Hiss Golden Messenger Performs Live from His New Album 'I'm People'

Summary

Podcast Summary: Hiss Golden Messenger Performs Live from His New Album 'I'm People'

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Air Date: May 6, 2026
Guest: MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger)

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Overview

This episode of "All Of It with Alison Stewart" features MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, celebrating the release of his project’s 11th album, I'm People. The show blends live performance with an intimate conversation about songwriting inspiration, themes of interconnectedness and emotional complexity, and the creation of the I’m People Project, a participatory art and storytelling space. Taylor and his band perform three songs from the new record and discuss the personal and communal journeys that fuel their music.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Performance: "In the Middle of It"

• [00:51–04:08]
  The band opens with "In the Middle of It," setting the mood with a cyclical, hopeful sound—a musical microcosm for the album’s themes of complexity and yearning.

2. Album Structure & Thematic Choices

• Why is "In the Middle of It" the opener?
  • MC Taylor (B):
    • “The record starts with a fade in and I think that we just thought it would be...cool to drop listeners into feeling like they're entering a story that's already happening." – [04:32]
    • The song’s themes of "the balance of joy and grief and chaos all at the same time" mirror those throughout the album – [05:16]
    • "We sort of have to live on the whole wide spectrum of emotions all at once... I don't feel guilty about that. The world is chaos. Life is complicated. And also, I feel okay today." – [05:16–06:13]

3. Songwriting Locations: Bolinas, California

• [06:13–08:49]
  • Taylor discusses how the tranquil, enigmatic town of Bolinas provided both nostalgia and a comforting creative environment.
  • Alison Stewart (A) and Taylor share personal and cultural impressions of Bolinas’ legacy of attracting poets and artists.
    • “One incredible thing about Bolinas...is that...in the late '60s and early '70s...there were more famous, well-known poets that lived there than anywhere else.” – Taylor, [06:54]
  • The landscape and sense of being “held” informs the album’s emotional tone.

4. The Meaning Behind I'm People

• [08:49–10:22]
  • Taylor’s reflections on loneliness, connection, and collective resilience:
    • “We can't really do life alone...there’s a lot of emotional heavy lifting you can't really do alone.” – [08:58]
    • The title’s deliberately simple, slightly offbeat grammar evokes musical influences and underscores the album’s message of everyday humanity.

5. Live Performance: "Who You Gonna Run To?"

• [10:26–13:42]
  • A song exploring seeking comfort and meaning, emblematic of the album’s communal focus.

6. Recording Process: Capturing Magic in Woodstock

• [13:42–15:44]
  • Recorded at Dreamland Recording Studio (a former church) in the Catskills with longtime collaborators.
  • MC Taylor:
    • “It felt like a very sacred space, even for non-believers.”
    • “Our friend Josh Kaufman was really...producing that session. And I think his vision was to make sure that you heard...this group of friends making music together.” – [14:04–15:44]
  • The choice of location ties into the region's rich musical heritage.

7. The I’m People Project: A Participatory Art & Storytelling Portal

• [16:21–18:55]
  • The I’m People Project invites fans to submit artistic or personal expressions (photos, stories, journal entries, etc.) via hisgoldenmessenger.com.
  • Taylor:
    • “It's like a more curated, kinder social media. Not that I have any intention…to be in the social media business, but that's essentially what it was. It’s like a curated space of humanity.” – [16:30–18:26]
    • Stewart notes: "It sounds like the way we all want Analog to come back." – [18:41]
  • Taylor responds: “We need kindness. We need...naive feelings...We need humanness.” – [18:47–19:13]

8. Touring & The Joys of Performing

• [19:13–19:40]
  • Despite the challenges, Taylor expresses gratitude for the experience:
    • “It takes me a second now to get into the rhythm of it. But, like, it is a gift to play music with friends. Like, life could be way worse. So it’s good for me to keep perspective.” – [19:22–19:40]

