PUBLIC RELATIONS - Gustafer Yellowgold

Transcription

Since his creation by Morgan Taylor in 2005, Gustafer Yellowgold has become an international phenomenon, acclaimed
by The New York Times, which described Gustafer as “A cross between ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Dr. Seuss.” Entertainment
Weekly praised “…The most infectious original songs. It’s like tapping into some pleasure center in the brain- both adult
and kid…absurdly appealing. Grade: A.” New York Magazine named Morgan Taylor “Best Kids’ Performer” in a recent
“Best of New York” issue. “Mint Green Bee” from Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World was a Grand Prize Winner in
the Children’s Category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
The award-winning Gustafer Yellowgold DVD/CD sets include Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild
World, Gustafer Yellowgold’s ‘Have You Never Been Yellow?,’ Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever
and Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock. The highly anticipated fifth set, Gustafer Yellowgold’s Year In
The Day, was released in April 2012.
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Morgan Taylor moved to
New York City in 1999, residing there for a decade
while honing his songwriting skills and establishing
himself as a successful sound engineer. He has
released several CDs, including the 70-song box set,
Box of Monster.
Beginning as a young teen in the ’80s in various musical groups, Taylor
has a long and varied musical history that has seen him sharing bills with
such artists as Bob Dylan, WILCO, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, The Polyphonic
Spree, The Breeders, Natalie Merchant, Lisa Loeb, The Smithereens, Matthew Sweet, Guided By Voices, Missing Persons
and even A Flock Of Seagulls!
Taking a rest from the “normal” world of rock music, Taylor, a self-taught illustrator, began
drawing what would become the Gustafer Yellowgold videos as a picture book project in winter
2004.
Gustafer himself is a friendly creature who came to Earth from the sun and is living out an
explorer’s life in a slightly psychedelic version of the Minnesota woods.
Gustafer Yellowgold’s Show is a multi-media performance of live music, animated illustrations
and storytelling. With its unique crossover appeal, the show has been the wild-card opening
act for Wilco and The Polyphonic Spree. Gustafer has appeared off-Broadway in his own
productions of Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Sensation and Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity
Sock. In addition to touring nationally to arts centers, children’s museums, theaters and music
venues, Gustafer has ventured abroad for performances in the U.K and even Korea!
The Gustafer Yellowgold Arts Enrichment Program was launched in 2011, bringing
educational and creative experiences to children in libraries and schools.
PHOTO: ERIN PATRIC
E O’BRIEN
Taylor’s other projects have included playing bass for The Autumn Defense (featuring John Stirratt and Pat Sansone from
Wilco) and a recording project with Tony Award winning songwriter Duncan Sheik.
Morgan Taylor is married with two sons and lives in the Catskill Mountains . Morgan and his wife, singer/songwriter Rachel
Loshak, founded Apple-Eye Productions for release of Gustafer Yellowgold projects.
PUBLIC RELATIONS: ELIZABETH WALDMAN FRAZIER
130 Maywood Drive, San Francisco, CA 94127
Phone: 415.334.2787
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GUSTAFERYELLOWGOLD.COM [email protected]
“DR.SEUSS meets ‘YELLOW SUBMARINE’!”
“…the most infectious original songs. …It's like he's tapped
into some pleasure center in the brain — both adult and kid …
absurdly appealing. Grade A.”
“Star of Kindie Rock - Gustafer Yellowgold.”
“Taylor's whimsical, lightly psychedelic musical world forms an
interesting bridge between adult and kids' music.”
"He’s a Star on Stage and Screen!… Parenting groups weary of
the visual and audio intensity of many of today'sentertainment
choices praise Taylor's whimsical approach... the mix of catchy
tunes and offbeat stories has endeared Taylor, and Gustafer, to
teenagers as well."
“Gustafer Yellowgold has made kids’ music so cool that teenagers
and ultra-hip bands such as Wilco want to get in on the act…A
shiny blend of pop art and pop tunes.”
The coolest little space invader since E.T.... a hip and trippy
sunsation. Parental warning: You, too, will become hooked on
the tunes.”
“Endearing, intelligent and slightly subversive, making a
refreshing alternative for the 2- to 8-year-old set and a welcome
divertissement for parents and grandparents.”
BEST KIDS PERFORMER - GUSTAFER YELLOWGOLD!
“The most original performer on the family-music scene today is
Morgan Taylor, creator of Gustafer Yellowgold... Not to be missed.”
“Equal parts concert, animated movie and alternative comedy
act...Gustafer easily melts the hearts of his audience...the catchy
melodies are very Paul McCartney, while the quirky lyrics--not to
mention the surreal visuals—are totally John Lennon.”
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The song “Mint Green Bee” from Gustafer Yellowgold’s
Wide Wild World was a Grand Prize Winner in the Children’s
Category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World was a KIDS FIRST!
First Place Winner in the Indie Short 5-8 Years category.
Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World and Gustafer Yellowgold’s ‘Have You Never Been Yellow?’ were NAPPA Gold
winners and officially selected by KIDS FIRST! Film and Video
Festival.
Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock
Absolute Favorite Music of 2011
Mindy Thomas, Sirius/XM’s Kids Place Live
Best Kids’ Music of 2011
Warren Truitt, Kidsmusic.About.com
Top Ten Kids’ Albums of 2011
Jeff Bogle, Time Out NY Kids
Top Ten Kids’ Albums of 2011
Best Kids Music 2011
Top Ten Kindie Albums of 2011
Top Kids Albums of 2011
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Introducing Gustafer And Friends
Friday, March 7, 2008
Here is an introduction to the main characters from
Gustafer Yellowgold's world:
Gustafer Yellowgold: An Earth-loving immigrant from the
sun, he is 10 years old in Earth years, according to creator
Morgan Taylor, but slightly older in sun years. (Taylor isn't
sure exactly how many sun years equal an Earth year, but
he says Gustafer was old enough to leave home and settle
in a remote part of Minnesota.) Gustafer has a passion for
jumping on cakes and smashing pies.
Forrest Applecrumbie: This flightless pterodactyl is
Gustafer's best friend. He is eccentric and fashion-obsessed. (He loves tuxedos.) He lives in a cave not far from
Gustafer's house and is always available when Gustafer
wants to talk.
Slim: A bright purple eel, Slim is forever indebted to
Gustafer: The Sunpod that carried Gustafer to Earth landed in a lake where Slim was swimming and inadvertently
crushed a predator about to eat Slim. Gustafer adopted
Slim as his house pet. Slim sleeps in tube socks and is
Gustafer's constant companion.
Asparagus: This dragon is another pet Gustafer rescued;
he was found abandoned in a barn. Asparagus lives in
Gustafer's fireplace.
-- Debbi Wilgoren
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May 6, 2010
Stars of Kindie Rock
Gustafer Yellowgold
The animated character of Gustafer
is the brainchild of singer and
illustrator Morgan Taylor, whose
band accompanies Gustafer on
various adventures on CDs and
DVDs and in popular multimedia
shows that appeal to both kids and
grownups. (Gustafer Yellowgold
has opened for Wilco.) Recently
the New York Times described
Taylor, who as an adult rocker
has shared bills with the
Smithereens and Bob Dylan,
as “a cross between Yellow
Submarine and Dr. Seuss.”
