UCI alumnus Taylor Fagins, 26, is the first-place winner of the 2020 American Songwriter Annual Song Contest.
The coupled urgencies of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement lent Fagins inspiration to enter last year’s American Songwriter Song Contest with “We Need More.” This harrowing piano ballad demonstrates Fagins’ perpetual candor and vulnerability in songwriting.
Fagins wrote the single as a way to cope and come to terms with his feelings following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in 2020. The deaths of these and countless other Black men, women and children have sprung a series of international protests against police brutality, systemic racism and racial injustice. Since then, the social-political movement and slogan, Black Lives Matter, became both the epicenter and the primary vehicle by which to call for sweeping, global change.
In verses that reveal the seemingly eternal struggle Black communities face across the country, Fagin’s voice remains powerful, poignant and controlled: “Little black boys don’t run outside / or play with water guns at night / they run away from red and white, blue lights.”
“They need more,” Fagins croons –– a line that becomes heavily emphasized over the course of the song. Fagins later elaborates in an interview that Black children “need more of a reason to live than what they’re currently getting.” In essence, “We Need More” is a rallying cry for justice, reform and racial equality, dedicated to “the countless Black sisters and brothers who have died.”
Like his award-winning contest entry, Fagins’ first written song inhabits a similar emotional foreground. “Watch Me” was written in the midst of a severe depressive episode that led Fagins to grapple with harrowing symptoms of depression, including suicidal ideation. Fortunately, writing the song was a way to manage the pain –– and song writing became a creative, cathartic experience that Fagins would ultimately return to in due time.
A self-proclaimed “laid-back” Southern California native, Fagins fell in love with music at a young age and continued to cultivate his passion for the arts throughout his academic and professional career. His primary thematic explorations involve the human experience, driven by a sense of unflinching honesty.
First and foremost, Fagins is a storyteller who chooses to shed light on the unseen and amplify the unheard; but Fagins doesn’t confine himself to one creative medium –– he chooses to tell stories through music, poetry, scripts and speeches, and continues to broaden his creative horizons each and every day.
Though music has become a relatively recent public endeavor, Fagins is all too familiar with the gravitas of performing arts. He began his acting career at UCI, where he starred in productions of “Little Women,” “Next To Normal” and “Parade.” Post-graduation, Fagins joined the casts of “Violet” (Chance Theatre), “Brad Knows Nothing” (Theatre Row) and “Hairspray” (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) among others.
After graduating from UCI in 2017 with his B.A. in drama, Fagins moved to New York City to pursue a career as a playwright and singer-songwriter. His most recent playwriting work includes the titles “LIVING: A Now Musical,” “Queen: A Wonderland Sequel,” “I’M NOT A RACIST!” and “A Song.”
Besides the prestige, and braggings rights, of a first-place “American Songwriter” contest title, Fagins also won a meeting with a music publisher, a Martin guitar and $10,000 cash prize.
Unfortunately, not everything was a win for Fagins. A few days after uploading the song to YouTube, a slew of hate comments arrived after a white man uploaded a racially-insensitive parody of Fagins’ original piece online. The man interpolated his own lyrics that targeted Fagins with racial stereotypes and ignorant insults.
Despite unsolicited, blatantly racist attempts to criticize his work, Fagins stands tall and proud, ultimately feeling glad his music is reaching an audience outside of his social circle.
“They don’t know me,” Fagins said. “They don’t know my story.”
However, when reading reactions to his song, Fagins said that there’s potential to change the minds of those informed by hate and hostility. All of this plays into his aspirations as a playwright and singer-songwriter.
“My greatest goal as a writer is to heal the world with my music,” Fagins said.
Fagins chooses to spread love and hope, and continues creating in the face of hatred –– and he’s all the more admirable in doing so. But before healing the world around him, Fagins began with himself.
“I felt really alone. I put my emotions into my writing. And I found my voice. I knew I needed to create healing for myself through the music I was writing,” Fagins said.
Fagins says he is grateful for everyone he’s met that continue to help him with his creative vision moving forward –– especially his girlfriend and “number one supporter.” Ultimately, the future looks bright for the young playwright-singer-songwriter.
Mia Hammett is an Entertainment Intern for the winter 2021 quarter. She can be reached at hammettm@uci.edu.