9. Live Performance: "Mercy Avenue"

• [19:43–25:02]
  • A third live cut, offering warm-hearted imagery and stories of community, endurance, and aging.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Thematic Opener:
  • “The record starts with a fade in…drop listeners into...a story that's already happening.”
    — MC Taylor [04:32]
• On Emotional Complexity:
  • “We have to live on the whole wide spectrum of emotions all at once.”
    — MC Taylor [05:16–06:13]
• On Bolinas:
  • “One incredible thing about Bolinas...is that...in the late '60s and early '70s, there were more famous, well-known poets that lived there than anywhere else.”
    — MC Taylor [06:54]
• On the Album's Title:
  • “We can't really do life alone...there’s just so much that we can only do with other people.”
    — MC Taylor [08:58]
• On Recording at Dreamland:
  • “It felt like a very sacred space, even for non-believers.”
    — MC Taylor [14:04]
• On Participatory Art:
  • “It's like a curated space of humanity.”
    — MC Taylor [18:26]
• On Kindness:
  • “We need kindness. We need...naive feelings...We need humanness.”
    — MC Taylor [18:47–19:13]
• On Touring:
  • “It is a gift to play music with friends.”
    — MC Taylor [19:22–19:40]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------------|--------------------------------------------| | 00:51–04:08 | Live: “In the Middle of It” | | 04:20–06:13 | Song sequencing and album themes | | 06:13–08:49 | Bolinas and songwriting inspiration | | 08:49–10:22 | Album title and meaning | | 10:26–13:42 | Live: “Who You Gonna Run To?” | | 13:42–15:44 | Recording at Dreamland in Woodstock | | 16:21–18:55 | The I’m People Project explained | | 19:13–19:40 | Touring reflections | | 19:43–25:02 | Live: “Mercy Avenue” |

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Conclusion

This episode provides a rich blend of live music and personal reflection, highlighting the tapestry of connection, vulnerability, and community in Hiss Golden Messenger’s I'm People. MC Taylor’s candid and gentle insight, paired with heartfelt performances, offer both comfort and inspiration—a testament to the communal power of music and storytelling.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. His golden messenger is a musical project led by MC Taylor, who wrote the songs for a new album while traveling all over the country. It's the 11th studio album for the project and it's called I'm People. Taylor describes the record as being about, quote, running towards and away from things about reasonable and realistic hope and expectations about having babies, getting older, love and lust and luck and music. I'm People is out now and I'm joined by his Golten messenger in studio who's going to perform live. It's so nice to meet all of you, including the drummer in the room.

[B]

Thanks for having us.

[A]

Sure. You're gonna perform a song for us. What are we gonna hear?

[B]

Yeah, we're gonna start with the tune called in the Middle of It.

[A]

Let's do it.

[C]

One. Even the rocks were dreaming on the darkest of mornings all in rose why she kept on running Run so true

[B]

I was a voice in the forest

[C]

in the cornflower blue Drop me in the middle of it in the middle of it oh, just a little one in the middle of it oh, just a little one Hearts run wild under the shadow at the foot of the mountain I see it when I see it in the middle of it oh, just a little one in the middle of it oh, just a little one in the middle of the oh, just a little one in the middle oh, just a little one to those days those pearly days when all was revolution and light One day that was right Running on a rope what with black tinted lenses Raining San Maria I guess that's how it ends in the middle of it oh, just a little one in the middle of it oh, just a little one in the middle of of it oh, just a little one in the middle of it oh, just a little one in the middle of oh, just a little one in the middle of it oh, just a little one cry.

[A]

That sounds good. That's his Gold messenger in the Middle of It from the album I'm People MC Taylor. Mike, as we've been told, Mike, that's the first song on the record, right?

[B]

Yes, it is. Yeah.

[A]

Why is that the first song on the record? There's a good story there.

[B]

I mean, I don't know if there is. I haven't thought of this question before. I mean, you know, the record starts with a fade in and I think that we just thought it would be. It would be cool to like drop. Drop listeners into feeling like they're entering a story that's already happening, you know. So I think that, you know, thematically, the tune maybe touches on some common themes throughout the record. And it also felt like kind of an inviting way to bring people in.

[A]

What are those common themes?

[B]

Well, you repeated what I had written at the top of this thing. I mean, it's just like, gosh, sort of like the balance of joy and grief and chaos all at the same time. Which is something that I've really have struggled with for a long time. This idea that we sort of have to live on the whole wide spectrum of emotions all at once, you know, like, I don't get to be. I'm happy today. Today's a great day. There's nothing complicated happening today. It's like, I'm feeling happy today. That's okay. I don't feel guilty about that. The world is chaos. Life is complicated. And also, I feel okay today.

[A]

You did some writing on the album in Belinas.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right. And so Bolinas is kind of funny because it's one of those places where the locals take down the signs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you can't find it.

