Music brings out the 'Matador' in Chacho Taylor

Chacho Taylor began singing at an early age growing up in La Villa Real de Santa Fé.

Music is one aspect of his life he understood from an early age.

Though now he has his hands in a bunch of projects, music is the one force that brings him back home.

“When COVID hit, I started a mask company,’ he says. “That’s what I do for a living. I’m a designer and built up some clients over that time.

Taylor is set to take the stage as he opens up for Jenny and the Mexicats, when the band makes a stop at the Santa Fe Plaza on Monday, July 10. The free performance is part of Summer Scene presented by Lensic 360.

Taylor performs under the stage name Chacho Soul. He is known for his blend of Spanish pop and hip-hop music.

He released the EP “Matador” earlier this year, which consists of songs such as “Malo,” Moriqua,” “La Lana,” “Dentro de tu Cama,” “Malagueña” and “Hope.”

On the album, Taylor worked with Santa Fe-based producer Marc Whitmore, who picked up a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2022.

“When I heard ‘Malagueña,’ I loved it,” he says. “That was the journey of the music. It’s something that means so much to me.”

Aside from music, Taylor keeps busy with a podcast, as well as writing.

His book, “Hit Hard: My Dyslexic Life” tells the stories of his struggles with dyslexia while growing up.

“I am dyslexic,” he says. “I was doing these stories that I was posting to Spotify about my struggles and how I’ve gotten help during my life. People started to hear the stories and they pushed me to write the book.”

Taylor says the book will cause the reader to stretch, and some points even fatigue, while experiencing the stories that he collected through his childhood.

“Some will make you laugh, others will scare you and maybe even make you cry, but that is what will keep you engaged,” he says. “To most people dyslexia is invisible. Through the design of the book and the techniques that I have used by manipulating typography in a chaotic sense you can get an idea of what the invisible may look like.”

Taylor’s journey in life has been a winding path.

He grew up singing with his grandfather Roberto Mondragon, who raised him and his brother Rico.

As a child, he got asked to sing by Antonio Aguilar.

“My voice was changing and they told me to wait,” he says. “I was being raised by my grandparents. They were dealing with family issues. When I got home from college, I was working at my grandmother’s restaurant. I got started with writing music again. It’s been a journey from the point when I was a kid, I opened up for Julio Iglesias. Now I’m continuing to forge my own path.”