SAVBeast

Taylor Jane Nelson (born April 16, 1994), known professionally as SAVBeast, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and music producer from Alberta, Canada. She began her debut mixtape, “ONEHUNDRED” in early Spring 2017.
Early Life
Born and raised just outside the small city of Lloydminster, SK/AB, Taylor found enjoyment in all forms and varieties of music. Her father, the incredibly talented Greg Nelson, was her inspiration for getting into music. Greg was part of a rural rock legend group, Thunderoad back in the 70s/early 80s, who gained success by both entering and winning various Battle of the Bands competitions, which even led to a music video and LP release of a few singles.
Taylor got started into music young by learning violin at the age of two and continuing with lessons until age four. After learning the violin, Taylor attempted to learn piano through a teacher, but quit after a few weeks as she found it difficult to be taught. She took it upon herself to learn the basics of piano on her own and found that to be incredibly successful. After seeing that success, Taylor decided to pursue guitar after her father. With the busyness of her father’s schedule, she found it easier to teach herself by watching her father play on stage on Sundays for worship at their local church. Everything began to fall in place for Taylor—musically speaking—after she learned the guitar. Taylor was self taught in bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, and drums all before the age of eleven and she found instruments to be a vessel for emotions, a relief of boredom, and a form of bonding with her musical father.
Church Involvement
By age 11, Taylor had found herself with an opportunity to play on stage at an evening service put on by her local church. Taylor, being scared of the spotlight, struggled to convince herself to play up on stage, so the worship leader suggested plugging in the guitar and stuffing the cord under a stage monitor—as to give the illusion that she was playing, thus giving Taylor the confidence to be on stage. This was really the foundation of her future in music. At age twelve, Taylor joined the youth worship team and began singing as well, and by age fourteen, she was leading the youth worship team. Shortly after, Taylor joined the adult worship team and began to play various instruments frequently on Sundays. By age seventeen, Taylor was leading worship at Tuesday night bible studies. To this day, Taylor leads worship/is a sound tech for her current church, First Assembly in Medicine Hat, AB.
Recording
With a deep love for music, it wasn’t long before Taylor discovered the beauty of Audio Engineering. Beginning at age eight, Taylor found joy in recording her guitar and vocals simultaneously through a small laptop microphone and showing her parents her “masterpiece”. By age eleven, her father Greg had purchased a Boss BR-1600CD Digital Recorder and Taylor fell in love. Taylor began to record miscellaneous worship songs, but discovered the joy and fulfillment in writing and producing her own works. After writing her first song, which was dedicated to a fellow classmate she had wrongfully bullied, she performed it as an apology in front of her entire school.
Taylor created many musical groups, began recording, and even went as far as opening for various Christian bands, including , Kiros, Cities Under Fire, Fresh I.E. and more. By grade eleven, Taylor decided that she wanted to record an entire album, using only her own skill-sets and her father’s digital recorder, all over the course of Easter Break. After the week off, Taylor, under the name Taylor Jane, had successfully recorded her first album “psalmbird”. This 7-track album (with a hidden bonus track), recorded and performed entirely by Taylor (guitar, vocals, bass, drums, and banjo) was an outstanding success for this local small town artist, selling out at the first release show. Taylor went on to record another album, “Between Wind & Water” 2 years later, but never ended up holding a release show for it.
At the age of 20, Taylor decided to enrol at RAIS (The Recording Arts Institute of Saskatoon) in Saskatoon, SK and gain a better understanding of audio engineering. After being accepted, Taylor spent 6-months in an intensive and hands-on audio engineering school, recording a different artist ever Friday and learning the ropes of audio engineering in its entirety. While in the course, Taylor purchased various audio gear to equip herself for recording post-school. In December 2014, Taylor graduated and received a Diploma for Audio Engineering from RAIS.
Following her graduation, Taylor took a small break from recording, and moved to Medicine Hat, AB to begin working at a church. Nearly 3 years after graduating, Taylor decided to get back into recording and purchased the final necessities to do so. Taylor (SAVBeast) is currently working on her latest musical endeavour, “ONEHUNDRED”, where she is the music producer, rapper, and singer. The album is also set to feature fellow singer RN and fellow rapper RADAR.
Influences and Musical Style
SAVBeast’s musical style is predominately Christian-based Hip-Hop, but she credits various secular artists for her influence, alongside a few Christian artists. Regarding musical influences for hip-hop, SAVBeast cited Lecrae, Social Club Misfits, , Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, , and Khalid as a few consistent influences in her hip-hop flare.
Bigger than just musical influences, SAVBeast credits her father for planting that love for music within her, and she also credits her current youth group in Medicine Hat for inspiring her on a daily basis to be better, to love better, and to chase one’s dreams and desires.
Personal Life
Taylor is twenty-three years old and works for a church in Medicine Hat, Alberta where she uses her passion for creativity and design in her work. She also has a huge passion for youth and worship. She is a dedicated Christian and refers to the constant need for Christ in our lives in many of her songs.
Discography
* ONEHUNDRED (2017)

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu