Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Taylor.
Hi Joseph, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In the interest of brevity, I will start my story with my band Capsize 7, which lived from 1991-1996. That is fairly ancient history but is essential in describing my path in music. I’m Joe Taylor, the lead singer and guitarist of Capsize 7. A few elderly Gen-X types may remember the Chapel Hill music explosion heard across alt.music.chapelhill and beyond. We were a part of this scene as some of the younger dudes, pretty in face and form, and picked up by Caroline Records as a result. We toured with our friends The Archer’s of Loaf and recorded with Caleb Southern. We managed to land a spot on Lollapalooza ‘96 and inked a publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing. Kind of makes you sick how lucky we got – huh? Then it all turned to dog barf. The head of the label got fired the week our record came out. The new guy did not dig it. We broke up after recording our second record out in Enciitas CA with Mark Trombino (Blink 182 producer). So the vampire known as the music business bit me, pulled my hair, and kicked me out of the van.
After doing an obligatory law school drain-circle I moved out to LA with the drummer from Capsize 7 and shopped a record we’d made with Brian Paulson back in Chapel Hill. We were an acoustic guitar and drums duo called Lystra. We got a little attention and played the right clubs (Spaceland, The Mint, live show on KXLU, etc.) The dude who managed Alien Ant Farm loved us for a week. And even though we’d added a bass player and attempted to switch up the sound – it didn’t work out (partly because I had an alcohol problem). I broke my leg while I was drunk and couldn’t pay my bills. I moved back to NC.
Then came the next project known as Blag’ard. Blag’ard existed as a two piece first and then became another two piece (drummer change-up). We played the Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham circuit and the occasional NE three or four city outings. We released several records recorded by excellent local engineers John Koelle, Nick Petersen, and again, Brian P. When I say released I mean I put them out on the label which started out as the record label which released the Capsize 7 vinyl: Pig Zen’s Pace. These records would be manufactured as CD’s and shipped to college radio and press outlets.
Along the way I had a brief stint working live sound at Chapel Hill music venue Local 506 where owners Dave and Monica were kind enough to put up with my b/s. This helped me begin to understand the concepts of mic placement, gain staging, and how much acoustic guitars suck live when paired with loud rock.
Sometimes it takes a while to appreciate the details of your craft, even when it begins at a young age. Sometimes as a result of one’s immaturity when your path begins. I removed alcohol from my life during the beginning of my second drummer’s stint in Blag’ard.
In the distant past I had been amazed to learn the mic Caleb used to record vocals was worth as much as a car. I forgot the name at the time – now I know it was a Neumann U87. Brian P would talk about the speed of the sound traveling from the drums to the overheads and I heard it and found it interesting but didn’t really pay attention. Nick P would place a mic on a guitar cab and I’d think – that’s a funny looking flat-faced mic, and I now suspect it was an AKG 414c. Point being I was in the loop and around a lot of talented people and learned some things by osmosis along the way.
After moving to Wilmington NC I rented a space in mid-town near UNCW to begin learning to play a five-piece drum kit. I sound-proofed and acoustically treated the space. I began recording my music projects and some clients with a changing line-up of mics and interfaces. I continued to acquire what I knew I would need to produce a pro-level sounding recording on the tightest budget I was comfortable with. The results are well researched choices that prove themselves and have a proven track record (pun intended) in high end studios.
The latest ten song recording in which I play all the instruments is now, as of Jan 2026, nearly ready for publication. Please look for “The Hipster Remover” by Blag’ard available on all major streaming platform this Valentine’s Day.
I need to mention that I do not rely on music for income. My day job is my bean-to-bar chocolate and cacao business. Jungle Cat Cacao is right next to the studio, which allows me to work on music whenever I can get away from making products.
Jungle Cat Cacao uses exclusively cacao from Belize, where we have a six acre cacao farm on the Moho River. We sell on Amazon, Etsy and Wilmington area farmers markets. All of the online sales come with a QR code on the product which sends you to a page showcasing the newest music release from Pig Zen’s Pace, including a free download link with a sample of songs in a zip file.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The struggles of any great or small drama include man vs man, man vs the environment, and man vs self. Of the three the third is the most bitchin. That is the one I spent most of my arcade money on. I began in a scene that drank heavily. There were other ways to meddle but can beer was really the fuel. As Mark Sloop famously said: This is the Chapel Hill sound (opens can of PBR). I had to quit, control wasn’t possible for me. So I did. After 15 years of being distracted during critical moments with my bands Capsize 7, Lystra and Blag’ard, I finally had enough and quit. In addition I had to work through some confusion about other concepts like: graduate school, unexpectedly difficult parental death, ocean life guarding as a career, do-I-actually-want-children, and what is madness anyway. Any struggles along the way? This sounds like a question of someone who has arrived. I’m still in the middle of my space-walk and the cooling system on my suit doesn’t work.
