His music is essentially Pop, but more specifically, Synthpop/ Hip-Hop/ New Wave with elements of Berlin Techno and Electro. His influences range from Depeche Mode to Motown and Morrissey.

SPT went solo in 2013 after five years with cult band Trike. Trike won $20,000 as part of “The Gong Show” in Vancouver and toured Europe twice (22 countries). He had a viral hit in 2014 with his song “Everybody Knows Shit’s Fucked”, which now sits at 4 million views. He toured Europe endlessly for a few years and appeared on Germany’s “Das Supertalent” in 2015, making it to the third round. SPT’s song “Yes” was featured in a Spotify commercial. He has been interviewed on several German TV stations and papers including RBB, RTL2, Berliner Zeitung and ARTE. He has played in 22 countries all throughout Europe.

SPT makes bittersweet songs with catchy melodies that touch on everything from unrequited love to the absurdities modern life and conspiracy theories. They’re heavily imbued with 80’s-style hooks and dancey beats. His shows are captivating and full of unbridled energy. He is working on an upcoming album with a few songs produced by Preston Heyman [Kate Bush, Terence Trent D’Arby] and Derrick Mcintyre [Jamiroquai]. He’s also working with Abi Dakil (up-and-coming LA/ Berlin producer)



“(SPT) is dynamite!” - Dick Valentine (Lead singer of Electric Six)


“(SPT)’s music is beautiful!” - Dieter Bohlen (Lead singer of Modern Talking)

Synthpop lives here at its highest level. Taylor has a high emotionality in his voice, with which he arouses great enthusiasm. The vocals are very emphasized and emotional. The tracks all go well. The synths manage to create a clear sound and deliver a good sound.

https://www.westzeit.de/rezensionen/?id=21215

Stephen Paul Taylor, aka SPT, may be Canadian, but Berlin has now become his territory. From this headquarters he is touring across Europe and is now releasing his new album with the provocative statement "Synthpop is dead" in order to bring this genre to life in a brilliant way. Classic, minimalist electronics create exactly this monochromatic atmosphere of synth-pop, which Taylor knocks out of the speakers with his provocative voice and the no less provocative lyrics. Synthpop is definitely not dying like this, on the contrary, a mixture of old and new is resurrecting it here. 5/5

http://entertainment.cuteanddangerous.de/?p=1728

Stephen Paul Taylor has courage, he gives the old school lovers a little Bowie and Bolan fever and at the same time manages the balancing act to the modern world with simple yet cool songs. The songs are moving and have great dance potential. SPT is a fringe phenomenon, but even there it takes up a lot of space to motivate, to seduce to dance and to bring all directions back to life that are actually doomed to death.

InMusic:

4/5 stars:
“The Canadian Stephen Paul Taylor has released his current solo LP “Synthpop is Dead”. The listener can expect synthpop inspired by the eighties, which is translated into a singer/songwriter style with Stephen’s melancholic and charismatic voice. It’s a great listening experience starting with the opener “Billions of Years”. “Emotional Self Control” is almost in the direction of Talking Heads”

Legacy Magazine - SPT album review

“Well, maybe the album title should be passed on to the numerous epigones of Depeche Mode, Camouflage and De/Vision, who sound completely unironic with a sonorous voice just like 1988 or 1991. Stephen Paul Taylor shows how things can be done differently. The Canadian came to Berlin several years and is just as much a bird of paradise as David Bowie once was (who moved to Berlin-Schoeneburg with his buddy Iggy Pop in 1977. Fortunately, however, Taylor has enough artistic potential of his own not to simply appear as a revenant. On stage he acts as a one-man orchestra. He positions several keyboards and synthesizers around him, which he operates alternately and in between constantly changes costumes or performs weird dance routines. That even impressed Dieter Bohlen (Modern Talking) - Taylor joined “Das Supertalent” in 2016. However, he is more than a live unicum, he is also an accomplished songwriter and above all a great storyteller with a distinctly weird sense of humour. He sings and raps his way through songs which of course he is accompanied by synthesizers. So the album is a self-ironic examination of the title - and it shows the evolution of the genre, a kaleidoscope of possibilities. And an extremely entertaining one at that!” (FSH)

https://www.der-hoerspiegel.de/portal/music/electro/synthpop-is-dead
- Michael Brinkschulte

“Well, the overall rating contradicts the album title (7/10). A very special version of synthpop is offered here. Borrowings from various bands cannot be dismissed out of hand. Due to the chants integrated into some of the songs, different instruments or sound variants that are incorporated and the catchy melodies and beats, this album is quite catchy.

