Taxiride
Encyclopedia
Taxiride is an Australian rock band
. Formed in 1997, the band consists of lead singer Jason Singh
, guitarists Dan Hall
and Tim Wild, and drummer Sean McLeod.
Prior to formation, the four founding members of Taxiride—Singh, Wild, Hall, and Tim Watson
—had been playing in cover band
s around Melbourne
, travelling around in a yellow Ford Falcon EB ex-taxi. The quartet recorded an EP
, which a taxi
-driving friend of theirs helped promote. They took their name from the experience had by passengers hearing their music on a taxi ride. After their music was heard by an executive from record label
Warner
, the band signed a contract and released their debut album, Imaginate
, in 1999. This was followed by 2002's Garage Mahal
. Both albums were certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)
. 2005's Axiomatic
did not follow in the success of its predecessors.
Taxiride's musical style has changed significantly over the course of their career—what began as a pop
/pub rock
band on their first two albums moved to a much more heavy sound on later works. Throughout their history, the band has had multiple lead singers and songwriters on the majority of their songs. As of 2006, the future of Taxiride is uncertain. With both Axiomatic and Electrophia being commercial flops, and Taxiride not being signed to a major label, Taxiride's success as a band appears to have halted. Taxiride continue to tour, mostly as the supporting act for larger names, but it remains uncertain whether Taxiride will ever be able to record another album again.
, Tim Wild, Jason Singh
, and Dan Hall
had each played in cover bands
across Melbourne
. Watson and Wild began writing together in 1997 in Camberwell
, Melbourne, and soon recruited Singh as an additional vocalist. The trio invited Hall, whom Wild first encountered busking
, to join the group, and he accepted. The band named themselves Taxiride because they had given some of their early work to a friend of theirs, a taxi
driver, who had tested these songs on passengers. The group produced a demo
at Melbourne's Secret Sound Studios, and used it to land a contract with Warner
in Australia. Meanwhile, a friend of the group passed their work onto a Sire Records
executive in the U.S., who signed them despite the group being unknown.
studios in Los Angeles
to work with producer Jack Joseph Puig
on their debut album. Imaginate
, released on 1 June 1999 in the U.S. and 18 October in Australia, reached number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, with debut single
"Get Set
" reaching number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart, number 41 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 36 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Get Set" won the 1999
ARIA Award for "Breakthrough Artist - Single" and was nominated for "Best Pop Release", while Imaginate was nominated for "Breakthrough Artist - Album" and "Highest Selling Album" in 2000
. Imaginate was certified double platinum, indicating an excess of 140,000 sales.
Taxiride wrote the majority of the album in a studio, and the final product generally used songs that band members had worked on individually. Imaginate earned a mediocre reception from critics. Steve Kurutz of Allmusic gave it three stars, calling the album a "slick...bid for pop radio". The use of a sitar
on "Get Set" was praised, as was the Beatles
influence and Puig's production. To promote the album, Taxiride toured Australia, America, Japan, and Europe, with the album selling well in all areas. Despite the album's success, Hall, then lead singer, left the band to work independently and with his other pet project, Airway Lanes
. Hall said he was unhappy with "the pop direction the band was taking".
Following Hall's departure, the band recruited drummer Sean McLeod and bass guitarist Andy McIvor, and began work on their second album. Garage Mahal
was released on 5 August 2002, and produced three singles: "Creepin' Up Slowly
", "How I Got This Way", and "Afterglow". All three songs charted in Australia; "Creepin' Up Slowly" was the most successful at number six, also reaching number 19 in New Zealand. In 2002, Garage Mahal and "Creepin' Up Slowly" were certified platinum by ARIA.
Much of Garage Mahal was written on the road, while touring, and as such had a different sound from the band's prior work. Most of the writing was done in two places; Mount Macedon in Victoria, and Palindrome Studio in Venice Beach, California
, the home of producer Fred Maher
. Mix
ing was done by David Way and Mike Shipley
. Despite the change in sound, the band were still seen as purely a pop band—Australian Musician magazine claimed this was because they spent too much time overseas. Gary Glauber of PopMatters
praised the album, noting it had not lost the quality of its predecessor, although it was a good deal heavier. Glauber reported on the overall high quality of songs, noting that "almost any of these songs could work as a single", and calling the lyrics of "Creepin' Up Slowly" "perpetually catchy". Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald
said that the band did not hold back in their aim for American radio, calling the lyrics overly generic, and arguing the band only focused on their mainstream image.
. Taxiride's third album, Axiomatic
, was released on 5 September 2005, shortly after the first single, "Oh Yeah". It would be the only song to chart from the album, reaching number 40 in Australia. To support the album, the band toured India as part of VH1
's Rock Rumble.
In creating Axiomatic, Taxiride worked independently, moving away from record labels in an attempt to make an album that would better reflect the music they wanted to produce. The band's prior albums were described by Singh as being Americanised, and the band now wanted to make "an Australian record". Pink Floyd
and Led Zeppelin
influences were common; "Oh Yeah" was recorded using a vocoder
, which was popular in the 1970s. The album was described as containing "heavier rock sounds" than its predecessors.