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BEST KIDS PERFORMER!
Gustafer Yellowgold
Dan Zanes and Laurie Berkner may get the Carnegie
Hall treatment, but the most original performer
on the family-music scene today is Morgan Taylor,
creator of Gustafer Yellowgold. Whereas the other
kiddie-tunes stars are reinvigorating old folk tunes
and rocking out on the Noggin channel, Taylor has
dreamed up a whole world of story-songs about
Gustafer (he’s from the sun) and his menagerie of
friends (an eel, a pet dragon named Asparagus, a
bunch of mustard slugs, a tuxedo-wearing pterodactyl). Taylor and his band
present their songs alongside large-screen animations done up with karaokestyle subtitles for early readers. The act has been making the kid-venue rounds
of late, stopping at Bowery Kids, Joe’s Pub, and Symphony Space; it will begin
an Off Broadway run on March 15 at the DR2 Theater near Union Square.
Not to be missed.
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Best Kids’ CDs of the Decade
AOL.com/Parent Dish : Dec 24, 2009
BY Christopher Healy
The '00s could be known as the decade of children's music (along with about a zillion
other things). These first 10 years of the new millennium were a time in which an entire
genre of music -- one which was formerly mocked, looked down upon, or dismissed by
anyone over age 3 -- was suddenly taken seriously. This was the decade in which children's artists realized that parents actually cared about what their kids' music sounded like
and that they didn't have to dumb their work down for their young audiences. Here are
20 of the best albums to come out of this family music renaissance.
Gustafer Yellowgold: Gustafer Yellowgold’s
Wide Wild World
Singer-songwriter Morgan Taylor’s multimedia
music project, Gustafer Yellowgold, turned
children’s music into genuine art. And was
beautifully melodic in the process.
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Best Kids’ Albums of 2011
November 18, 2011
BY JEFF BOGLE
Rock & roll! Check out the top kids’ albums of 2011.
(Apple-Eye Productions, 2011)
Morgan Taylor paints his sun-kissed protagonist as a reflective old
soul on the fourth Yellowgold album. Kids will crack up at the
made-of-cheese clothing store (“Wisconsin Poncho”) while adults
will have plenty to contemplate with the thought-provoking
“Question Marks.”
The Best of the Classics
Time Out New York Kids / Issue 41 : Mar 1–31, 2009
BY DULCY ISRAEL
The best music for children from the 1980s, 1990s
and 2000s
Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World
(Apple-Eye Productions, 2007)
Morgan Taylor’s irresistible rock-pop CD/DVD
has drawn plenty of raves, but it’s Gustafer, the
singer-illustrator’s animated yellow alter ego,
who’s the real star (he’s actually from a star, as
he sings on “I’m from the Sun”). We’ve found
little in kids’ music that’s as big a blast.
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How singer Morgan Taylor drew his way
to success with Gustafer Yellowgold
February 11th, 2011
BY Molly Eichel
GUSTAFER Yellowgold is a saffron-colored, cone-headed alien
who comes from the sun. He relocated to Earth to escape the
drudgery of working in his father’s raisin carvery, ditching the
family business for a shot at a more-inspiring journey.
Gustafer started out as a doodle by Morgan Taylor, a New Yorkbased indie rocker who, like many musicians, was struggling to
connect with an audience.
Until, that is, Taylor animated his recent immigrant from the sun.
“The music I’m making is the music I’ve always been making.
But nobody really took note until I started adding cartoons to it,”
Taylor said. He’ll bring Gustafer to the Philadelphia Museum of
Art on Sunday for two concerts as part of the museum’s daylong
“Imaginary Creatures” family event.
The diminutive alien isn’t just the subject of Taylor’s songs.
Gustafer comes alive in colored-pencil animated videos handdrawn by Taylor. These videos move at the same deliberate pace
as the Gustafer songs.
But it’s not just the music videos that separate Taylor and Gustafer PHOTO: ERIN PATRICE O’BRIEN
from the pack. It’s that “their” tunes don’t sound like they’re meant just for kids. Sure, Gustafer’s songs are about
rocket shoes and socks that stretch to infinity, but they aren’t the pop facsimiles churned out by the Disney machine
or Raffi’s folkie sing-alongs.
Taylor grew up listening to the first wave of alternative rock in the ‘80s; R.E.M.’s jangle-pop influence is certainly
present in his music. It’s more mellow and less frenetic, and it’s almost surprising that the tempo can keep kids
interested for an extended period of time. But it does.
...CONTINUED
Playing with a yellow extraterrestrial has afforded Taylor a measure of success that he never achieved when he was
trying to interest adults, opening for Wilco and taking up residence in an off-Broadway theater.
His next CD/DVD release, “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock,” comes out March 1 and is the first to create
a narrative around Gustafer’s world, populated by his best friend Forrest Applecrumbie, a fashionable flightless
pterodactyl; and his pets, an eel named Slim (short for Slimothy) and Asparagus, a dragon that lives in Gustafer’s
fireplace.
“Infinity Sock” follows Gustafer as he searches for the toe end of the universe’s longest sock.
Taylor has always had a twin passion for comics and music but never thought to combine the two, nor did he act
out a dream to have his own comic strip, beyond stray drawings. “It always seemed way too daunting to come up
with an entire universe out of the blue. Where do you start?” Taylor said.
Gustafer began to form when Taylor was at a crossroads. In 2004, his band had broken up and he was deciding
whether to form a new one or try something new. While in traditional bands, he would record cassettes of material
just meant for him that were more absurd and humorous than his professional work.
Taylor’s wife and business partner, Rachel Loshak, encouraged her husband to try his hand writing children’s books.
When he began, he went back and listened to the personal material, finding common threads in fictitious firstperson songs.
“I had accidentally built this entire universe in these scattered pieces that all fit together as I wrote song after song
over the years,” Taylor said, citing his tune “I’m From the Sun” as the nucleus for Gustafer’s backstory. All of the
songs from Gustafer’s first CD/DVD, “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World,” were written before even Taylor
knew who Gustafer was.
“All I had to do was shake the sieve and see which ones remained of these absurd songs,” Taylor said. “It was this
big, happy accident.”
While Taylor believes that his music needs to stand alone without the video component, the two art forms are
inextricably linked. While he writes, he visualizes how it will be animated.
Taylor sees the videos as a throwback for parents who grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s and who are forced to listen to
their kids’ music, often on loop. Taylor doesn’t want parents to suffer. “It’s really for adults and it’s really for people
who enjoy humor and absurdity and good pop music,” said the dad of sons Harvey, 3, and Ridley, 7 weeks.
“I’m making music for myself and my generation, but my instinct is to make something catchy, because I want to
make pop music. You just have to choose a market. . . . You have to pick your niche.”
Taylor has qualms about his niche to a certain degree, because he thinks it hinders a potential audience, mainly those
without children who gloss over music targeted at ankle biters. “A lot of people will just pass - ‘it’s for kids’ - but
there’s nothing that excludes adults,” Taylor said. “No one is excluded from Gustafer.”
Take a listen and see the video of Gustafer Yellowgold’s “I’m From the Sun” at www.philly.com/seeYellowgold.
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Stretch your imagination
with Gustafer Yellowgold’s
Infinity Sock
March 24, 2011
Though “infinity sock” sounds like what I face when I’m matching up pairs in another endless load of laundry, it’s actually the name of the fourth DVD/CD combo in the amazing Gustafer Yellowgold series by illustrator and songwriter Morgan Taylor.
For those of your who already know and love Gustafer Yellowgold,
I have a feeling you don’t need to know much more to make you
want to grab this newest release---yes, the music is that consistently
good.
Like the previous DVD/CD releases, the much-loved Mello Fever,
Have You Never Been Yellow and Wide Wild World, Infinity Sock
stars a big-eyed, former sun-dweller named Gustafer Yellowgold.
Like my kids, Gustafer is forever curious about the world around him,
and nothing seems more curious than the fact that one of his pet eel’s
socks appears to have stretched out of his window into infinity.
For little kids or for those of us running on hardly any sleep, this
brightly animated and soothingly melodic alt-pop DVD is just fun to
experience. My kids, including the almost-tween, were transfixed by
the adventures of Gustafer, whether he was watching a rock-band
of bees inside a hive or ogling some snakes dressed up for the prom.
And I LOL over lyrics like the ones in Cheddar, a song about an orangey cat who knows the words to Bang-a-gong.
If you scratch the surface of silly though, there is more than meets the eye here, namely bigger philosophical questions about all living creatures. And in Question Mark, a song that asks Why do I want to know so
much?, even my why, why, why kids saw a bit of themselves in Gustafer’s lament.
But, don’t worry if it doesn’t all make sense on the first spin; after all, I spent a couple of confused moments
during Wisconsin Poncho trying to understand why all the clothes were made of cheese. I think this is one
DVD/CD combo you’ll spin more than a few times, so you’ll have plenty of time to ponder the meaning.
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THE NEW KID ROCK: Music Pick For Little Ones
February 28, 2011
BY JEFF GILES
Gustafer Yellowgold
Who He Is: If there’s a kindie act that hipsters are likely
to be familiar with, it’s the cartoon alter ego of singer/
songwriter Morgan Taylor, whose gently daffy forays into
family music have earned him opening slots for Wilco and
The Polyphonic Spree. Gustafer, so the story goes, is a
friendly alien from the sun who came to Minnesota to live
with an eel and a pterodactyl—and fortunately, you don’t
need to understand any of it to enjoy marvelously mellow,
perfectly loopy songs like “Mint Green Bee” and “Panther
Stamps Pants.”
Where to Start: You might as well start from the beginning:
2005’s Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World, the first in
an ongoing series of CD/DVD packages that stands at four
and counting. (The latest, this year’s Gustafer Yellowgold’s
Infinity Sock, concerns Gustafer’s adventures with a sock
that goes on forever. But again, you really don’t need to
follow the stories to sing along.)
PHOTO: ERIN PATRICE O’BRIEN
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Top Picks: Gustafer’s latest adventures
February 28, 2011
BY SUSAN LEACH
“Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock” is the latest DVD/CD set from children’s illustrator/songwriter
Morgan Taylor and his musical collaborators, including John Stirratt and Pat Sansone (of the band
Wilco). Mellow-yellow melodies and pleasantly surreal imagery have generated a fan base of
ultrahip parents and their plaid-clad tots, and earned Taylor a National Parenting Publication Award.
However, you don’t have to be a pre-K kid in aviator shades to fall in love with the ongoing saga’s
sunny protagonist and his pet eel. Out March 1.
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Gustafer Yellowgold’s trip
July 1, 2011
BY MAJA BECKSTROM
One of the hippest little aliens around owes a lot to some
Minnesota musicians.
Gustafer Yellowgold is a groovy, cone-headed fellow
who came to Earth from the sun and landed in a lake in
Minnesota’s north woods. His creator, New York musician
and artist Morgan Taylor, just released the fourth in a series
of DVD/CD sets for children - “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity
Sock.” Taylor will be in town Saturday for performances at
the Walker Art Center.
Like earlier Gustafer DVDs, “Infinity Sock” combines handdrawn animation with gentle pop tunes that trace their
psychedelic sound to the now-defunct Minneapolis band
Trip Shakespeare.
“In 1988 I discovered Trip Shakespeare and I was completely
blown away and became obsessed with their music,” Taylor
said during a phone interview from a rest stop on a crosscountry drive to kick off his “Infinity” tour in Chicago last week. “I thought: How cool would that
be - to put my character in Minnesota. Trip Shakespeare created this mystique about Minneapolis.
This magical quality.”
“But I had to pick a more rural location,” Taylor added. “So I picked Leech Lake. It’s a comical
sounding name.”
...CONTINUED
“It works in my favor because when I give people a general synopsis, I say it’s a story about a guy
who came from the sun and landed in Minnesota, and people always chuckle. It’s an outrageous
premise. The fact that he ends up in this nice, innocent Midwestern state.”
As a teenager, Taylor played in an opening band when Trip
Shakespeare came through his hometown in Dayton, Ohio. It was the first time he’d heard them
and he was smitten. A few years later, Taylor drove to see the band in Chicago and had “one of
the most cathartic concert experiences of my life.”
He credits the quartet’s lush vocals and complex harmonies with shaping his own music.
“It totally changed everything for me,” he said. “I really started taking my singing more seriously.
I took vocal lessons and I was really inspired. Gustafer is an homage to that.”
As Gustafer gained a national following and rave reviews, Taylor ended up performing in Minneapolis
a few years ago. His friend and Minneapolis musician Ken Chastain suggested asking former Trip
Shakespeare bass player John Munson to play at a Gustafer gig at the Cedar. Munson has two
young girls, liked the music and said he’d be delighted.
“I was flabbergasted,” Taylor recalled. “To think I could play music with John Munson in my band.
And John had to learn my bass lines. When we were playing during rehearsal I said ‘It must be
strange to play bass lines that were inspired by your style.’ He was very humble and said, ‘Well I’m
sure we had a lot of the same influences.’ “
Munson plays bass on the song “Snake Prom” on the “Infinity” CD. Chastain and Tom Scott, who
were both in the local band Beating the Clock, also play on Taylor’s new project. And all three Twin
Cities musicians will play with Taylor at the Walker.
So, Taylor on Saturday will once again play with his musical hero John Munson, who is now a fan
of Taylor’s family music. Taylor’s two little children, who tour with him and his wife, will be in the
audience soaking up Munson’s bass lines, which were written by Taylor, but originally inspired by
Munson. Sounds sort of like an “infinity” loop.
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July 21, 2011
BY DANIEL HOPKINS
In the world of children’s cartoons, sensory overload seems to be the best way to keep the attention of
little ones — at least according to the majority of programs aimed at this demographic. Morgan Taylor, the
creator of Gustafer Yellowgold, tends to disagree.
