Artist, actor, activist and all-round creative, Tayla Parx has likely been in the background of your favourite autumn watch or penned the track you have on repeat.

While growing up, she starred in Gilmore Girls, True Jackson, VP, and Hairspray. Since then, she’s lent her voice to video games, further acting roles, and had a highly lucrative career as a songwriter, working with the likes of Ariana Grande, and Panic! At The Disco. 

Receiving Billboard’s “Hitmaker” Award in 2019 for her songwriting talent, she possesses a discography that has amassed over 6 billion streams and multiple Grammy nominations. In addition to having many songwriting credits, she’s a powerful artist in her own right. 

Through her first two albums, We Need To Talk (2019) and Coping Mechanisms (2020), Tayla Parx has been on a journey of self-discovery, veering away from any notion of what an artist should be, or what genre she should stick to. Putting herself at the helm of her innate creativity through her latest album, Many Moons, Many Suns, her experimentation has truly come to fruition. Valuing creative freedom and collaboration in her art, she worked with queer and non-binary artists on this album to fully encompass her vision. 

Aside from her successful music career, she’s also a shrewd businesswoman. In 2020, she established TaylaMade Inc., an umbrella company that has partnered with the Recording Academy and American Express. Staying true to her values, she matches her decisions with being a keen advocate for sustainability. The Forbes 30 Under 30 alum ensures everything is ‘TaylaMade’, from her merchandise to touring practices. Developing an interest in farming, she’s taken on a ranch in Nashville which is her latest passion.

1883 Magazine chats with Tayla Parx as she discusses her commitment to sustainability, the evolving nature of her career, and the collaborators who have inspired her. 

You’re traveling at the moment ahead of your London show. How’s the journey been so far?

It’s been going great. I’ve just been in Europe over the past few weeks getting ready for the first show, and it’s been awesome. I’ve been able to go to some of my favorite stores out here and shop for the tour, which I really enjoy when I actually have a moment to style myself, which has been really, really fun.

When you’re shopping, what kind of things do you normally look for that stand out to you?

The thing that first stands out is shapes. I like playing with shapes and textures. I love to really redefine what femininity and masculinity is in my outfit for me. That could be colour schemes, shapes, and playing with those different things. Usually, when it’s like a concept store or concept clothing line, I’m like, “This is my place right here.” 

I really admire how everything is TaylaMade and that your love of fashion and sustainability fits in with your music. How did you come up with creating your sustainable merch?

I definitely just wanted to make sure that my clothing line really reflected everything else that I try to be mindful of in my life. I’m very into sustainable fashion. I’m very into sustainability, period. Doing closed-loop systems, just to make sure that I’m doing my part. Making sure that I’m leading by example on things that other artists who have been doing this job way longer than me could also be doing. Maybe if they see other people doing it and just starting it off, it’ll become the new normal.

We want to make sure that we can get merch out and be able to tour for many, many, years to come. We’ve got to start thinking about what are the most sustainable ways to do that. Sustainable ways to do artistry in general is very important to me.

That’s really interesting. What successful sustainable practices have you found so far?

I noticed that when I’ve been on everything from tour bus to sprinter van to flying every trip, I’ve done all of these different ways. I’ve done quite small shows when it was 50 capacity to stadiums. I’ve really been able to kind of get an idea of where the majority of the problem is coming from when we think about CO2. The things that come with getting from city to city. The things that come from what you’re putting in the merch. It’s from the moment that we start the album, I like to think about how to do it the most sustainable way. With the merch, for instance, we have coconut husk buttons.

Everything is made from vegetable dye. There is no polyester. None of that is put into my clothing line. That’s something that’s important. We’re going fully electric this tour, which I’m really excited to try. This will be the first time, so we’re gonna just try it out and maybe we’ll talk again in a few months and see how it went.

After listening to your music for a while, it’s clear that you do things on your own terms and aren’t afraid to try new things, as heard on your latest album, Many Moons, Many Suns. How have you found developing your artistry over the last few years?

