Taylor Acorn guides us through the making of her new album, ‘Poster Child’ – out now via Fearless Records.

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Rock Sound caught up with Taylor backstage at Warped Tour Orlando to talk all about ‘Poster Child’, her ultimate setlist and dream collaborators.

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Taylor Acorn has always felt like an outsider. 

Growing up with a duelling soundtrack of early 2000s pop-punk and country music, the Pennsylvanian musician is no stranger to existing on the fringes. Like so many of us, she’s spent the majority of her life searching for a place to belong, and as it turns out… It was right where she started.

Looking back on her teenage years spent playing in a pop-punk band, Taylor’s long-awaited debut album is a perfect full circle moment. Tapping into the energy of the albums that lit a fire within her at a young age, ‘Poster Child’ is undoubtedly a blast of nostalgia, but more importantly – it’s the sound of an artist taking up the space in the scene she’s always deserved.

“I’ve always felt like an oddball,” Taylor says. 

“I’m the middle child of three, and both of my siblings are so put together. They were great in school, and they knew what they wanted to do from the beginning. I’m the black sheep. I’m the college dropout. Somehow though, I’ve been called upon to do something that is so much greater than just me. I might not be the biggest artist on the planet, but people look to my music to help them get through the day.”

“They come to me when they are having a bad day, or when they want to have a good day, but I’m such a loser! I’ve done so many out-of-pocket things, I’ve put myself in bad situations, and I have really struggled with my mental health… I’m quite literally the poster child of messing everything up.”

At the start of a new era having recently signed to Fearless Records, that unashamed acknowledgement of her shortcomings is what sits at the heart of ‘Poster Child’. After years of grinding independently, touring relentlessly, and chasing hope through heartbreak, it’s a collection of songs that find Taylor at her most introspective and unfiltered. A journey through identity, nostalgia, grief, anger, confidence, and catharsis, it captures all the beautiful messiness that comes with being human, channelling that spirit into a record that feels like home.

“I feel like I finally found myself in these songs,” Taylor smiles. 

“I’ve never felt this connected to a record before. It feels like me – from start to finish.”

THE SOUND

The seed that grew into ‘Poster Child’ was first planted when Taylor moved to Nashville. It was there that she connected with producer Dan Swank, the pair bonding over their love of classic pop-punk. Listening back to the raw emotion and earworm melodies of the songs that defined their youth, it was the start of an unbreakable friendship, and a reminder of the music that first truly made her feel something.

“I thrive off of nostalgia,” Taylor smiles.

“With everything going on in the world recently, mentally I wanted to be back in my mom’s Suburban, six years old and listening to my favourite bands. There’s something special about hearing a song at that age and still being able to relate to it during every phase of your life that comes after. I have always wanted my music to be that for someone, so I took a lot of inspiration from that.” 

That mission statement is crystal clear from the opening notes of ‘People Pleaser’, an anthem for everyone who’s ever let someone walk all over them. Elsewhere, it shines within the danceable melodies of ‘Crashing Out’ and the snarling bite of ‘Blood On Your Hands’.

Undoubtedly rooted in pop-punk nostalgia, the record’s branches stretch out further on the country-tinged sway of ‘Home Videos’, the gradual-build of ‘Cheap Dopamine’, and the stripped-down nature of outro track ‘Masquerade’, proudly showcasing the breadth of Taylor’s songwriting talents.

“It feels like I’ve fully come into my sound now,” she nods.

“Before, I was nervous to embrace a lot of the parts of my voice. That’s why I wrote ‘Survival In Motion’ to be a pure rock record with a breakdown in the first song. Now, if there’s a song that sounds a bit country, that’s cool. If there’s one that is more pop-influenced, cool. I’m a rock artist, but I also love those things. I’m not afraid to show that anymore.”

The key to unlocking that mentality ultimately came in learning not to overthink. Take for example the empowering declarations of ‘Goodbye, Good Riddance’, written in 30 minutes at 8am over coffee and muffins with co-writer Kendall Goodman. Keeping the original demo vocals in the track’s final version, it served as a reminder that sometimes the best songs are the ones that seemingly fall out of the sky.

“When I watch people like Chris [Carrabba] from Dashboard Confessional, it’s just him onstage with his acoustic guitar. Yet, every single person in the crowd is paying attention to him. There’s something so special about that,” Taylor explains.

“I’m so excited to pull my guitar out and have those simple, special moments with my fans.”