But Gustafer’s character — a sun-dwelling cartoon creature stuck on earth whose outdoor adventures
are accompanied by Taylor’s quirky, AM radio-reminiscent pop songs — wasn’t a response to his visually
exhausting peers. It was something that came somewhat naturally to him, actually — a marriage of his
loves of music and animation.
“It was the most honest thing I’d ever done,” says Taylor, who’d performed in other bands before focusing
on Gustafer full-time. “I’ve always been a cartoonist, and I’ve always been a musician. I’d just never
thought to combine them.”
The results are kind of amazing; his cartoon has the uncanny ability to
please kids without getting on parents’ nerves. Really: His music is actually
enjoyable, even upon multiple listens. Each song is an earworm worth
humming even when not in the company of your offspring.
“There’s more to kids’ music than just having the parents be able to
tolerate it,” Taylor says. “Somehow I found this niche where the parents
can enjoy it just as much as the kids.”
Now, with his fourth Gustafer Yellowgold DVD on record store shelves,
Taylor has built quite a discography for his fans to enjoy — even as a
good chunk of this crowd is still too young to properly speak his or his
character’s name.
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GUSTAFER YELLOWGOLD’S INFINITY SOCK
April 20, 2011
Rare is the kids DVD that also appeals to older kids
and adults, but “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock”
(Apple Eye Productions) pulls it off. The small, yellow,
cone-headed main character has arrived on Earth
from the sun with a pet eel and a best friend who
happens to be a pterodactyl. He explores his new life
in the Upper Midwest, and the musical journey brings
some pretty humorous situations as he tries to find
the toe end of the longest sock in the universe. The
music is of high quality, and one song even features
Wilco’s John Stirratt and Pat Sansone. Bonus features
include how to play guitar and how to draw the main
character, and all videos are playable in normal or
karaoke style. A companion CD is a big bonus.
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May 3, 2011
BY BEVERLY WRIGGLESWORTH
PreS-Gr 2-This simple story features Gustafer Yellowgold, a former sun-dweller who fell from the
sun and landed in Minnesota. As he is doing his eel friend’s laundry, he finds socks everywhereon the ceiling, on the fan, in the fridge, etc. In his garden, Gustafer discovers a sock that
stretches off into the distance and follows it to discover where it ends. Along the way he meets
up with a rock and roll bee band, a kitten named Cheddar, and an all cheese clothing store. The
story is depicted in a series of panels, with cute,
minimally animated cartoon characters who don’t
speak. Instead, the story is accompanied by ten
alternative pop, gentle acoustic, and folk rock
songs featuring very nice harmonies. The DVD can
be played in karaoke style, where the lyrics appear
at the bottom of each story frame. Song titles
include “A Sock Runs Through It,” “Slim Gets
in ‘Em,” “Infinity,” “Snake Proms,” “Question
Marks,” “Sock of Ages,” and others. The CD
includes the soundtrack. Bonus features include
“Proof or Foof,” in which a scientist experiments
to determine whether Solarians like Gustafer are
real or a hoax; and “Gustafer Guitar Lessons” and
“How to Draw Gustafer” with demonstrations by
illustrator/song writer Morgan Taylor. This gentle
film with lovely songs will be a welcome addition
to public library collections for young children.
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July 28, 2011
BY LOUIS R. CARLOZO
When he’s not backing up Wilco members on
their solo projects, singer-songwriter Morgan
Taylor makes sparkling kids’ music, drawing
comparisons to adult artists from Bread to the
Beatles. Taylor sings about characters like a frisky
eel that dresses in a wardrobe of single socks (“Slim
Gets in ‘Em”). The tender pop ballad “Beehive,”
with timpani accents and vocal swells, suggests
an outtake from the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
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Meet the Artist: Gustafer Yellowgold
January, 2010
Gustafer Yellowgold is a little yellow fellow who traveled here from the sun -- and the brainchild of musician/artist Morgan
Taylor. We spoke to him recently about Gustafer and his world.
How would you describe Gustafer to someone who’s never met him? He came from the sun and landed in Minnesota. Now
he’s living a Zenlike existence through whimsical pop songs that tell his story. He’s kind of egoless, exploring the world through
innocent eyes. He’s got a unique outlook on things--and a very high body temperature.
How did he end up in Minnesota? He seems very happy to be living in a cooler world.
He set the controls on his sun pod for someplace greener and colder. Once he got here, he
met the characters who became his best friends. He wants us to slow down and appreciate
the smaller things. His world is deep and microscopic at the same time. He looks at the
world the way a child would.
In your shows and on DVDs, you tell the Gustafer Yellowgold story with music and
animation. How did he start out? Was he a character in your head, a drawing, or a song?
It came together almost by accident. I’ve always played music. I had the image of Gustafer
back in the ‘90s, when I was working in a record store. I spent a lot of time doodling, and I
came up with this little yellow character who would do weird things. I never had a story for
him. Then in 2004 my band broke up, and I wanted to do something other than starting
a new rock band again. I had all these whimsical, funny first-person absurd story songs.
Around that time my wife Rachel suggested I write a children’s book, so I started drawing
picture books with this yellow character. And I realized that I’d been creating his world all
along, inadvertently, through these songs.
So you discovered you already had songs that fit the character? I looked through my
repertoire, and the material that stayed in became the framework for Gustafer. All his
friends had theme songs. His back story came about through the song, “I’m from the
PHOTO: TODD CHALFANT
Sun.” That explains everything. Once I had that, it came together. I had seen art and music
as separate things; I didn’t realize what would happen when I combined them. I drew out images from the song lyrics, and it
developed from there. The reaction we got was so strong and immediate we knew we were on to something.
As a visual artist and a musician, do you consider yourself more of one than the other? I was playing music as a young
teenager in the ‘80s. To me, the music was more gratifying, and my art was on the side. Because when you’re drawing comics,
you wonder who’s going to see it. Most artists want a reaction, and you get that when you play music. My mom would always
say, “I wish you’d do something with your art.” When I moved to New York from Ohio in 1999, I tried to get work as an
illustrator.
Where do you get the ideas for your songs? My desire to develop the characters dictates my songwriting. For example, I
wanted to develop the pterodactyl and his obsession with fashion, so I wrote “Panther Stamps Pants.” And I wrote “Underwater
Stars” as the background story about Gustafer’s pet eel.
How do kids react to Gustafer? What kind of things do you hear from children about him? They ask specific questions, like
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“What does Gustafer do?” or “What does he eat?” And especially, “Is Gustafer real?” That’s a fun one to answer. We’re
making a mock-umentary, which has a scientist reporting on Gustafer sightings in Minnesota. There’s a lot of interaction at the
concerts, and when the kids ask questions it gives me room to improvise. They want to know why he left home, and if he ever
sees his family.
What do you tell them? He left just to see how things would go. And he’s got a giant walk-in mailbox in his front yard, where
he keeps a device his brother invented. It’s a communicator, kind of like Skype, so he can stay in touch with his family. The same
way Mork had Orson.
