BIO
Whether its banging beats, flawless recordings, or virtuoso guitar skills, Taylormade, a.k.a. Taylor Rivelli, brings his A-game--and it shows. As sole owner and operator of Taylormade Sounds, LLC, and Hotbox Studios, this audio wizard has made a name for himself by producing, recording, engineering, and playing guitar for a long list of future and present music legends. Meanwhile, his music has blessed several feature films, TV shows, TV commercials, and corporate Web sites. Best of all?
Born and raised in Washington Heights New York City, Taylormade was influenced by the sounds of Hip-Hop, merengue, salsa, classic rock, and funk from an early age. This diverse mix manifests perfectly in his music. Whether on the guitar or behind the boards, Taylor effortlessly blends the flavors of the RZA, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin with that ol' boom-bap. And as a graduate of the prestigious music programs at New York's Purchase College and legendary Laguardia High School of Music and Arts, Taylor has got the technical know-how to back up his raw musical talents.
After producing and engineering in various NYC studios for years, Taylor struck out on his own in 2005, establishing Taylormade Sounds, LLC, and Hotbox Studios. Since then, industry elites have come knocking. Taylor has produced and played guitar for John Legend, Kanye West, Three-6 Mafia, Jim Jones, Keith Murray and Immortal Technique, to name a few. Meanwhile, at his own Hotbox Studio, he's recorded and engineered for the likes of M.O.P., Saigon, Sharon Jones (Dap Kings), Renee Neufville (Zhane), Grandmaster Caz, Kardinal Offishall and NYC spoken word artist Judith Sloan. On top of all that, Taylor is also guitarist, engineer, and producer for Dujeous, NYC's premier live hip-hop band. Dujeous released their debut album City Limits independently in 2004, moving over 20,000 units to date.
Taylor has also made a point of pursuing licensing opportunities at every turn. And, with his cross-genre, crowd-pleasing compositions--all of which are 100 percent sample-free controlled masters--his hard work and hustle has paid off again and again. His songs have appeared in feature films (Barber Shop 2, Blue Crush, Half Nelson), TV shows (HBO's Entourage, MTV2's Crank Yankers and BET's Ultimate Hustler), TV commercials (Partnership for a Drug-Free America), and corporate websites (Nokia, Levi's, Sprite, Unilever).
In 2009 and beyond, Taylormade is looking to expand his businesses even further. He continues to make a heavy push to the TV and film industries for background music and scoring possibilities. He is also pursuing artist development opportunities for emerging musicians. But wherever he sets his sights, one thing's for sure: With his extensive resume, limitless studio expertise, and next-level production and guitar skills, Taylormade will continue to take his career--and the music of his clients--to new heights.