[C]

Yeah, it's a beautiful place.

[B]

Historically. It has. It definitely has the. It has that reputation. I found it. I found it very inviting. I've been there a lot of times in my life because I used to live in San Francisco. And it also. It kind of almost seems, you know, that reputation. Almost. I didn't Never really found it to be true.

[A]

Well, the right people find it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's why it's okay.

[B]

I guess so. Yeah. I mean, have you been there?

[A]

I have, yeah.

[B]

It's an amazing place. One incredible thing about Bolinas that a lot of people don't know and most people shouldn't even care about, but someone like me does, is that for a while in the late 60s and early 70s, despite the fact that that town is tiny. Tiny, there were more famous, well known poets that lived there than anywhere else. Certainly in America.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's kind of like a couple of them moved there and then the rest of them were like, oh, maybe that's the place to be.

[A]

Yeah. I had a boyfriend in San Francisco who was an artist, and he taught me about it. And I was like. And he told me, like, this is a place that's sort of secret, sort of our place.

[B]

It still sort of feels that way to me. And I mean, you know, I come at it from really an outsider's perspective. I don't. I don't have, like. I don't have any arcane Knowledge about the place.

[A]

Why was it a good place to find inspiration for you?

[B]

I mean, it started. It started because I was close to. I was close to there. When I ended up, I was in between legs of a tour that had been going on for a while, and I was up around Northern California, and I have a friend that lives there. I asked her if she knew of a place I could crash just because it was easy enough to get to. But, I mean, spiritually, it seemed like it made sense. I'm from California, and the landscape, first of all, felt familiar and a little bit nostalgic because I spent so much time in Northern California. So I think at that moment in time, I was looking for something that, like, would maybe hold me for a couple days that felt familiar and kind of comforting.

[A]

We're talking to MC Taylor and his golden Messenger. The new album is called I'm People. Why is it called I'm People?

[B]

Well, again, I think thematically, it just. You know, I think one of the big themes on this record is this idea that, like, we can't really. We can't really do life alone. And again, this is, like, something that is my own awakening. So I'm not, like. I'm not necessarily telling people. I'm just telling people how it feels to me. I've always been, like, a very isolated person. Happily so, I've always thought. But I think I've realized as I've gotten older that there's just so much that we can only do with other people, we can only accomplish. Like, there's a lot of, like, emotional heavy lifting that you can't really do alone. And I like the fact that it's a simple title consisting of two very simple words that I felt like I hadn't really seen together. So the, like, grammar of it is a little funny, it's a little funky, which I love. And it also felt like something that, like, Curtis Mayfield might have, like, used as an album title or song title at some point. And Curtis is, like, one of my. One of the, like, bright stars in my firmament.

[A]

We're going to hear another song from I'm People. What are we going to hear?

[B]

Should we do? Who you going to run to? Yeah, who you're going to run to?

[C]

1, 2, 3. It was Tuesday night at the by and by in the fiddles and the sawdust Hot as it's been with everyone I never felt so perfect. Where you gonna want? Who you gonna run to? What makes you feel so loud? Who you gonna run to? Every Matchbox dude with A crooked smile she's got a heart that means protecting make me a lattice of you in mo that wind's never gonna catch me where you gonna want to? Who you gonna run to? What makes you feel so loud? Who you gonna run to? Choke a moon hangs on goes to close to the standing As a midnight void Philosophizes all night long One never felt so perfect. Where you gonna want. Who you gonna run to? What makes you feel so alive? Who gonna run to? Where you gonna run to? Who you gonna run to? What makes who run to? Where you gonna run to? Who you gonna run to? What makes you feel so loud?

[A]

That's from the album I'm People His Gold Messenger. My guest is MC Taylor. So you recorded this up in the Hurley, Woodstock area at a church, the Dreamland Recording studio right off 28. I can see it in my mind describe what it was like to record in that church.

[B]

Well, it felt very. Yeah, it felt like a very, very sacred space, even for non believers. And I was there with. With almost everybody that's in this room with me today. I should. I should introduce all these guys.

[A]

Please do.

[B]

Yeah, so I've got J.T. bates playing the drums over here. Cameron Ralston playing the bass guitar. Chris Burner is playing the guitar, and Rhett Huffman is playing the piano over here.

[A]

So remember their names. And they're all in the church with you?