Gustafer seems to attract fans of all ages. Well, people always like to say that it’s music for kids that parents can enjoy too.
But I think because of the visuals, a different experience happens. It looks like a preschool cartoon character, but our videos and
shows have the text, as well, so kids who can read get more out of it. It’s more conceptual than typical kids’ stuff. Teenagers
and older kids get into the fact that it’s kind of weird and absurd. Young adults like the psychedelic aspect to it. For people my
own age who have kids, there’s a nostalgic feel to it, which comes from growing up in the ‘70s. It doesn’t fit neatly into any
category. If you try to pigeonhole it, you miss something.
Was it a conscious decision to include on-screen lyrics with the songs? It obviously encourages kids to read. That came about
because when we started, we were making books. We wanted there to be reading involved. We’ve had quite a few parents say
that their kids have learned unusual words, like “oblivion.”
Having been in a rock band, do you find it different performing for children? Well, unless we’re playing at a school, the
audience is always half adults and half kids at the concerts. The biggest difference is the time of day. I much prefer playing at
eleven in the morning than eleven at night!
When describing your work, critics often mention The Beatles and Yellow Submarine. What music did you love most when
you were growing up? I was very into ‘70s pop stuff and AM radio. That’s my comfort zone. When I’m sitting down to create
and write or draw, I’m chasing this innocent euphoria from my first creative awakening as a child; it’s when your imagination
is in full force for the first time. Certain music, certain pop culture and art--there’s this feeling of an innocent connection to the
universe. It’s a fantasy, a conflict-free world. I discovered The Beatles much later.
Do you have any children? Our son, Harvey, is 18 months. We have boxes of Gustafer dolls in the house, and he’s just now
beginning to point to them and reach for them. He’s starting to put it together, though I don’t think he knows yet that we
invented Gustafer! He’s been to about 100 Gustafer concerts.
Has being a parent changed your relationship to Gustafer in any way? It makes us work even harder. It’s helped us focus and
structure what we do. We have a unique opportunity and we want it to work out.
Which songs are the biggest fan favorites? “Panther Stamps Pants” has become a favorite from Mellow Fever, our third DVD,
which came out last March. We try to represent all three DVDs when we play live. The first one gets heavier play because it has
“I’m From the Sun” and “Your Eel,” which are staples of the show. “I Jump on Cake” always has to be in the show, because
it’s a consistent crowd-pleaser. So is “Rocket Shoes.” From our second DVD, “Pinecone Lovely” and “Mustard Slugs” are
popular.
What inspired “I Jump on Cake”? Where did that image come from? Maybe that’s my own subliminal message about weight
control. I was a chubby kid, so I’ve always had to be conscious of everything. When I’m engaged with cake I’d rather throw it
on the floor!
What’s up next for you? We’re planning more songs, more DVDs, more shows; 2010 is going to be more of a production
year. Each new DVD requires a lot of drawing, and it takes a long time, so I’m going to work on that as much as I can this year.
The next DVD is going to have a full narrative story arc, and we’ll have a new stage show to reflect the new DVD. It should be
ready by spring 2011.
Anything else you’d like to add? “Keep it yellow.” That’s what I tell people at the end of every show. It’s become our mantra.
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A SONG Of LOVE
January, 2010
BY SHARA BENISON
Photography by Thaddeus Harden • (thaddeusharden.com)
Breakout Kiddie Rocker Morgan Taylor Talks About
The Inspiration Behind The Yellow Sensation Known
As Gustafer And His Life As A New Dad
When rocker Morgan Taylor met singer and songwriter Rachel Loshak,
it was the beginning of a love story. What they didn’t anticipate was
that their story would also include a curious yellow sun creature named
Gustafer Yellowgold. Since the two first met in 1999, they’ve married,
welcomed a son, Harvey, now 21 months old, and, in between,
created one of the most imaginative music shows to hit the children’s
entertainment scene to date. Described by “The New York Times”
as “a cross between ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Dr. Seuss,” Gustafer
Yellowgold is a series of musical tales conceived by Taylor that tell the
story of a small golden “solarian” who travels to earth from the sun to
explore its landscape and befriend some of the planet’s more obscure
residents. Taylor brings the story to life through a combination of laidback, ‘70s-style tunes, accessible lyrics, and colorfully animated short films. Meanwhile, Loshak acts as business manager,
booking agent, animation operator, and accountant—among other roles. Since Gustafer Yellowgold’s inception in 2005,
Taylor and Loshak’s company, Apple-Eye Productions, has turned out three DVD/CD sets and played over 400 live shows
in theaters, museums and bookstores across the globe—including opening performances for Wilco and The Polyphonic
Spree. On a recent Tuesday morning, Taylor sat down with New York Family at Symphony Space—where he’s performed
in the past—to share his thoughts about life as dad, musician and creator of the yellow mellow sensation.
You’ve been playing in rock bands since you were a teenager. How did you make the transition to kids’ music?
I’ve been in band after band for almost 24 years. When my last band started to dissolve, I knew I didn’t want to just
start another one. I wanted to push myself into another direction that was a little bit more unusual or even just take a
break from music altogether. I had recently moved to New York from Ohio—I’m from Dayton—and was writing a lot.
I had a good creative outpouring, and I started writing some comical, funny songs just for fun on the side. I ended up
accumulating all these character songs and realized I had accidentally created this whole fictitious world. I knew the songs
were special in some way.
Is that how the character of Gustafer Yellowgold was born?
The songs were written in the first person, yet I knew they weren’t about me. I decided to base the songs on a character—
or a doodle, really—that I had created when I was living back in Ohio. At first we thought about turning the concept
into a book and CD, so I drew everything flat on paper. Then we started showing the book drawings to people and
someone showed us how easy it was to make the drawings animated. We animated about eight songs, put out our first
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DVD and began touring. When you come to a show, you are watching the
animation of Gustafer with the lyrics on screen while hearing a live musical
performance. I perform the music myself or with a band.
Would you call Gustafer an alien?
No, he is not an alien, he is a solarian. Calling someone an alien, I think
he may somehow find that offensive—like, you don’t call a chimpanzee a
monkey.
Are Gustafer’s adventures based on your own personal experiences?
His characteristics and traits are kind of like an alter ego. It is sort of a fantasy
existence—a conflict-free life of exploration and playing with the world.
Gustafer has this sense of unconditional acceptance and innocence. The
music is about joy and friendship. He has a set of eyes [that capture] an
absurd worldview.
But I think if you go back and analyze some of the lyrics, you would see
similarities between my life and Gustafer’s. The song “Sun Pod” on “Gustafer
Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever” is about how Gustafer came to earth—he left
home and said goodbye to his family and his dog and crashed down into a
lake in Minnesota where he met the characters that would become his best
friends. I didn’t move away from my hometown until I was 29, so I have a
lot of deep relationships there with friends and family, which I’m still very
attached to.
Where did the name Gustafer Yellowgold come from?
