Benson Taylor

Benson Taylor
Benson Taylor in 2014.
Background information
Birth name	Mark Davison
Born	(1983-09-10) September 10, 1983 Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Genres	Film score, electronic, dark ambient, classical, trip hop, blues, Post-industrial, experimental music
Occupation(s)	Composer, songwriter, music producer, remixer
Instruments	Piano, synthesizers, music sequencer, samplers, trumpet, guitar, drum machine, bespoke electronics
Years active	2009-present
Labels	EMI Music Publishing, Universal, Fairwood Music, Sony/ATV
Associated acts	David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello,[1] Bat for Lashes, Temples, Ken Duro Ifill, CeeLo Green, Sam Williams
Website	bensontaylor.com
Notable instruments
Orchestra, Schimmel Piano, Elka Synthex, Kemble Piano, Korg MS-20, Roland Juno-60, Moog synthesizers, Roland Jupiter-4, Yamaha CS-80

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Benson Taylor, FRSA (/teɪlɔər/; born Mark Davison, 10 September 1983)^[2][3] is an English composer and producer who is best known for producing music for film. His style of music encompasses a British influence, often working a classic film score sound amongst electronics and other musical settings.^[4][5]

Taylor won the "Best Original Music" award at the 2014 Monaco International Film Festival.^[6]

He was styled as the "New Sound of Hollywood" by MovieScope Magazine in their 24th issue.

In 2015, Taylor scored and produced the music to Mathew Cullen's upcoming thriller adaptation of the Martin Amis novel, London Fields, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Amber Heard, Cara Delevingne, & Johnny Depp.^[1][7][8]

Taylor is a goodwill ambassador for the Cambodian Children's Trust.^[9]

Life and career

Born in Brontë Country, Bradford, and educated at Bradford Grammar School in the United Kingdom,^[10] Taylor later studied composition at the University of California, Los Angeles. After UCLA in 2009, he studied privately with American composer Mark Mancina, and orchestrator Hummie Mann.^[11][12]

Taylor began writing music at a young age whilst working as a radio producer, primarily for radio and television commercials. He later launched a studio in England and has since written scores for television shows broadcasting worldwide, including Two and a Half Men, 30 Rock, 90210, and The Big Bang Theory, as well as producing music for the Super Bowl between 2010 and 2014.^[13] Taylor's music has been widely used across international advertising campaigns, including Jose Cuervo's 2015^[14] campaign, and a collaboration in 2011 with CeeLo Green for the Las Vegas Tourist Board.^[15][16]

In 2011, Taylor made his London West End theatre debut co-composing the electronic music for Derek Bond's production of the play Many Moons.^[17]

Taylor has written and produced feature film scores for both television & theatre release.^[18] Taylor himself has also written music exclusively for use in movie trailers that did not appear in the films themselves, including Avatar, Clash of the Titans, The Blind Side, The Expendables, Twilight Saga: New Moon, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transcendence and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.^[13]

In June 2013, music publishers Fairwood Music announced that they had added Taylor to their roster of artists which over the years has included David Bowie, U2, Cat Stevens, The Average White Band, Bob Marley, and J.J. Cale. Taylor told British magazine Music Week, "I'm extremely humbled to join their roster, amongst some of the most recognised talents in the world. Here's hoping some of it will rub off on me!"^[19]

Taylor has twice contributed music to the Netflix produced series, Orange Is the New Black. His music has also featured in the 6th series of Justified, the first series of How to Get Away with Murder, the second series of Ray Donovan, and in the 2015 Kroll Show.^[20][21]

In 2015, Taylor scored and produced the music to Mathew Cullen's thriller, London Fields, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Theo James, Cara Delevingne, Amber Heard & Johnny Depp. As well as writing the musical score, Taylor collaborated with Toydrum & Bat for Lashes to cover Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight", and also with James Bagwell from the British band Temples, covering "How Do You Sleep" from John Lennon's Imagine album. Both tracks were recorded specifically for the film.^[22]

Taylor presenting "Best Actor" at Pöff in Tallinn in 2014.

Taylor is a professional member of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.^[23]

Business ventures

In 2012, Taylor founded the London and Los Angeles based music label Insidious Music, producing underscore music for film, television, trailers and video games. Insidious is distributed by Universal & EMI Music.^[24]

The label has licensed music to syndicated television shows such as Grey's Anatomy, House, Revenge, Unusual Suspects, Breaking Bad, Masterchef, Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, White Collar (TV series), The Oprah Winfrey Show, 24 (TV Series), and the NFL on Fox.

In March 2014, through his publishing company, Taylor licensed a large catalogue of musical works in partnership with Peter Gabriel's CueSongs, and a smaller subsidiary of the catalogue to Japanese National Broadcaster, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai. Taylor expressed in an interview with WQXR-FM that it was his intention for the catalogue to grow, and to further develop co writes with artists around the world, specifically in the middle and far east.

Taylor is developing a commercial recording facility located in Manhattan, New York.

Personal life

Taylor splits his time between Yorkshire, England, New York City, and Los Angeles. He has two children.^[15]

He gives time to several charities,^[25] including being a Bradford trustee of the homeless charity Emmaus UK since 2010. He is also a goodwill ambassador for the Cambodian Children's Trust, which works to free children from severe poverty.^[26][27][28]

Musical works

Film scores

Recent TV scores

Video games

Awards and recognition

Taylor was honoured with a fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015 for services to charity.^[27][28]

In November 2014, Taylor served as a Grand Juror at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.^[29][30][31]

Taylor won Best Original Music for his score to Fear Of Water at the 2014 Monaco International Film Festival^[6] as judged by film director Roland Joffé.

See also

• List of English people
• List of soundtrack composers

References

External links

• Official Website
• Benson Taylor on Twitter
• Benson Taylor at the Internet Movie Database