I’ve just been free and I’ve always tried to be fearless. Even from the very beginning of my songwriting career, wanting to make sure that everything is TaylaMade. Meaning everything that I’m going to be doing, I want to make sure that I’m doing it mindfully. Very demure. Make sure that I’m thinking about the way that I would do something because I started to realise after years of being in it, that it cost the earth. The way that we just start saying, “Oh, this is just the way things have always been done.” Then it costs your mental health to say, “This is just the way that things have always been done.” That wasn’t sustainable. Everything that I touch, I want to make sure that I’m saying, “Well, do we think about it this way?” I’ve always been that way my whole life. So when I realised, “Okay, how many black pop stars do I really see?”, there are not many that are mainstream.

Pop doesn’t have a colour or gender, or anything like that. I’ll be one of those people. I’m sure there are plenty of other pop acts as well who look like me. They’re saying, “Okay, I’m this type of alt-pop, RnB, indie, type of influence.” There’s a lot of that influence that you hear on Many Moons, Many Suns, and having the freedom to say, “Let’s just try it.” The worst that can happen is that I hate the song and don’t put it out. The best that can happen is I put it out, and people have from the moment that it comes out to ten years later to discover it.

You can definitely hear the authenticity. “I Don’t Talk About Texas”, is a standout track. I really admire that you wrote it with queer and non-binary collaborators. Was that planned or was that a direction you made during the process?

I want to say that all of the writers that I worked with are queer in some type of way, which is actually cool. I didn’t even realise that. Specifically, “I Don’t Talk About Texas”. That track, in particular, I was just a fan of the two artists that wrote on it with me, Sid Dorey and Corook. It was interesting because I know that as a songwriter when you don’t write for other people, you approach the song in a particular way. We have a conversation and both of those writers don’t typically write for other people. I was just like, “Let’s just get into the studio and see what comes out, but one thing that I know is it will be a great time”. It’s something that stretches me as a writer and as a creative.

I’ve gone through phases of writing over 200 songs a year for years. And then saying, “This year I’m only gonna write 60 songs.” I want to make sure that every week I’m working with somebody that I’ve never heard of before. Really throwing myself into a creative kind of roulette has really, really helped me gain inspiration and gratitude for doing what we do. It’s very easy to get kind of wrapped up in being like, “It has to be this and we’re going for the chart.” It was a relief to say, “Okay, I’m just going to do what I want to do this year.” I’m gonna be a student again. Collaborate with people that maybe don’t have No.1 records but they inspire me, and they reflect something that I want to see in my industry. That was really important for me for this project.

Is there a collaborator who has particularly inspired you, who other people might not have heard of?

People now know about Corook. Sid Dorey is quite a new artist, so that’s very interesting. Dan Fernandez is a producer and he’s kind of more alt-leaning, which is really cool. Chiiild, of course. We went back to working together, but he was one of the first people that I ever worked with for my solo stuff. Before he had his solo artistry out, he was featured on my mixtape in 2017 or 2016, or something like that. There’s a lot of people in our industry, who go to the same people like, “Okay, you’re looking at the charts, and you’re looking at who’s working with everybody.” I think that it was an intentional thing to see who actually has a really small circle, who hasn’t been for lack of a better word, tarnished.

You’ve written songs for artists like Ariana Grande and Panic! at the Disco, as well as your own solo work. How was it writing for yourself and having that freedom to channel your mood into your music?

It’s great because I think the thing that I like about songwriting so much is the fact that you are trying to fit somebody’s life experience into a box of two minutes. Meaning it’s all about listening to them. It’s all about understanding them and all these other things. You’re trying to really get that red bull’s eye every single time. That’s the challenge I love. But the challenge in being like, “Wow, there is no red bull’s eye. The only thing that matters right now is my heart. Do I feel it? Do I get chills when I hear this chord? Do I almost cry when I say this lyric?” Just the different ways that are approached are very necessary for me as a creative because I couldn’t see myself only writing for me. I couldn’t see myself only writing for other people as well. They just bring two different things creatively out of me.