I wanted something that would conjure up fun, like Willy Wonka or Pink
Panther. The name just kind of came out of thin air. Now the name references
the entire [project]—the music, the art and the character.
Gustafer Yellowgold performances are popular with both adults and children. Why do you think that is?
When I’m writing, I always want to make the best music that I can. I don’t think because we’re doing a family show that
there is a different standard. I didn’t really have kids’ music per se when I was growing up, but we had a huge record
collection and most of it was soft rock from the early ‘70s. That’s sort of what I’m writing now. I call it soft rock for the
whole family. The thing people say the most after they see a show is how different it is from other kids’ entertainment.
I think the reason why we’ve been successful so far is because people can sense that there is no pretense. It is just a fun
little world that you can get absorbed in with Gustafer.
How has your family influenced your work?
My wife Rachel is also a singer/songwriter. The first Gustafer Yellowgold show we ever played was in Korea when we
were on tour for Rachel’s music. We showed the promoters a Gustafer video and they asked me to play during Rachel’s
intermission. When we came home, I started playing in bookstores and venues on the Lower East Side. We started to
get a nice reaction right away and thought, “This is fun and this is something we can do together,” so we put our heads
together and created this [project]. Rachel organizes the business end and does all the tour management; I also run lyrics
or animation ideas by her. Gustafer exists because of Rachel’s hard work and organization—without her this would just be
a stack of unbound books in a bag in our kitchen.
How did you and Rachel first meet?
Rachel moved to New York from Suffolk, England in 1995. She was starting her career as a creative singer/songwriter on
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the Lower East Side. Then I came to town four years later and got a job as a sound engineer at a venue called the Living
Room. Rachel came through on a regular basis, and I remember the first time I was very, very enchanted with her and her
music. After one of her gigs she stayed around afterward, and to make a long story short, by 5 a.m. we were standing on
the street corner kissing. We were together every day from then on.
Is Rachel still performing her music?
Gustafer has sort of taken over everything—which is cool because we are so busy—but Rachel has an album’s worth of
songs she wants to put out, which will be her fifth. One of our goals is to put out Rachel’s before we put out the fifth
Gustafer album [the fourth is scheduled to be released in 2011]. She is an amazing songwriter and singer—she sang
backup for Norah Jones at the Grammys in 2003 and has sung backup for Moby for a couple of performances.
You both work from home. How do you manage to balance work and raising a toddler at the same time?
Most days we’ll split the day in half—Rachel will be with Harvey until lunch and then I’ll have him until dinner. We do
need help once in a while and have found a really nice sitter who can take Harvey for a few hours a couple of times a
week. We also go on tour a lot and try to insert little spontaneous family moments in while touring, like taking a day off
together and going for a walk. Since we are all together so much, Rachel and I have really had a chance to see Harvey
grow from just a little wide-eyed baby. [Our commitment] to the idea of family togetherness inspires us to make Gustafer
Yellowgold even more of a success.
You recently moved from Brooklyn to The Catskills. How’s country life treating you?
We love it, it’s really gorgeous. When it’s a full moon, we say, “Where is that light coming
from in the yard?” You can see the stars. Our lives are so crazy—we never have enough
time—but up here it seems more slow and quiet. We made the move because we have
been travelling so much for the past four years. We wanted to pay less money for a place
we were gone from most of the time. With Harvey we also just wanted more space. It’s
also a good place to be, creatively.
With two singer/songwriters for parents, Harvey must be exposed to a lot of music. Is
he a musical child?
Harvey already sings and strums his tiny guitar. He’s seen over a hundred Gustafer
shows—he saw his first one at 3 weeks. Rachel operates the animated video on stage,
and for about a year Harvey would be up there with her in a pouch, sleeping through the
shows. Then when he was about one he woke before the show and stuck his head out
and yelled in the mike, and we said, ‘OK, time to put him in the audience.’
What’s his personality like?
He’s got a really good sense of humor. All of a sudden he has also started imitating
me—down to my stage banter and sound effects. He will grab the guitar and sit and
strum and you can tell which song he is trying to play. He also likes to cook with pots
and pans. For a while he kept asking for water, which was one of his first words. And so
we’d give him water because we thought it was cute—and then the kitchen floor would
just be drenched. So we’ve had to say no water, so now he cooks necklaces and toys and
things.
What’s next for Gustafer Yellowgold?
We’re working on a book, a fourth DVD and an off-Broadway stage show all based on
the same concept called “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock.” There will be a bunch of
new songs and characters. We’re aiming to release everything together in early 2011. In
the meantime, we’ll continue to tour.
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5-Minute Time Out:
Gustafer Yellowgold
June 26, 2009
BY Lindsay Armstrong
Children’s entertainer Morgan Taylor on his
pointy-headed creation
Check out this description of the arrival of spring: “As April came down from above, expanding the meaning of love, exactly the
opposite of cold and jaded.” So, who wrote it? Emily Dickinson? Damien Rice? Nope: it’s a song about an animated ant from the
newest Gustafer Yellowgold DVD, Mellow Fever. This kind of lyrical sophistication, paired with a gang of minimally-animated
characters, has made the musical cartoon act a crossover hit since its creation in 2005. If you’re not familiar with Gustafer: he
is a friendly yellow creature from the sun who sets out in search of a “cooler” life and finds it in Minnesota. There he befriends
an eel, a dragon, and a flightless pterodactyl. Babble spoke with Gustafer’s creator, the illustrator, writer, and musician Morgan
Taylor, about cake-jumping, ‘70s soft rock, and how parenthood has influenced his alien alter ego.
You started out playing in indie rock bands. How did you make the transition into being a children’s artist?
When I first came to New York I actually tried to get work as an illustrator. I took my portfolio everywhere and collected a big,
fat stack of rejection letters. Then I got into the music scene here. I had a band called Morgan Taylor’s Rock Group. We had a
moment, but in New York that can fizzle out fast. Morgan Taylor’s Rock Group broke up and I put out a solo album. But after I
played my record release party, I just felt like something was missing. Rachel, my wife, said, “Why don’t you do that kids’ book
you’ve been thinking about?”
Once we put out the first DVD, the reaction was just instantaneous. I had this stockpile of songs from when I first moved to
New York and I was feeling really stimulated. I chose some songs from that, the ones that were sort of more colorful or silly or
pretty, and I drew out images to accompany them. I had the “Pterodactyl Song, “The Eel Song,” and I had this song “I Am From
the Sun.” As I was drawing out the images, I realized that the songs were written in first person, but the speaker wasn’t me. It
was more like a fictitious character. Years before I had started drawing this yellow, pointy-headed guy. He was floating around
in my brain. I thought that maybe this project was the home for that character. And then it hit me, “Yes, of course! He’s the
one from the sun!” I drew out five or so of these songs and put them together in a book to try to get it published. One of the
people we showed it to asked me if I wanted to animate it and we loved that idea. Once we put out the first DVD, the reaction
was just instantaneous. All of the press started saying really nice things and I was like, “Wow, all I had to do was add cartoons
to my music and now everybody’s paying attention!” The song “I Jump on Cake” was originally a drawing in my portfolio.
