Benson Taylor

Benson Taylor
Taylor speaking at a fundraiser 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, hip hop, blues, Post-industrial, experimental music, ambient
Occupation(s)	Composer, songwriter, music producer, remixer, humanitarian[1]
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, BMG
Associated acts	David Bowie, The New Mastersounds, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Hallé, Meshell Ndegeocello,[2] Bat for Lashes, Temples, Ken Duro Ifill, CeeLo Green, Sami Yusuf
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

Mark Davison, FRSA (/teɪlɔər/; born 10 September 1983), known professionally as Benson Taylor,^[3] is an English composer, producer and electronic musician who is best known for producing music for film. His style of music has 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, and in November 2016 was awarded an Honorary doctorate for services to humanitarian causes and music.^[6][7][8][9]

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 thriller adaptation of the Martin Amis novel, London Fields, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Amber Heard, Cara Delevingne, Theo James & Johnny Depp.^[2][10][11]

Taylor is an ambassador for the international aid agency CAFOD,^[12][13] and a goodwill ambassador for the Cambodian Children's Trust.^[14] He is patron of the British charity, Music and the Deaf. In 2016, Taylor was appointed the first ambassador of the music conservatoire, LCoM in the United Kingdom.^[15]

Life and career

Born in Brontë Country, Bradford, and educated at Bradford Grammar School in the United Kingdom,^[16] Taylor later studied composition at the University of California, Los Angeles. After UCLA in 2009, he mentored with American composer Mark Mancina, and studied privately with orchestrator Hummie Mann.^[17][18]

Taylor began writing music at a young age whilst working as a radio producer. 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.^[19] Taylor's music has been widely used across international advertising campaigns, including Jose Cuervo's 2015^[20] campaign, and a collaboration in 2011 with CeeLo Green for the Las Vegas Tourist Board.^[21][22]

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.^[23][24]

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!"^[25]

In 2016, Taylor penned funk soundtracks for the US talk shows, Late Night With Seth Meyers^[26] and Jimmy Kimmel Live, and 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.^[27][28]

Taylor scored and produced the music to Mathew Cullen's thriller, London Fields in 2015, 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.^[29][30]

Taylor presenting "Best Actor" to Eddie Redmayne at Pöff in Tallinn in 2014.

Taylor is a professional member of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.^[31]

Business ventures

In 2012, Taylor founded the London and Los Angeles based music label Insidious Music, producing music for film, television, and video games. Insidious is distributed by Universal & EMI Music.^[32]

The label has licensed music to 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.

In 2017, Taylor began a series of recordings with the British orchestra, The Hallé, as part of his recordings he developed a short term education programme for students.^[33]

Personal life

Taylor splits his time between Yorkshire, England, New York City, and Los Angeles. He is married & has two children.^[21][12]

He is a Roman Catholic.^[12][34]

Humanitarian & philanthropy work

Taylor gives time and support to several charities globally,^[35] including being one of the founding committee members of the homeless charity Emmaus UK in Bradford, England. He is also a goodwill ambassador for the Cambodian Children's Trust in Battambang, working toward freeing children from severe poverty, and alongside the Cambodian government to end orphan tourism.^[36][37][38] Taylor is the patron of the charity, Music and the Deaf, based in Britain.

Alongside Sir Patrick Stewart, Lena Headey, & Jodie Whittaker, in 2017, Taylor supported a photography exhibition in Huddersfield raising awareness around the downgrading of services at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. He spoke of his children being born there.^[39]

Taylor is a known supporter of the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières, the United Nations, and the WFP in Washington DC, raising awareness for the zero hunger campaign in Cambodia, Tanzania and Kenya.^[40] In 2016, he was appointed the first ambassador of the music conservatoire, LCoM in the United Kingdom.^[15]

He is an ambassador for the international aid agency for the catholic church, CAFOD,^[41] working to raise global awareness and fight poverty and injustice in communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America.^[12]

Recognition and honors

In 2014 Taylor became a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London, and in November 2016 was also honoured with an honorary doctorate from Bradford University for his services to humanitarian causes.^{[9][37][38][42]}

Musical works

Film scores

Recent TV scores

Video games

Awards and honours

In November 2016, Kate Swann awarded Taylor with an honorary doctorate from Bradford University for his services to music & humanitarian causes. He was also honoured with a fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.^{[9][37][38][43]}

In November 2014, Taylor served as a Grand Juror at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.^[44][45][46]

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 on IMDb