grab and they take it. They just don’t care, do they? And it’s so disheartening. But I do feel that, especially from the response to Night and Day, there is a community there, and people are very active to save it, which has made me feel a lot better. But it’s still looming.

Why did you move to Manchester instead of sticking in Hartlepool?
It’s a really small town, so there wasn’t really a music scene or much going on in general. It was my parents who really pushed me to get away and I genuinely couldn’t have done it without their support.

What other big cities are near Hartlepool?
Newcastle would have probably been the closest one to go to, but I wanted a fresh start. I wanted to get away and Manchester has always been known for a good music scene. My dad loved Oasis so he was like, “Yeah, go to Manchester!”. So I moved at 16, straight from secondary school, like “Seeyas”. And then I met all my friends, met my band members here. And I do love the city. My other thought was to do London, but I thought that was a bit too far away to go that young, and London’s been renowned for being a bit of a cold city, hasn’t it? [Manchester was] far away, but it’s still a bit northern. And I absolutely love it here.

Did you find that the music scene was what you were expecting?
Because I came here so young, I didn’t really know what to expect. I did a diploma course straight from secondary school, and because I did so well, they let me start uni a year earlier, at 17.

Did you do songwriting at uni?
Yeah, I did. And I started at 17.

Any plans for pride month?
Just going out and being gay (laughs). I don’t know, I haven’t really thought that far ahead. Just trying to enjoy it. I went to the [Manchester] Pride parade last year and really enjoyed it. I had a gig that evening, as well, so I couldn’t stay for the full thing, but I’ll probably do that this year. I think we’ve got a gig – I can’t remember when it is. June 8^th? I think it’s June 8^th in Night and Day with Luna Marble.

Oh, I love Luna Marble! I might see you there.
Yeah – Maria – she’s got some pipes on her!

Not going out to watch Eurovision after this? Just going out to celebrate?
Just going out! It’s my birthday! I might watch it hungover, tomorrow. We’ll see.

You can find Tay Temple’s music on all streaming sites, including Bandcamp (see links below). Tay and her band regularly gig in Manchester, so be sure to keep an eye out for their upcoming show dates if you enjoy her music!

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Photos: Courtney Turner

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Tay Temple pages

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