As a child, there was only one way to soothe Harry Husdon Taylor, and that was to let him play music.
“Apparently, when I was a really small child if I was crying, my dad would sit me on his lap and play the piano to me. That would stop me crying. That was my earliest introduction to music,” says Harry.
“There are loads of pictures of me as a kid sitting on my dad’s lap playing the piano, just bashing the piano at age two, three, four.”
As a family we would have done a lot of singing in harmony. Happy birthday to family members would have been very elaborately arranged versions
Growing up in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, with a father who was into music – he played the trumpet – there was a fair bit of playing and singing done in their household.
“As a family we would have done a lot of singing in harmony. Happy birthday to family members would have been very elaborately arranged versions,” laughs Harry.
It’s a pretty good thing Harry and his siblings were encouraged musically, as he and his brother Alfie make up the singer-songwriter, folk, pop, rock duo, Hudson Taylor. They also have two sisters.
Just at the start of March their latest album, Loving Everywhere I Go, went to number one on the Irish album chart. Their sister, an artist in her own right who makes music under the name Hali, features on some of the songs.
For the Hudson Taylors, music really is a family affair.
Street savvy
As brothers, it’s no surprise really that Harry and Alfie came together to make music. Harry says from the age of 11 or 12 he was playing in different bands, but by the time he and Alfie were in their mid-teens they had come together as a music duo.
“When I was growing up I was playing music mostly; I was doing piano lessons and I was picking up the guitar. Alfie actually did Irish dancing as a kid, so he was doing that for most of his childhood. When I was 16 and he was 15 we started playing music together.
On a family holiday in Italy I brought the guitar and we started doing covers on the beach, a few other holiday-going kids around the same age were encouraging us to play more
“Just doing covers, playing Beatles songs, a lot of oldie stuff, stuff our parents would have been playing around the house. We were playing a few charts songs too,” he recalls.
“On a family holiday in Italy I brought the guitar and we started doing covers on the beach, a few other holiday-going kids around the same age were encouraging us to play more. This was like 2008, they told us after the holiday to put stuff up on YouTube, so that’s when we started formally doing music together.”
Harry and Alfie started playing music together in their teenage years, playing mostly covers.
The brothers continued putting up videos on YouTube and also started busking on Grafton St and Temple Bar in Dublin and sometimes on Shop St in Galway. Busking, Harry says is a great way to hone your craft.
“It’s a good way of learning the little tips and tricks of getting people’s attention. When you’re busking on the street no one is there to see you really. In general people are just doing their shop and minding their own business. So if you want to get attention and you want to earn a few bob, you need to really feel it and be into it.
On a family holiday in Italy I brought the guitar and we started doing covers on the beach, a few other holiday-going kids around the same age were encouraging us to play more
“Something we noticed initially was that we would be playing cover songs and people would be like, ‘Yes, this is class’. Then when you played something original back in the day, you’d notice people just walk off. By playing loads of covers we learned what worked.”
Indeed, by the time that Harry was in his first year of college, studying computer science in DIT (now TUD), and with Alfie still in school, they had been offered a record deal. They subsequently moved to London.
From there they’ve gone on to play the mainstage at Electric Picnic, support Hozier on tour and also open for the Rolling Stones.
“We were playing in a tiny tent at the Rolling Stones Hyde Park Show in London in 2013. On the day Tom Odell was to open, he fell sick and the promoter asked us to fill in. This is on the main stage in front of 40,000 or 50,000 people just before the Rolling Stones, so that was pretty cool.”
Close and faraway
Although they spent years living together, the brothers are now apart. Harry lives in Germany, from where he speaks to Irish Country Living on the phone. He followed his heart to Berlin in recent months. Alfie lives in Brighton. Harry says the distance is no issue to them making music, however.
“We’ve made it work for years to be honest. We used to live together growing up, obviously. Then we lived together when we both moved to London in 2011, we were living there for six years.
Basically, we make music by coming together, whenever we’re together it’s work and making music
“Then we both moved to Brighton and I was back in Dublin there for the last two years,” explains Harry.
“Basically, we make music by coming together, whenever we’re together it’s work and making music. We send each other stuff on WhatsApp, voice memos of songs. In a way we’re separate writers. Then we come together and we help each other finish our songs.”
Even though the brothers may not be physically close all of the time, they’re on the same musical wave length. From playing piano to harmonising happy birthday, childhood family bonds are strong.
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As a child, there was only one way to soothe Harry Husdon Taylor, and that was to let him play music.