[B]

Yeah. So Red is the only one that wasn't there. Everybody else, we were. We were all there for about a week with our friend Josh Kaufman. And I don't know, it was kind of. It was kind of cold that week. It was April, but it was cold and blustery. And we didn't really. We just were in this big church. It was also. We were also staying there and I don't know, we were kind of like all arranged in a circle just facing each other. And a lot of the stuff is live. A lot of the. Including the vocals was. Were just performances that we then added to. But I think the. Our friend Josh Kaufman was really like producing that session. And I think his vision was to make sure that you heard, you know, this group of friends making music together that felt like the intention of it

[A]

without sounding too woo woo. I think the Catskill Mountains have something for artists. There's something there.

[B]

I mean, I certainly feel that way. I'm like. I'm a big music obsessive person and there's just a. There's a long, long lineage of music that we all love that comes from that place. Music that was either written or arranged or composed or recorded in that place. So the choice of working there was intentional in that way. Like, we definitely wanted to be in touch with that, whatever that energy is.

[A]

This album is part of something, a project called I'm People Project. Tell me a little bit about that.

[B]

As we were. As we were starting to think about, like, how we would introduce this record and its themes to the wider world. When I say we, I mean, like me and. And like my crew of people that I work with that aren't musicians. I think we kept coming back to this theme of people needing people and everybody. The ways that people articulate themselves out into the world and communicate and, like, sort of express vulnerability. And we kicked around a bunch of ideas about, like, how would we invite people into a space to do that. That felt like it was somehow connected with the themes of this record. And what we landed on is what we've called the I'm People. The People Project, which is just like a place on the. His website, but also like a way to share out into the world via social media. Like, just simple, super simple ways that people articulate themselves. Like, it might come from someone that's an artist. So it might be a painting or it might be a photograph of a place they love, or like a poem, or not even as composed as a poem. Like a journal entry or. Yeah, that's essentially what it is. It's like a. It's like a more curated, kinder social media. Not that I have any intention or desire to be in the social media business, but that's essentially what it was. It's like a curated space of humanity.

[A]

How can people participate?

[B]

All they got to do is just go to hisgoldenmessenger.com and you'll find a little tab that says I'm People Project. And if you click on it, you can just see this big gallery of stuff that people submitted.

[A]

It sounds like the way we all want Analog to come back.

[B]

I mean, sorta.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. It's like. I don't know, it feels kind and, like, maybe a little naive and.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

No, it's totally like, we need that. I mean, my God, like, we need kindness. We. We need, like, naive feelings and. I don't know. I don't know, just. We need humanness.

[A]

You're gonna go on tour later this year. I gotta get this in here. You'll be at Irving Plaza on November 6th. Do you still enjoy touring?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You do?

[B]

It takes me a second now to. It takes me a second now to get into the rhythm of it. But, like, it is a gift to play music with friends. Like, life could be way worse. So it's good for me to keep perspective.

[A]

All right, let's play some more music with friends. What are we going to hear?

[B]

We're going to do a tune called Mercy Avenue.

[A]

This is his golden messenger.

[C]

It. Everybody's getting older Jesse is having a baby. Times are tighter than ever Homer Sea Avenue baby. The boys on the corner Been knowing I'm better than them with the PhDs sometimes you do right for nothing on Lucy Avenue baby. If I'm too high to mess with I'm all right Mama, did you find another man? I'm all right Mama, you know where I am. Lucy's living in a Cadillac it smells like Slowly Old dog said she ain't coming back Mercy Avenue Savage. When I'm happy as a dog Swimming When I'm lonely as a. There's nowhere that I'd rather be

[B]

than

[C]

we'll see Avenue baby. If I'm too high to mess with I'm all right Mama, did you find another man? I'm all right, Mama, you know I am. Sam. Everybody's getting older Jesse's having a baby. I'm just another soldier A mercy Avenue baby A mercy Avenue baby A Mercy I'm a new baby Mercy I'm a new baby.

[A]

That was his Golden Messenger. The new album is called I'm People. My guest has been MC Taylor. Mike, thanks for joining us.

[B]

So glad to be here. Thank you for having us.

[A]

I'm glad to have you. There's more, all of it on the way. WWNYC's journalism and storytelling is heard by millions of passionate listeners. Sponsors of our programming gain our listeners attention and their respect. Learn about how your organization can support WNYC and wnyc [e-mail].