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Yes, I was wondering whether or not kids go home after your show and jump on cake.
[Laughs] I’ve had parents email me to say that their kids do.
You started Gustafer before you had children of your own. Has being a dad changed the
project for you?
If anything, it’s made us more business-oriented. Now we have to think along the lines of
paying our bills and raising a family. Being a dad has made me realize, if this is what I’m
going to do, I have to really be committed and do it.
What bands do you listen to that impact your songwriting?
I think I’m always trying to write Bread songs. Do you know the band Bread? Their biggest
song was called “If.” They were the premiere, ‘70s soft-rock balladeers: beautiful strings,
heart-wrenching songs, a tiny bit cheesy. I think I loved them because my older brother
and sister’s record collection was in the house when I was born. I inherited their taste.
So you listen to a lot of ‘70s music?
Six-year-olds just look at me
like, “Is this real?”
Yeah, I do. I feel like that’s the nucleus of Gustafer. When I was listening to that music, that’s the time of my life when I started
to be creative, around six or seven years old. For me, writing music is like chasing the feeling you have at that age. I guess that’s
where I tend to go for inspiration.
What do you think is up next for Gustafer?
Right now we’re mixing and editing the live DVD. We recorded a show in San Francisco with a symphony orchestra made up
of public school students. It was amazing. We’re going to try to put it out next spring.
You have reached a pretty wide audience through Gustafer. Why do you think it’s struck a chord with people of different ages?
I think that there are so many levels to it. For really young kids, Gustafer has bright images and soft, melodic music. With the
six- and seven-year-olds, they’re right at that age when you begin to conceptualize. They are the best to play for because
they’re just looking at me like, “Is this real?” Kids who are a little older start to pick up on the humor. There are even some
teenagers who come to my shows. I think they just like Gustafer because it’s kind of weird and trippy. [Laughs.] But, my target
demographic is probably people my own age.
Really?
Yeah. Most people my age have kids who are four, five and six, and they’re mainly the ones coming to my shows. I’m of the
generation that, when we were a bit younger, all we did was go out to bars to see bands. Now that we’re parents we can’t
really do that so often. My feeling is, why should those people have to suffer through kids’ music that’s, what I call the “silly hat
bands”? You’re allowed to like whatever you want, but there are a lot of people, like me, who grew up with alternative music,
like R.E.M. Those are the people who have young kids now and I want to play something that appeals to them as much as it
appeals to their children.
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March, 2009
strike gold
Mellow Fever By Gustafer Yellowgold
“Find blissful pop music on the CD and DVD.
It’s Nickelodeon meets Pink Floyd.”
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Top 10 Kids’ CDs
April 19, 2009
BY lou carlozo
Here are 10 CDs for kids you’ll fall in love with too.
Once upon a time, buying children’s music meant you had just condemned yourself to hours of insipid
songs about dancing bears and fuzzy-wuzzy kitties.
Thanks to a wave of cool kids performers and record labels, those days have passed. Now, we have an
opposite problem: With so many artists for the wee set, how do you find the best stuff?
As a parent with a low tolerance for cringe-inducing choruses (and a side gig as a studio musician), I
recommend these 10 releases.
Gustafer Yellowgold’s “Mellow Fever”
(Apple-Eye Productions, CD and DVD).
Morgan Taylor’s fans include Wilco and the Polyphonic Spree;
his acoustic songs recall ‘70s soft rockers Bread. His alter ego,
Gustafer, is from the sun; catch his odd adventures on songs
such as “Melter Swelter.”
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Gustafer Yellowgold: Very cool kids’ music
April 1, 2009
BY Carrie Stetler
I’d like to say that Gustafer Yellowgold is the latest
in children’s music that doesn’t really sound like
children’s music, but the whole Gustafer experience
has been around for four years, unbeknownst to
me.
The newest installment is “Gustafer Yellowgold’s:
Mellow Fever’’ DVD/CD set, which was released in
the fall. It combines wistful, psychadelic animation
with strangely beautiful songs about a pointyheaded alien from the sun who is stranded on earth.
Watch his video “Birds,’’ a childlike meditation on
avian mortality, at the bottem of this post.
Gustafer Yellowgold is the creation of Morgan Taylor,
a Brooklyn illustrator and musician,who’s played
with members of Wilco.
Gustafer Yellowgold is beloved by my son, and
our entire family.
The wonderful thing about his videos is that, although there are subtitles, there’s no dialogue, so children
make their own inferences about the story, with its themes of loss, separation, and friendship.
My six-year-old son is riveted by the Gustafer videos, and he listens to the CD almost every morning when
he’s getting dressed. I even play it when he’s not around sometimes, which is my barometer for truly great
children’s music.
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Discovering Yellowgold in the Minnesota woods
April 24, 2009
BY PAUL SCOTT
NYC musician draws on a local connection to create a kid-vid character with a difference.
You could fill an inflatable jumpy house with the graying indie-rockers now performing for children. The list
includes Dan Zanes, Lisa Loeb and Twin Cities natives Justin Roberts and Adam Levy. But until New York
musician Morgan Taylor picked up his Sharpie to create Gustafer Yellowgold, no alternative musician had
successfully merged lush, melodic pop with self-produced animated storytelling.
That would be reason enough for Wiggles-weary parents to pick up a Gustafer Yellowgold DVD/CD, or
to take their kids to a live show by Taylor, who will play with a band next Saturday in front of an animated
backdrop at the Cedar Cultural Center. But Taylor’s skill in reimagining the children’s video is such that
comparisons have been made to the work of Dr. Seuss and the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”
With an animated musical fable centered on the life of a mute orphan from the sun, Taylor has created
a melancholy and playful children’s cartoon with a careful attention to nature and a dreamy sense of
wonder.
PHOTO: TODD CHALFANT
Beginning with his first children’s DVD in 2005, “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World,” and continuing with the DVD/CD
packages “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Have You Never Been Yellow?” and the just-released “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever,” the
one-time record-store clerk and amateur illustrator has produced three volumes of unconventional children’s entertainment that
stand in contrast to the frenetic, somewhat sardonic fare that has often come to define the genre.
In a series of pop vignettes set to original ‘70s-style rock songs, Gustafer builds rocket shoes, struggles with loneliness, stares with
Zen-like appreciation at the lives of ants, and contemplates the mortality of birds and even his own afterlife. Characters are often
crying in Gustafer’s world, sometimes for no apparent reason, and with the action taking place on window frames, under bushes
and in kitchen sinks, the stories transfer the viewer into the reality of being 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 -- long stretches of boredom, punctuated
by sudden bouts of fun, bracketed by emotional whiplash.
His live show has earned praise from highbrow venues such as the New Yorker and New York magazine, which last year called
Taylor the best children’s performer in the city.
Then there is the matter of Gustafer’s address. He lives in the woods of Minnesota. It turns out that Taylor, 38, once harbored a
love for Trip Shakespeare, the innovative late-’80s rock quartet, whose bassist, John Munson, will accompany Taylor here.
“It’s sort of an inside joke to myself,” he says. Taylor describes having “an epiphany” after one of his bands opened for Trip
Shakespeare in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, but it would take years of slow going for the fruit of his labors to end up in Barnes
& Noble. Today he records music and hand draws each image in his apartment, then ships the images to an animator for slow-pans
and the insertion of small movements like eye blinks.
The result is a musical “moving storybook,” and one that is decidedly less interested in the learning of letters, the braining of young
viewers with sing-songy refrains or the application of convenient moral endings than it is in the notion that children’s hearts are
often raw, complicated construction zones.
“Yeah, there’s some crying in most every song,” Taylor says with a laugh. “I guess I didn’t realize that until later. I guess I’ve always
liked melancholy art and music, and I probably was a crybaby when I was a kid, and when I created this character I thought, ‘Oh,
he cries a lot.’ “
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Melodic tunes, subtle messages
May, 2009
BY Fred Koch
Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever
Once in a great while a children’s music artist comes along who just knocks me
off my feet. Such is the case with Morgan Taylor and his Gustafer Yellowgold’s
Mellow Fever. I will tell you right now, this DVD/CD set is a must-have.
Here’s the reason I like writing for Chicago Parent: When I hear fabulous
songs recorded with creative and unique musical arrangements, I want to
spread the word.
Taylor’s original songs are fanciful stories that revolve around “Gus,” a
little, yellow, cone-headed fellow from the sun who possesses an interesting
magnetism for making friends with some of Earth’s odder creatures. The songs
are not only melodic, singable and full of musical delight, but they often have
important, subtle messages our children need to hear.
These songs are very capable of standing on their own, but they really come to
life on the animated DVD where Taylor’s talent as an illustrator and storyteller
come into focus.
Though all of the songs are outstanding and I get more out of each one of
them every time I listen, here are a few of my favorites:
“Getting In A Treetop” is a bright, uplifting pop song that will have you singing along with the hooky chorus line, “You
can see happy/You can feel change/You can hear them laughing/It’s strange.”
“Quite Easily Lost” is a testament to the simple wonders of life. It starts out, “The saucer fits beneath the cup/And
daffodils are pointing up/I know it may be simple but I’ve always been quite easily lost.”
And to me, the message of “Green Heart” (probably the most rockin’ of all the songs) is not to get too full of
yourself.
I also really enjoy “An Erring Ant,” a song about our purpose and our need to be part of something bigger than
ourselves. For the ant, it is, of course, to be part of the army.
We can read a lot into Taylor’s songs or just sit back, relax and let them wash over us. Either way, you are bound to find
enjoyment with his style of songwriting and storytelling with its wonderful metaphors and magnificent imagery.
Another important point about the songs of Gustafer Yellowgold is that they are slightly on the mellow side. That is
not to say you won’t be tapping your foot because each song has a great groove. It’s just that these are not frenetic
rock-oriented songs you might find somewhere else. And because the video is a vehicle for storytelling, you will not
see a lot of quick edits and multiple images. Personally, I think this is much healthier for kids.
Chicago parents are fortunate because many great children’s music performers either live in the Chicago area or come
through on tour. But don’t miss your chance to see Morgan Taylor in concert.
Finally, it is really no surprise to me that Taylor was named “Best Kids’ Performer” in New York Magazine’s 2008 “Best
of New York” issue.
Phone: 415.334.2787
Mobile: 415.203.0220
Fax: 415.334.2727
VLegit: Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Sensation
September 22, 2008
BY STEVEN SUSKIN
“Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Sensation” calls itself a “multimedia concert of live songs, stories and animation.” That
description is as good as any for this unclassifiable but entertaining kidshow returning to DR2 for 12 two-performance
Saturdays, through early December. The world created by songwriter-illustrator Morgan Taylor is endearing, intelligent
and slightly subversive, making a refreshing alternative for the 2- to 8-year-old set and a welcome divertissement for
parents and grandparents.
Gustafer Yellowgold is a visitor from the sun, where it’s always hot and there’s only
one season. Gustafer, whose favorite color is green, landed somewhere north of St.
Cloud, Minn., and set up a little house with his little friend, Slim the eel (short for
Slimothy). His other pal is Forest Applecrumbie, a non-flying pterodactyl who is “into
fashion.” Together, they munch on pinecones, punch cheese and jump on desserts
(which Taylor advises his rapt patrons not to try at home, only when they are visiting
other kids).
Production values are minimal; just Taylor, two musicians, and co-producer Rachel
Loshak, who sings and operates the animation console. Mr. Yellowgold appears on a
large screen center stage; he looks something like a glob of flame, with expressively
wide eyes and an impish manner.
Songs are in what might be called ‘70s soft rock, something like the Beatles in their
mellower moods. Tunes are set to daffy lyrics filled with child-friendly images, and
illustrated -- in the manner of youngster’s picture books -- with fanciful drawings that
are slightly animated. Taylor has been developing the material since 2005, and has
thus far released two “Gustafer Yellowgold” DVDs.
Taylor is a natural storyteller with the warmth of Raffi. He has an easy way with his young audience, engaging them in
conversation and inviting them to eagerly participate from their seats. (At the performance attended, the star was spotted
in the lobby just before the show carrying an infant, a freshly-used diaper in hand.) Parents who shudder at the thought
of another visit with Barney, the Wiggles, or Disney on Ice are likely to appreciate Taylor’s “Gustafer Yellowgold” almost
as much as their kids do.
Phone: 415.334.2787
Mobile: 415.203.0220
Fax: 415.334.2727
Things to Do
Time Out New York Kids / Issue 37 : Nov 1–30, 2008
BY RAVEN SNOOK
Review: Gustafer Yellowgold's Mellow Sensation
Equal parts concert, animated movie
and alternative comedy act, Gustafer
Yellowgold’s Mellow Sensation is an
excellent introduction to a quirky kids’
character you won’t see on Noggin or
Disney. Created by Brooklyn-based
songwriter-illustrator and new dad
Morgan Taylor, the offbeat pointyheaded title creature is warm (he is
from the sun after all) and easily melts
the hearts of his audience. Similar
to the show that played earlier this
year, this incarnation features Taylor’s
band playing in front of computergenerated videos of Gustafer and his
eclectic friends. Lest it sound like an hour in front of the TV, Taylor provides wry narration and is
great at interacting with fans of any age. (He really should consider a third career in standup). His
songs are regularly compared to those of the Beatles: The catchy melodies are very Paul McCartney,
while the quirky lyrics--not to mention the surreal visuals—are totally John Lennon. One of the
most refreshing aspects of Gustafer is that he’s not trying to teach preschoolers anything, aside
from appreciation of good music. In fact, you may find yourself listening to the CDs yourself,
even when your kid’s not around. Would you do that with Dora? Didn’t think so. Bonus: A plushy
Gustafer visits with the kids after each performance…but he accepts hugs from adults too.
Phone: 415.334.2787
Mobile: 415.203.0220
Fax: 415.334.2727

PUBLIC RELATIONS - Gustafer Yellowgold

Transcription

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