Basically it can be said that this work, which comes with eleven pieces, has more to offer than just melodies and beats, because the lyrics also have to be listened to more closely. In terms of content, different topics are tackled. 

An album that needs to be heard!” 

musikglobal.de

“SPT is the abbreviation of Stephen Paul Taylor. A Canadian living in Berlin. He’s solo with his synth program and fills the gap left by David Bowie. He’s a cynic and so his synthpop is nothing but dead. It’s alive and well and danceable. He sings about the issues of culture with bittersweet words over happy synth melodies. But he also sings about our dependance on fossil fuels or self-destructive activities like drinking and driving. SPT makes music in its own class. It’s fun and has content” 

- Fred Hallauer

Mucke und Mehr: https://www.mucke-und-mehr.de/musik/cd/spt-2020/

SPT bietet auf seinem neuen Album Trash-Synthiepop mit Unterhaltungswert

Whether Stephen Paul Taylor publishes under his full name or the abbreviation SPT is not entirely clear. But there is no question that the Canadian artist has already achieved a lot and is still a bird of paradise in the music business.

Taylor was active in the post-art synth-folk duo Trike for five years before embarking on his solo project in 2014. Since then, Taylor has played hundreds of concerts, but those have been more aside from busking, indie festivals and weddings than crowds who came specifically for him.

Dieter Bohlen's opinion does not always necessarily reflect his own, but when Taylor appeared in 2015 with his song "Everybody Knows Sh * t's F * cked" in Germany's casting show "Das Supertalent" (here the video), he harvested actually the praise of the chief judge, for whom an artist should not be like the crowd. "You're just not mainstream. It's crazy what you're doing." and "To make it short: I thought it was cool," said Bohlen.

Crazy - that's exactly what resonates when you listen to the 40 minutes of the new album "Synthpop Is Dead". Even if Stephen Paul Taylor declares electropop dead in the title, he still pays homage to it with eleven songs that come closest in style and sound to the synthpop of the early 80s and bring a fat trash spice with them, and not only that due to some slate tones.

With more than 35,000 subscribers on YouTube, 1.5 million streams on Spotify - SPT has more than the trash factor, although that's probably what helped it the most in gaining some notoriety, and so it indulges in tracks like "Drink And Drive” or “Chill The F*** Out” too.

The opener “Billions Of Years” comes along in mid-tempo and after spoken verses only offers singing in the chorus, and despite a certain desolateness the number catches your eye. Pieces like “Shortcut”, “Emotional Self Control” or the groovy “Baby” make things more crisp. And when piano sounds dominate during the quieter “Seduce Me”, you almost want to take SPT seriously.

Thematically, however, he ensures that this is not the case when, in addition to socially critical things such as dependence on fossil fuels, he encourages people to drink and drive, or cheerfully celebrates inner dying. And if anyone still has doubts, they get “Dr. Germany” administered – but see for yourself. However, Stephen Paul Taylor cannot be denied a decent entertainment value, even if his music cannot be listened to for long soberly.

https://www.mix1.de/music/spt/synthpop-is-dead/

Stephen Paul Taylor (SPT) presents the album 'Synthpop Is Dead'


His music is a mix of old and new. A strong beat pulsates beneath the catchy melodies, and the captivating lyrics hover over the entire ensemble. His bittersweet words often contrast with the upbeat melodies in the music. He tackles unique themes that reflect the "ennui" of our current cultural climate. His latest album, Synthpop is Dead, is an ironic take on the notion of music genres actually 'dying'. (7/8)