The story of the band Senses is the definition of the American dream. Madison Taylor and Nick Sampson both grew up in creative households, were immersed in music from adolescence, and aspired to make it in a highly competitive industry. Both moved out to Los Angeles at a young age, and after meeting each other through Craigslist of all places, formed the band.
Having recently gone viral and signed with Hopeless Records, Senses is embarking on their first headlining tour this year. Taylor and Sampson opened up about everything from life on the road to coming out. I wrapped up my conversation with Madison and Nick talking about how my coming-out experience led to me writing for this magazine, bonding over our love for New York pizza, and making plans for pizza and cocktails in Brooklyn after their April show.
It’s nice to sit down with you both. I am curious, what are your individual backgrounds?
Madison Taylor: I was born in Sacramento, California, but grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I was raised Catholic, my mother majored in musical theater, so I was always immersed in music. I was in a band in high school, I graduated a semester early and immediately relocated to Los Angeles at 18. I did a lot of solo work initially before meeting Nick and finally forming Senses.
Nick Sampson: I grew up in Fresno, California. My father was a musician, so like Madison I was around music from birth. During my youth I experimented with playing different instruments. I attended a private Catholic school where I played in a large music ensemble and just knew early on I wanted to make music a career. Despite a lot of trepidation from my parents, I moved to Los Angeles looking for any possible gig work, including through Craigslist, which is actually very resourceful.
I love how you had to preface it! Oh, the days of Craigslist…. Is that how you two actually met?
NS: Yes! I responded to Madison’s Craigs-list ad attempting to form a passion band.
MT: We went through a bunch of band iterations. At one point everyone was just performing my EP. At one point there were five people. Senses was finally established in 2019.
I heard that the pandemic sort of cock-blocked your success initially. Is that true?
NS: We launched our first single in late 2019, just months before the pandemic, which limited our performance opportunity. We kept releasing music, but it wasn’t until circa 2023 when we were able to tour again and simultaneously started to blow up on TikTok and social media, that we became noticed.
How has the change been over the past couple years, particularly now that you are established, receiving public recognition, and building a brand?
MT:: We have had an insane amount of growth and a huge part of that has been the ability to tour. Our first tour was in 2023. Our current tour is our sixth tour. Touring, and in turn being able to connect with people, has helped tremendously.
Your current tour, I’m Still Breathing, also marks your first headline tour. Congratulations! This must feel like a big payoff.
NS: There is so much that goes into touring. We have had to wear so many hats over the years. We are ready for this! Now, instead of setting up the show, we are running the show. What is nice about having toured so much already is getting the opportunity to have a larger say in everything.
Now that you are in control do you get to choose who you want your openers to be?
MT: Pretty much, yes. That is something we wanted to do with this headline tour. We wanted to emphasize it is not just three different bands showing up. Rather, it is a community of people, and we wanted to bring everyone in. We built strong relationships with the openers, and we wanted to honor the people we met along the way who supported us on the come-up.
I understand you just signed a big record deal. How was the process, and moreover, what changes when you have a record label backing you versus not?
MT: It is a surreal moment for us because it reminds us of when we were young kids saying we were going to go to LA and get a record deal. We actually did it! We signed with Hopeless Records. Despite the current negativity and controversy surrounding record labels, we can genuinely say we love our team. We were in the dating phase with them initially. Nick and I did not take this lightly. It was a huge nerve-racking decision, and we just wanted to ensure we partnered with people who believed in us and who we believed in as well. It was the best decision we could have made. What people don’t understand is that it is still business as usual. It’s not like you get a record deal and you don’t do anything. You just have extra help, extra networking, extra guidance, etc. We are still hands on with songwriting, social media, etc. We don’t just coast.
What other aspects of the industry do people generally have a preconceived notion of?
NS: Touring is not glamorous. Bands of our size typically sleep in Walmart parking lots and even truck stops because that is the only place you can park vehicles our size along the way from location to location. Sometimes we even take turns driving the vehicle.
I understand you are both out. Although all things gay are mainstream now, to some it is still a scarlet letter, and people are still in the closet and/or apprehensive about befriending queer people because of stereotypes. Can you speak on your coming-out experiences?
MT: Sexuality was never on my mind growing up. I did not feel closeted or that I had a major secret. Nevertheless, I was not into dating at all. It was not until I moved to LA, which is so different than where we grew up, that I came to terms with everything. It was such a culture shock, and there is so much acceptance here, that I just naturally discovered who I was.
I have been married over five years now. When I met my wife, I was working at a bar, she was working at a bar too, and she was the first person who made me realize that I had a same-sex crush. We were both hiding it for so long, despite the increased flirting, before we accepted it and became an item. I do feel very fortunate and recognize that not everybody has this. I came out to my mom but copped out with my father because I asked her to break the news first. Overall coming out was not challenging for me yet I think location played a role in it.
NS: Mine is a little different. I grew up in a very religious family. I told my brothers first because they are my best friends. My brothers did not give a shit. I then told my mother abruptly. Funnily enough I said, “I have to tell you something,” she jokingly said, “What, you’re gay?” to which I replied “Yeah.” Then the whole room paused.
Coming out to my father was the worst because I was waiting for the right commercial break to drop the bomb. My father had the best dad response I could ask for. Still, it took a lot of time, because for a long time they were tiptoeing around everything and no one wanted to discuss it. I knew from a very young age something was different, I just cloaked it. I could not figure it out because I was in Catholic school my whole life where you are told gay is a big no. Hence, I had Catholic guilt for a long time.
As I grew up, I realized I was not interested in dating yet really liked my best friends before I realized I had crushes on them. It just took a long time for me to come to terms with it. Once I processed it all, which is the biggest challenge, I did not care anymore. I did not feel the need to tell the world as though it is a negative thing, just those who were in my life, and I think I worked myself up more than anybody else.
Your headlining tour, I’m Still Breathing, kicked off March 13 and the following day your new EP of the same title dropped. Is the new sound on par with what you’ve been creating thus far or is it a shift?
MT:: We are always trying to up our game. There is a little taste of everything culminated into this EP. It comes out of the gate hard. We do not want to be married to a specific genre or style. Whatever the music lends itself to, that is what we are doing.
NS: It is an elevated sound. It is still within the same world, yet it is more complex. We reach past boundaries and see how far we can go.
