Hip children’s entertainment is easier to find than it used to be, thanks to the popularity of shows like “Yo Gabba Gabba” and savvy singer-songwriters such as Justin Roberts. Both have been praised for their ability to appeal to kids and adults at the same time.
But for Morgan Taylor, making children’s entertainment isn’t a calculated career move. In fact, it was an accident.
“I wasn’t purposely considering anybody’s taste or demographics or age groups or attention spans,” said the 44-year-old, who lives with his wife and two sons in Kingston, N.Y. “I was just making these cool little video-poem things, and the reaction was so strong from people right away that I thought, ‘This is fun. I’ll just do this.'”
Taylor, a longtime musician and illustrator, was preparing to leave for a 2004 tour playing bass for the Autumn Defense — the side project of Wilco bassist John Stirratt — when he started working on the character of Gustafer Yellowgold, a quizzical-faced, canary-yellow alien from the sun who lands in the Minnesota woods and embarks on sundry, vaguely psychedelic adventures.
Taylor had spent years in acclaimed Dayton, Ohio, bands like Mink, which came up during that city’s fertile ’90s indie rock scene that also birthed the Breeders, Guided by Voices, Brainiac and others. After leaving Dayton in 1999 Taylor began running sound at the Manhattan venue the Living Room, working with acclaimed artists such as Norah Jones, Rufus Wainright and David Johansen.
But his drive to stay in the music scene was swiftly being replaced with a desire to do his own thing.
“I spent so many years worrying about what the Strokes were wearing and what Radiohead was doing, and really that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned,” said Taylor, who brings the Gustafer Yellowgold tour to the Canyon Theater at the Boulder Public Library for two free shows July 13. “Not just to be yourself, but to do what you want.”
Gustafer took on a life of his own as Taylor’s drawings and songs mutated into minimally animated videos and, eventually, DVDs and cross-country tours.
Now the Gustafer brand — which Taylor runs with wife Rachel Loshak, the president of Gustafer’s Apple-Eye Productions — boasts five DVD-albums (with another on the way in September), more than 1,000 international live shows (including Off-Broadway runs in New York City), raves from the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly, and the honor of having opened for decidedly non-kiddie acts such as Wilco and the Polyphonic Spree.
“I take the craft very seriously and care about the quality of the (songwriting),” Taylor said. “I’m not going to use just a generic blues progression because I never would do that anyway. The lyrics are all within this fictitious realm of comic absurdity. It’s chordally and melodically sophisticated and just accessible enough on a pop level.”
Taylor’s shows — he’ll perform at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on July 13, with a drawing workshop from 2 to 2:30 p.m. — include video projections, storytelling breaks and Taylor’s musical performances. Songs like “Cakenstein” and “Rock Melon” balance his breathy delivery with technical guitar prowess and layers of sugary melody.
“My first goal in life was to be a cartoonist and draw Marvel comics, then I wanted to make a living as a rock musician,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t until I sort of let go of everything and embraced them both at the same time that my career actually started.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel
