I’m Taylor Bryant and I am a DIY solo artist, touring musician, photographer, music video director, graphic designer, author and vocalist of Just Dust and Beacons. I’ve been building and working towards making music my full-time career for years now while working as a server (and many other jobs over the years) as my day job.

When I started making music in 2009 with my metal band @beacons I didn’t have much of a budget (at all) so I realized the only way I would acquire what I needed was to do it myself.

So I purchased a $300 Lenovo laptop and a rusted Shure SM58 microphone with Audacity to start tracking vocal covers in my closet with padded blankets hanging from the ceiling. Luckily I’ve upgraded but managed to keep it simple. I built my own recording studio cabin over the last few years that’s allowed me to really focus and take my music seriously, along with honing my skills in photography, videography, graphic design, marketing, screen printing and more. I also built a photo studio in the barn on our property where most of my professional photos and videos are taken.

I then got into photography and videography and shot my bands first promo pictures (which were obviously trash at best) but, I got better over time as you do and started shooting promos for other bands and then music videos. I was flying out on weekends all over the country to shoot, direct and edit upwards of 40 metal music videos around 2012-2013 including my own bands for about $2k a pop. I worked two jobs during the week, 'Papa Johns' where I got discounted food to keep my broke a$$ alive and the night audit front desk position at a ‘Hilton' hotel where business was slow so I had tons of time to edit the music video I had shot in say, New York the day before; it was an effective system.

Later on one of the bands I had shot a music video for in Texas asked me to be their vocalist so two months later I sold everything I had (including my car) to move to Fort Worth and tour full time over the next year. It was one of the most memorable times of my life but It came to an end when I was kicked out of the band because of musical differences and clashing personalities and I think it was one of the lowest points in my life.

However, enduring that experience taught me so many things, most of all that you have to be true to yourself but you also have to go and get what you want out of your life because it is not going to just land in your lap. Grind. Hustle. Progress.

(If you’ve read this far youre a real one)

These songs are the closest Ive gotten to feeling a sense of purpose out of my life. I hope that you can enjoy them as much as the process is for me to make every aspect of them.

Much Love TB