You had your start with Hairspray, and then Gilmore Girls and True Jackson, VP, as well as voice acting on video games. How do you manage all of these different creative pursuits?

There’s been quite a lot of hats over the years. I’m turning 31 in a few days. The first thing that you mentioned, I was 12 years old. There has been over a decade of being able to say, “This is the hat I’m going to wear this year”, or “I want to go back to being a student of music, I think I’m going to just focus on the writing”, or “I think I want to be more of a student of the visual arts this time.” I wouldn’t even be a songwriter if I didn’t have a moment and say, “I’m tired of being on screen, acting and auditioning. I just want to go to a studio and be able to work.”

I wouldn’t have had that opportunity, if I didn’t think, “Well maybe we do this, this time.” I’ve always been about chasing my creative freedom. That’s allowed me a lot of flexibility with saying, “This is what the focus is on for the year. This is what makes me happy.” I think when you have been in the industry for that long, eventually everybody ends up in the same place of just wanting to be happy.

Even from looking at your music videos, or how you’ve played the most amount of instruments on this album than ever before, it does feel very much like an amazing melting pot of trial and error. What was your favorite experiment?

I think that’s a really great way of putting it. A very public trial and error. I’ve never been afraid to get it all the way wrong or get it all the way right. If there is such a thing as right or wrong. Thank you for putting it that way first of all. But I will say the most fun thing is choosing the collaborators. The most fun thing is saying, “Okay, getting back to that moment of where can I take it this time? What haven’t I heard, and what new ways can we put these chords together that maybe I didn’t before?” But I think that this was such a vulnerable album. I have songs that are vulnerable on each project, But I think lyrically, I really stretched myself on this project. I love my records, like “Dance Alone”. I know what that specific story is about and I know that’s the type of record they’ll play in Starbucks.

But a record like, “I Don’t Talk About Texas”’, is where I’m really able to get personal and really talk about what happened on my birthday with my emotional support ex. For other artists, I try to write songs that they will be too afraid to talk about in interviews. I try to apply that same rule to myself. What is the thing that I would be too afraid to say in an interview? Let’s put it in a song. It’s a safe place.

I think it’s amazing that even though the songs are so personal to you, they’re universally relatable as they’re from your heart.

Absolutely! I think there’s no original emotion under the sun. We have the same handful of emotions, and your life experience is what changes your perspective of those experiences. Everybody can see it from their own thing. I think what makes a great song is being able to say, “I see this in my own life.”  I’m really happy that even though I know it’s about a specific night, people are like, “Girl when I tell you, I experienced the same exact feeling”, or “I have an emotional support ex.” It made me feel very supported and seen.

Have you thought about all of these people singing your words back to you?

I’ve started to put a star next to songs where I feel like, “Ooh, I might cry during this one.” You never know because when it’s the first time that you’re performing them, you don’t know how it’s going to hit you. You don’t know how deep in that moment it’s going to take you back into the past. How it’s going to affect you when you see people hear and relate and sing it back to you. It can only happen if you’re open enough. I’ve just started to make my little notes of, “Okay, might need a little breather at this one because this one is more touchy than other songs.” I’ve just been doing that.

I’m excited as you said, I’ve been playing a lot of the instruments for this project. I’ve been playing guitar on stage again, which has been really, really fun. Just getting back into being a student. You’re a musician as a vocalist as well, but it’s just a different type of way. I’m definitely interested to see how those first two shows go. Then I’ll know, because when I listen to “I Don’t Talk About Texas”, I cry almost every time. 

Is that the song that you’re most excited to perform live?

It’s the song that I’m the most scared of in a positive way. Oh my god, it’s gonna be so vulnerable. Any time I’ve been scared to do anything in my career or in my life, I just jump in and do it. If I’m scared of it, that means I have to do it.

What was the biggest thing that you were most scared of before you did it?

