“Legacy in the Blood: Emery Taylor aka Producer Emery”

When Emery Taylor aka Producer Emery packed his life into a few cases and left California behind, he wasn’t chasing fame. He was chasing something that felt real. But what he found in Florida—both the good and the ugly—has changed the course of his life in ways no studio session or stage light ever could.

What started as a relocation turned into a reckoning. “I didn’t expect to feel so out of place here,” Taylor admits. “I didn’t expect the stares, the sideways comments, the gatekeeping. But at the same time, I started learning things about my family that made me realize—I’ve been tied to this place longer than most of the people trying to push me out.”

And he means that literally.

Shortly after arriving in Florida, Emery discovered his bloodline traces back to the Sons of the American Revolution. Not only that—his ancestors once spent time with none other than Thomas Edison in Punta Gorda. “It hit me like a freight train,” he says. “I’m walking around feeling like I don’t belong, like I’m intruding, and meanwhile my family was here long before most people claiming this land as theirs. That gave me clarity. I’m not just passing through. I am part of this place, whether they accept it or not.”

Creative Fire from Ancestral Ground

Far from discouraged, Emery found fuel in the contradiction. He and longtime collaborator Devin Johnson—original bandmate from the cult-followed ARES project—have gone into full creative overdrive. “We’re building everything from scratch again,” Devin says. “But this time it’s smarter, sharper, more unapologetic. We’ve got control now, and we’re using it.”

Together, they’ve embraced a more aggressive sound for their primary project, Ghost In The Room, with a forthcoming LP that leans deep into deathcore. It's raw, unfiltered, and violently honest. “There’s something about this place that brings that sound out of us,” Emery says. “The humidity, the tension, the way you never quite know if people are with you or against you—it all bled into the music.”

And while the darker tones of Ghost In The Room are gaining underground buzz for their brutal honesty and production grit, that’s not the only direction Emery and Devin are taking. They’ve also been quietly developing a new side project called Saint Kitt, a pop-punk outlet that gives them space to stretch out emotionally, melodically, and thematically.

“Think big hooks, real lyrics, but still gritty,” Devin shares. “We didn’t want to just scream the whole time. There’s a lot we want to say, and sometimes you need melody to say it right.”

Clashing with the Local Scene—and Claiming Their Place Anyway

Despite the momentum, the path hasn’t been smooth. Since arriving in Florida, Emery has met resistance—sometimes subtle, sometimes direct—from parts of the local music community.

“There’s this burnout down here,” he explains. “People are tired, or they feel like new energy is a threat. I get it. But I also refuse to shrink myself because someone else is jaded. I’m not here to take over. I’m here to contribute. Big difference.”

The contrast between his historical roots in the region and his present-day experience hasn’t gone unnoticed either. “It’s wild to find out your family was literally hanging out with Thomas Edison in the same towns you’re now getting side-eyed in,” Emery says. “That irony fuels me though. It makes me want to earn my spot—not just because of the past, but because of what we’re building now.”

What’s Next: ARES: A-Rebirth, Florida Shows, and Full Creative Control

With three projects in active development—Ghost In The Room, Saint Kitt, and the long-awaited ARES: A-Rebirth—Emery and Devin are staying grounded while keeping the vision high. “We’re not rushing anything,” Emery says. “But we’re moving. Every week, something gets tracked, something gets written. It’s slow progress, but it’s real progress.”

The ARES: A-Rebirth album, especially, carries weight. The original ARES project gained cult status among fans for its emotional depth and genre fusion, and the idea of reviving it has been floating around for years. Now, with the core duo back in control and better than ever, it’s finally taking form. “We owe it to the people who supported us back then,” Devin says. “But we also owe it to ourselves to finish what we started.”

In a region that’s often hostile to outsiders and slow to embrace new ideas, Emery Taylor isn’t backing down. If anything, he’s becoming more rooted in who he is—and louder about it.

“I’m not here to be Florida’s next poster boy,” he says. “I’m just here to be me. And if that means making heavy records with my best friend while maintaining my legacy, then that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”