Meet Steve Taylor: Fearless Musician & Film Producer
Join host Terry Hudson as he sits down with the legendary artist and filmmaker Steve Taylor for a raw, real conversation about his new film Sketch, the creative journey from rock stages to movie sets, and how faith and art collide in powerful ways.
Faith, Art, and Creative Freedom: Steve’s Perspective as a film producer
About Me – Steve Taylor
Steve Taylor earned his “Renaissance Man” stripes (Prism Magazine) from a body of work that’s garnered him multiple Grammy, Billboard, Telly, Addy and Dove awards and nominations. A Southern California native, he was raised in Denver, Colorado and studied music and film at Colorado University. In 1983, Steve began a career as a recording artist that’s now spanned four decades, selling over one million albums worldwide and garnering him two Grammy nominations for Meltdown (1984) and Squint (1993). In the process, he made history as the only artist to twice win Billboard Music Video Awards for self-directed music videos. As a concert artist, Steve headlined four international tours, including acclaimed appearances at L.A.’s Universal Amphitheater and London’s Hammersmith Odeon. He also fronted the MCA-signed rock band Chagall Guevara.
Steve’s work as a music video director and filmmaker includes music videos for Sixpence None the Richer, Fleming & John, Rich Mullins, Guardian; a documentary on England’s Greenbelt Festival (1989); the long-form Newsboys comedy Down Under The Big Top (1996); the acclaimed Squint: Movies From The Soundtrack (shot in ten countries around the globe); and his Sixpence video for “Kiss Me” (filmed in Paris), featured by VH1 as a “Pop Up Video.”
Meanwhile, as a record producer Steve’s resume includes the Platinum-certified Sixpence None The Richer and three Gold-certified albums for the Newsboys: Going Public, Take Me To Your Leader and Adoration. All four albums earned Grammy nominations. (Steve also contributed to most of the Newboys tracks as a songwriter, including ASCAP Song of the Year recipient “He Reigns.”) His greatest success as a producer came with Sixpence None The Richer’s 1999 #1 international smash hit “Kiss Me,” as well as the band’s follow-up hit, “There She Goes.”
In 1997 Steve launched Squint Entertainment, a record label and film production company. Squint’s worldwide success in the pop music arena was a first for a Nashville-based label, and Squint was subsequently nominated in 2000 by R&R Magazine for Independent Label Of The Year. In addition to Sixpence, Squint’s roster included Chevelle, Burlap To Cashmere, The Insyderz, Waterdeep and hip-hop collective L. A. Symphony. Steve led the company until 2001, when it was sold to AOL/Time Warner.
In 2005 Steve wrapped production on The Second Chance, marking his debut as feature film director/co-writer/producer. The movie was picked up for a 2006 nationwide theatrical release by Sony and went on to sell over half a million DVDs. His next feature as director/co-writer/producer, Blue Like Jazz, was based on Donald Miller’s bestselling memoir and starred Marshall Allman (True Blood), Claire Holt (The Vampire Diaries), and Tania Raymonde (Lost). The movie’s funding garnered national press due for its then record-setting raise on Kickstarter.com. It had its World Premiere at the 2012 South By Southwest Film Festival, was released theatrically nationwide via Roadside Attractions, and won the 2013 Wilbur Award for Best Feature Film, joining past winners The Help, Schindler’s List, and Dead Man Walking.
In 2013 Steve took a sabbatical from movie-making to record a new rock album with longtime collaborators Peter Furler (Newsboys) on drums, John Mark Painter on bass, and Jimmy Abegg on guitar. The band—Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil—released their debut album Goliath in 2014, followed by an international tour. A subsequent collaboration with Daniel Smith of Danielson Familie fame—Wow to the Deadness—was recorded by famed punk rock producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies) and released in February 2016. The rock band that brought Steve to Nashville—Chagall Guevara — reformed in 2020 to release two albums: The Last Amen (a live album) and Halcyon Days (a studio album of new and previously unreleased tracks), followed a summer 2022 reunion concert at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium and the upcoming release of their live concert video Let’s Just Cry and Say Goodbye—Chagall Guevara Live from the Ryman.
Steve has returned to filmmaking as the producer of Sketch with Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Veep), which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and released theatrically worldwide in 2025 with box office of $10M+ and a whopping 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. He’s also the producer of Sony Affirm’s Sun Moon, shot in Taiwan and starring MacKenzie Mauzy (Into The Woods); and the hit animated series The Dead Sea Squirrels for VeggieTales co-creator Mike Nawrocki. His next feature film as writer/director — The Independent — is slated to be produced in partnership with JuVee Productions (Viola Davis) and has SNL’s Kenan Thompson attached to star.
He is the subject of the 2011 documentary Steve Taylor Is Not Dead and the multi-artist tribute album I Predict A Clone (1995). He was given the Briner Impact Award in 2005 (named after the late Bob Briner, author of Roaring Lambs), and was profiled in Donald Miller’s latest New York Times bestseller A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. He has written essays on music and film for Talkhouse.com, and currently serves as Associate Professor and Filmmaker-In-Residence at Lipscomb University’s Cinematic Arts Program, where he earned his M.F.A. graduate degree. Steve lives in Nashville with his wife, the artist D.L. Taylor, and their daughter.
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