I think it’s like we talked about the different hats that I put on. Every time I switched hats and said, “Okay, I’m a businesswoman now. I am an artist now. I am a writer now.” People have been seeing me act since I was 12. “Will they take that seriously?” And now, people see me more as a songwriter than an actress. That was a good little jump. Everything has these evolutions. Now, I’m a farmer. I choose whatever I’m going to do and I do it to the best of my ability.

I have the most fun doing it. It’s every time you decide to add another little hat or to make a little change. The last thing I was like, “Man, I’m gonna step away from pop for a little bit and write some jazz and some classical because I need that for me.” That was very scary. The idea of being scared isn’t the thing that will stop me from doing it.

Do you have a preference for what you’d like people to know you for?

I don’t have a preference. I think that what makes me so happy is when I look online and when people discover me, I don’t know where they know me from. It could be little Inez, or it could be AJ from The Walking Dead, or it could be from the songs I’ve written. Some people only know me as an artist. Then they find out later about the songs. It’s very interesting. I think that almost makes it a little bit more fun for me. I’m not stuck to any identity. I’m not stuck to being like, “Oh my God, I have this massive film coming out this year. Now, I gotta go on 10 years of just being this one thing.” That just makes for an even better conversation.

Just proving again and going back to creating new normals that being an artist can look like this. It doesn’t have to look like what it always is or what it usually looks like. That’s something that’s really helped. My mental health is something that’s really helped my inspiration as well. I think that’s the most fun. To just be like, “Where does this person know you from? Where did you come in on the journey?”

How have you found dipping your toe into farming, and do your animals have any names?

The past 20 years of my life have been so focused on my career. Part of the things that popped up over the past five years was my sustainability journey. With that came learning and it took me into farming and the ranch. Of course, it has to be TaylaMade. “How can I do this more sustainably? How do I learn how to build recirculating water systems?” Stuff that I never thought I would do, but it’s another form of creativity. Ideally, life would look like 6:00 am to 12:00 pm farming, and after that going to the studio or to play a show. As long as I get my farming time, I’m good.

I’m out here trying to be the singer who farms or maybe it’s the farmer who sings. I’m not sure which one. I’m out here with my goats and my chickens. I’m trying to get sheep next. Maybe it’ll be like a whole new year situation. They usually have names after whatever their thing is, like the goats. Of course, I had to do the different greatest of all times. We have our Oprah and Taylor Swift. We have Rosa Parks and Princess Diana. My chickens and my guinea fowl, the extra loud ones are named after singing divas. We got a Mariah Carey and a Patti LaBelle because they are very loud.

The best part is naming them and then you’re talking to them, like Oprah’s always trying to get into the chicken coop. I’m like, “Oprah now, girl”. I just have my little conversations with them.

It’s definitely the best part. What can we expect next from you? 

“I’m gonna be very consistent. I took such a long break in between this album and Coping Mechanisms. I realised my fans were like, “Girl, where have you been?” I explained like,  “I just been living my life.” I needed to make sure that I had the space to become this version of myself. Made the time and spent that energy. So, I’ll be doing that proactively and making sure that I’m staying consistent. Because I really missed my Taylatots. I really missed being on the road. It wasn’t something that I realised until I got back to it. Because I’m very outgoing, if you can get me out of the house. You know what I mean? But I also like when things aren’t about me at all.

I’ve been really discovering what is mine, or the way that I like to be an artist. I’ve never desired to want to be famous, or any of those things. I just want to be able to do what I love and be able to pay my bills doing it. That means I need to be able to take the time to be the most authentic. I think that this year, what you’ll see coming from me next is being consistent in that. 

I’m really looking forward to it. Is there anything that you’ve never been asked but wished that you had?

Dang, this is a good question. I’ve never been stumped like this. I don’t know, you’ve been asking some good questions. I feel like we’re having a nice little conversation here. I have no idea. But now I’m gonna be thinking about this all night, so thank you for this one. That’s a good question. 

Catch Tayla on her US tour from October. Purchase or stream her latest album Many Moons, Many suns by clicking here.

Follow Tayla Parx @taylaparx

Interview Camilla Whitfield

Photography Justin Ayers