ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Jack Taylor did not begin making music because he wanted to be recognized.
He began because he wanted to understand how songs worked.
Before he became the voice on his own records, Taylor was absorbed in production. Electronic dance music became his training ground, pushing him to study melody, arrangement, sound design and mixing. He wanted to know how a track could create emotion before a listener heard a single word.
At the time, becoming a vocalist was not part of the plan.
“I never planned on becoming the artist,” Taylor said. “Producing was the obsession.”
Taylor, whose legal name is Brent Dennard, is an independent artist and producer from Orange County. His music is currently available under Jack Taylor Wellness on streaming platforms, though he performs professionally as Jack Taylor.
His catalog moves between EDM, melodic rap, hip-hop, pop, reggae and Latin-inspired music. The shifts are intentional.
Taylor said he does not believe every story belongs inside the same musical structure.
“Every song starts with the story, and the sound follows,” he said.
That approach became more important as music changed from a technical pursuit into something more personal.
Taylor found that some experiences could not be communicated through instrumentals alone. Relationships, disappointment and the realities of navigating the music business gave him reasons to write lyrics and record his own vocals.
“Eventually, life gave me things that couldn’t stay instrumental,” he said.
The transition from producer to performer happened gradually. Taylor was not chasing a new title or trying to reinvent himself. He was looking for a more direct way to express what he was going through.
Music became a form of therapy.
“I don’t need people to listen to my music to survive,” Taylor said. “I need to make music to survive.”
Taylor said his releases have generated more than 130 million streams across platforms. He said he achieved that independently, without a record label or major promotional team and with less than $500 spent on promotion.
The growth has often happened song by song, with listeners finding individual records before learning much about the artist behind them.
“The music is finding people before they find me,” Taylor said. “A lot of people don’t know who Jack Taylor is. They just know they connected with a song.”
One of the first records to show him that possibility was “Blue Meanie.”
Taylor released the original version during a period when he was still producing songs with female vocalists and had not yet stepped fully behind the microphone himself.
He went to sleep with few monthly listeners. By the next morning, “Blue Meanie” had gained thousands of streams and brought new listeners to his music after landing on playlists.
The figures were small compared with the scale of the mainstream music business, but Taylor said the moment had a lasting effect.
“That was the first time I realized the music could move without me having to force it,” he said.
Years later, Taylor has returned to “Blue Meanie” for his upcoming album, “HAGS,” short for “Have A Great Summer.”
The 18-track project is scheduled for release in summer 2026. Taylor describes it as a seasonal album built around beach days, road trips, warm nights, parties and the feeling of wanting summer to continue.
But the record is not limited to carefree moments.
Heartbreak, loneliness and reflection appear throughout the album, giving the project a more complete emotional range.
“Summer isn’t perfect,” Taylor said. “I wanted the album to feel like a real summer, not just the highlight reel.”
Reworking “Blue Meanie” gave Taylor the chance to revisit an important part of his career with the skills he has developed since its original release.
The song connects the producer he was with the artist he has become.
“HAGS” also brings together people from different parts of Taylor’s life.
One collaboration developed after he discovered that his boss at his full-time job had once played in bands and was an accomplished guitarist. She sent him some material, and the two began experimenting with ideas.
The result became “Riddem Things,” a song on the album.
“I usually keep those worlds completely separate,” Taylor said. “Work is work, and music is music.”
That separation began to fade as the album developed.
“‘HAGS’ became this place where real life started bleeding into the record,” he said.
Other songs grew from small contributions made by people around him, including melodies, vocal parts and ideas shared in informal settings.
Taylor said his role as a producer allows him to recognize the potential in those moments and turn them into complete records.
That collaborative process fits the larger theme of the album. “HAGS” is not presented as a perfect summer imagined from a distance. It is built from experiences, relationships and unexpected interactions.
Taylor’s music has also documented some of the more difficult parts of his career.
He has written more than 100 response records and diss tracks inspired by failed relationships, playlist companies, marketing agencies and other situations in which he believed independent artists were treated unfairly.
Taylor said the records are less about creating drama than preserving his perspective.
“When something happens to me, I don’t argue online,” he said. “I write a record.”
He wants those songs to work even when listeners do not know the full story. The background may add another layer, but the music must stand on its own.
That standard applies to the rest of his catalog as well.
Taylor hopes to perform at major festivals, collaborate with artists he respects and reach more listeners around the world. Still, he said the purpose of making music has not changed.
The songs begin as a way to process life. Everything that happens after that is secondary.
“Sometimes that becomes a hit record,” Taylor said. “Everything else is a byproduct.”