The sun is pretty bright in LEO.
As a person who chose a creative field I have met so many brilliant people that absolutely deserve to be living comfortably without a server job (or the equivalent). Most of us are just one more zebra in the giant herd. The signal to noise is shit.
As a cater-waiter in Los Angeles while working on my then-band Lystra I worked at Wolfgang Puck Catering & Events. A selection of stories from my coworkers. 1. An older guy who had been a pen and ink artist for Disney, fired after twenty years because of Pixar. 2. A country singer on the verge of a breakout dropped by his label when he came out as gay. 3. Actors and actresses who got on the short list; prominent TV commercials, invites to the Playboy Mansion, etc…became irrelevant in the eyes of agents and power brokers because why.
Shoveling is the construction workers escape.
I like cutting the grass.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
While I may be most known for my participation in a rock band 30 years ago, I have sold way more bags of roasted cocoa beans, cacao nibs and chocolate products than I ever sold CD’s or downloads. I am proud of my day job, the business I created called Jungle Cat Cacao.
During the majority of the year I am slammed with three farmer’s markets a week, and creating product for my online sales via Amazon and Etsy. I’m at my cacao & chocolate shop six days and all things music fill into the free time like mortar. Lucky for me the studio is actually on the other side of the wall.
An example. In the middle of last summer as the markets are going full swing, a woman calls me up and asks to record “Amazing Grace” for her son. She wants to do it tomorrow. I say sure, give her a very reasonable price and she arrives the next day after I’m done my cacao work. I capture the vocal with an EV RE20 and use parallel compression with the Dangerous Music Compressor. This is routed through my APB Dynasonic Spectra 24 channel analog sound board. I layer it onto her MP3 of the instrumental she emailed me. One warm up take. Two or three very good takes. Done. Simple mixdown in Cubase Pro and email her the file. When I see her at farmer’s markets she tells me how happy it made her son.
Having worked with top engineers and producers I know I’m not as knowledgeable or talented as them. I know I’m not as good a drummer as my old drummers. It doesn’t stop me from making good product. Like Prince or Bob Clearmountain have said…don’t be a perfectionist.
In the studio I like to capture sounds mix down ready. I use compression on the way in on a distinct track from the original source. I use hardware effects when I need them and don’t like to lean on plug-ins to get the sounds I want. I spent a lot of time and money on getting a great set of plug-ins for recording…only to find that they created recordings I didn’t like.
I do appreciate the editing abilities that Cubase or other pro-level DAWs provide. However, performance wins every time. I’d rather try harder to get the great take than comp five okay takes together.
I’m proud to still be growing musically and creating in my middle years. About five years ago I started playing the drums. I’ve gotten good enough that I played all the drums on my new record “The Hipster Remover” coming out this Valentines Day.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk is a funny thing. You have to believe in the game to think you can lose it or be harmed by it. I have sacrificed financial opportunities for music. I walked away from a top tier law school to go to LA and work on my band. I have never been in physical danger that offered an actual risk to my life aside from some questionable choices and low probability yet highly dangerous events: a few days ago I killed a Yellow Jaw (aka Fer-de-lance) in the jungle with my machete.
I guess choosing the arts was ‘risky’, but the real risk for me has always been that I will self-sabotage and tell it to GF itself. Because knowing it for what it is, it is hard to take it seriously.
I do love and respect the work output of my friends and contemporaries. I know they sacrificed to earn their successes and their losses. I love them for trying and failing. Sometimes to reach so high and disintegrate is a lot prettier than reaching the top tier of celebrity.
This isn’t a mentally safe field to be in. If you need structure and stability, the field of music/acting/art is possibly the worst choice.
However for believers, at the end of the day, success in show biz is like old age. It’s nice if you can get it; death is your alternative.
Economic risk for me has been a debt/work balance. I never take more debt than I can work out of. But you do you. Not having children helps.
Pricing:
- $45/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: pzprecordingstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pigzen/
- Facebook: https://junglecatcacao.com/index.php/album/blagard-promotional-ep/
- Linkedin: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/capsize-7/1693681155
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@blagvideoard
- soundcloud: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5gWTQkVRIu4eoseRDEl9Vv
- Other: junglecatcacao.com, pigzenspace.com
Image Credits
Capsize 7 band photo by Michael Nickels