THE LYRICS

Written whilst processing a whole range of emotions after falling out with someone close to her, there’s a clear journey running through ‘Poster Child’. Charting the confusion, reflection, anger and acceptance that come with any form of grief, it’s an album that’s extremely personal to Taylor, but its messages are strikingly universal.

“There have been a lot of changes in my life, and those things are hard to process when you’re on the road,” she explains.

“I remember sitting in my house in silence for the first time in two years, finally having a second to slow down. I was able to focus on what I was thinking and feeling for the first time in a long time, and that’s when I came up with the first verse of ‘Poster Child’.”

Playing the songs on 2024’s ‘Survival In Motion’ night after night also played a role in the headspace Taylor found herself in during the writing process. A record glistening with optimism, focused on overcoming and finding inner strength, it became harder and harder for her to truly believe every word coming out of her mouth onstage. 

“I can sing lines like, ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ every day, but I’m a human. I want to feel connected to the songs I play onstage, and that’s not where I am right now,” she shrugs.

“The music industry is constantly evolving, but no matter what happens I can hang my hat on the fact that I’ve remained true. It’s easy to wonder if what you’re doing is ‘cool’ anymore, or whether you should be chasing something different, but if I did that… It wouldn’t be me. That’s not the message I want to send to anybody, not even myself. I want to look back and know that I was true to myself throughout every phase of my career.”

THE COLLABORATORS

Taylor will be the first to admit that she wouldn’t be the musician she is today without Dan Swank. Having worked together since 2018, initially with Dan as a member of her band, the pair have forged the kind of creative connection most artists can only dream of.

“He knows me better than anybody. I don’t think that any project of mine would feel the same if he was not a part of it,” Taylor nods.

“We could take it to someone else who might be a little bit bigger in the scene, but it wouldn’t feel the same. There’s a feeling with Dan that I couldn’t recreate with someone else. In life you have to find your people and keep them close. It’s so incredible to have a core group of people who understand you, who love you, and who want to be a part of your journey. It’s cool to look at each other and be like, ‘It’s working’.” 

That group also includes Taylor’s best friend and writing partner Emma White, who contributed in some way to nearly every track on ‘Poster Child’, as well as additional co-writers Spencer Jordan, Knox Morris, Kendall Goodman, Dylan Bauld Sheffield and MisterWives’ Mandy Lee. 

“The fact that so many people wanted to be a part of this means so much to me,” Taylor reflects.

“There were days where we were writing from 8am until late in the evening. They could have just gone and hung out with their friends, but they wanted to be there creating and having fun with me. They genuinely seemed as excited to work on these songs as they would if they were their own.”

THE ARTWORK

Often, musicians will incorporate hidden meanings into their album art. Crafting designs that are laced with metaphor or symbolism, it’s a way to expand the world the songs exist within, tying it all together in one neat package. 

Take one look at the cover of ‘Poster Child’ though, and you’ve got the whole picture. With no deeper message to uncover, it’s a simple photo of Taylor that seems almost candid, looking over her shoulder and down the lens of the camera.

“This album just feels so me,” she says.

“There were other ideas, but I couldn’t imagine anything other than a picture of me on the cover. In that photo, I’m wearing clothes that I wear every day onstage. I’ve got my little white t-shirt, my pants, and my Converse. That felt right, because this album is the purest form of my artistry right now. What else would I do beside plaster my face on it?’”

THE FUTURE

With a new label, a new album, and a newfound confidence in what she’s building, Taylor has never been more excited about what lies ahead. A smile spreading across her face with every story she tells about the creation of ‘Poster Child’, it’s clear that this record means more to her than words can describe. 

Writing songs for the overthinkers and the ones still figuring it all out, there’s a whole lot of life’s questions Taylor still doesn’t have the answer to, but one thing’s for certain: this is where she belongs.

“I’ve finally found my voice,” she beams.

“This is me, and I’ve spent a lot of years finding the confidence to create an album like this. We had so much fun, and we wrote a bunch of songs that I truly love in the process. No matter how that sounds in the future, that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

“I listen to this album every day,” she finishes.

“My favourite song changes every time, and when I listen back, there’s not a thing that I would change. I’m still a people pleaser to my core, and in the past, I’ve always catered to that part of myself. Now, I feel like I’ve grown. I’ve planted my feet with this record, and I know I’m moving in the right direction.”