“Apparently, when I was a really small child if I was crying, my dad would sit me on his lap and play the piano to me. That would stop me crying. That was my earliest introduction to music,” says Harry.
“There are loads of pictures of me as a kid sitting on my dad’s lap playing the piano, just bashing the piano at age two, three, four.”
As a family we would have done a lot of singing in harmony. Happy birthday to family members would have been very elaborately arranged versions
Growing up in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, with a father who was into music – he played the trumpet – there was a fair bit of playing and singing done in their household.
“As a family we would have done a lot of singing in harmony. Happy birthday to family members would have been very elaborately arranged versions,” laughs Harry.
It’s a pretty good thing Harry and his siblings were encouraged musically, as he and his brother Alfie make up the singer-songwriter, folk, pop, rock duo, Hudson Taylor. They also have two sisters.
Just at the start of March their latest album, Loving Everywhere I Go, went to number one on the Irish album chart. Their sister, an artist in her own right who makes music under the name Hali, features on some of the songs.
For the Hudson Taylors, music really is a family affair.
Street savvy
As brothers, it’s no surprise really that Harry and Alfie came together to make music. Harry says from the age of 11 or 12 he was playing in different bands, but by the time he and Alfie were in their mid-teens they had come together as a music duo.
“When I was growing up I was playing music mostly; I was doing piano lessons and I was picking up the guitar. Alfie actually did Irish dancing as a kid, so he was doing that for most of his childhood. When I was 16 and he was 15 we started playing music together.
On a family holiday in Italy I brought the guitar and we started doing covers on the beach, a few other holiday-going kids around the same age were encouraging us to play more
“Just doing covers, playing Beatles songs, a lot of oldie stuff, stuff our parents would have been playing around the house. We were playing a few charts songs too,” he recalls.
“On a family holiday in Italy I brought the guitar and we started doing covers on the beach, a few other holiday-going kids around the same age were encouraging us to play more. This was like 2008, they told us after the holiday to put stuff up on YouTube, so that’s when we started formally doing music together.”
Harry and Alfie started playing music together in their teenage years, playing mostly covers.
The brothers continued putting up videos on YouTube and also started busking on Grafton St and Temple Bar in Dublin and sometimes on Shop St in Galway. Busking, Harry says is a great way to hone your craft.
“It’s a good way of learning the little tips and tricks of getting people’s attention. When you’re busking on the street no one is there to see you really. In general people are just doing their shop and minding their own business. So if you want to get attention and you want to earn a few bob, you need to really feel it and be into it.
On a family holiday in Italy I brought the guitar and we started doing covers on the beach, a few other holiday-going kids around the same age were encouraging us to play more
“Something we noticed initially was that we would be playing cover songs and people would be like, ‘Yes, this is class’. Then when you played something original back in the day, you’d notice people just walk off. By playing loads of covers we learned what worked.”
Indeed, by the time that Harry was in his first year of college, studying computer science in DIT (now TUD), and with Alfie still in school, they had been offered a record deal. They subsequently moved to London.
From there they’ve gone on to play the mainstage at Electric Picnic, support Hozier on tour and also open for the Rolling Stones.
“We were playing in a tiny tent at the Rolling Stones Hyde Park Show in London in 2013. On the day Tom Odell was to open, he fell sick and the promoter asked us to fill in. This is on the main stage in front of 40,000 or 50,000 people just before the Rolling Stones, so that was pretty cool.”
Close and faraway
Although they spent years living together, the brothers are now apart. Harry lives in Germany, from where he speaks to Irish Country Living on the phone. He followed his heart to Berlin in recent months. Alfie lives in Brighton. Harry says the distance is no issue to them making music, however.
“We’ve made it work for years to be honest. We used to live together growing up, obviously. Then we lived together when we both moved to London in 2011, we were living there for six years.
Basically, we make music by coming together, whenever we’re together it’s work and making music
“Then we both moved to Brighton and I was back in Dublin there for the last two years,” explains Harry.
“Basically, we make music by coming together, whenever we’re together it’s work and making music. We send each other stuff on WhatsApp, voice memos of songs. In a way we’re separate writers. Then we come together and we help each other finish our songs.”
Even though the brothers may not be physically close all of the time, they’re on the same musical wave length. From playing piano to harmonising happy birthday, childhood family bonds are strong.
Read more
‘If I never got paid to write, I’d be doing it as a hobby’
Living Life: The podcast playlist
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