Following the release of Axiomatic, Wild and Singh began to write new songs, accompanied by Hall. The band's first live album
, Electrophobia
, was released on 16 September 2006 on Australian record label Liberation
. It features songs from the band's first three albums, all recorded in a standalone session in a Melbourne church on 26 May 2006. The production was arranged by Rob John (producer for Led Zeppelin
and Tea Party
).
Andy McIvor left the band in 2006, and is now playing with former Australian crawl member James Reyne
band, also drawing influences from pub rock
. On Electrophobia, they showed a different side, playing acoustic music
for the first time. The band's style has progressed over their career; the pop direction the band took in the Imaginate era caused Hall to leave the group, only to return for heavier rock collaborations in the Axiomatic days. Allmusic's Ed Nimmervoll
said that the band distanced themselves from the boy band
generation, comparing them to Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
. Steve Kurutz, in reviewing Imaginate, related the album to the pop work of boy bands The Beatles
, The Beach Boys
, and The Everly Brothers
, labeling the album as a bid for pop radio.
The International Herald Tribune
s Mike Zwerin noted the band's style of having "four lead singers, four potential front men"—Imaginates strength was in their collective sound, argued Zwerin. On Garage Mahal, Taxiride had three active singer-songwriters, with their strong opinions on musical content clashing frequently. Singh told Dan Grunebaum of Metropolis Tokyo that the arguments came about "because we were very passionate about what goes down onto tape", and so they were resolved by recognising the overall goal of the band's work.
Live albums
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
. Formed in 1997, the band consists of lead singer Jason Singh
Jason Singh
Jason Singh was the lead singer of the Australian band Taxiride. Born in Melbourne, Australia, to his Fiji Indian father and his mother of Maltese origin, he was actively playing in the live scene at Melbourne for several years, before auditioning and joining the new outfit Taxiride which came to...
, guitarists Dan Hall
Dan Hall
Daniel James "Dan" Hall is an Australian musician from Melbourne who has been in two rock bands, Taxiride and Airway Lanes. With Taxiride, as guitarist, pianist and vocalist, he had a top 10 hit on the Australian Recording Industry Association Singles Chart with "Get Set" and a No. 1...
and Tim Wild, and drummer Sean McLeod.
Prior to formation, the four founding members of Taxiride—Singh, Wild, Hall, and Tim Watson
Tim Watson (musician)
- External links :...
—had been playing in cover band
Cover band
A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...
s around Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, travelling around in a yellow Ford Falcon EB ex-taxi. The quartet recorded an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, which a taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
-driving friend of theirs helped promote. They took their name from the experience had by passengers hearing their music on a taxi ride. After their music was heard by an executive from record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Warner
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, the band signed a contract and released their debut album, Imaginate
Imaginate
Imaginate is the debut album by Australian rock band Taxiride. It was recorded in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. Imaginate went double platinum and reached number one on the Australian ARIA Charts, with "Get Set" and "Everywhere You Go" becoming top 10 hits...
, in 1999. This was followed by 2002's Garage Mahal
Garage Mahal
Garage Mahal is the second album by Australian rock band Taxiride. As with Imaginate, Taxiride's debut album, it was recorded in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. It contained Taxiride's most successful song, "Creepin' up Slowly", which went on to be the most played...
. Both albums were certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
. 2005's Axiomatic
Axiomatic (album)
Axiomatic is the third studio album by Australian rock band Taxiride, released in September, 2005. Three singles were taken from this album, "Oh Yeah" , "You Gotta Help Me" and "What Can I Say"...
did not follow in the success of its predecessors.
Taxiride's musical style has changed significantly over the course of their career—what began as a pop
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
/pub rock
Pub rock (Australia)
Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music today....
band on their first two albums moved to a much more heavy sound on later works. Throughout their history, the band has had multiple lead singers and songwriters on the majority of their songs. As of 2006, the future of Taxiride is uncertain. With both Axiomatic and Electrophia being commercial flops, and Taxiride not being signed to a major label, Taxiride's success as a band appears to have halted. Taxiride continue to tour, mostly as the supporting act for larger names, but it remains uncertain whether Taxiride will ever be able to record another album again.
Formation and early work (1997–1999)
Prior to forming Taxiride, Tim WatsonTim Watson (musician)
- External links :...
, Tim Wild, Jason Singh
Jason Singh
Jason Singh was the lead singer of the Australian band Taxiride. Born in Melbourne, Australia, to his Fiji Indian father and his mother of Maltese origin, he was actively playing in the live scene at Melbourne for several years, before auditioning and joining the new outfit Taxiride which came to...
, and Dan Hall
Dan Hall
Daniel James "Dan" Hall is an Australian musician from Melbourne who has been in two rock bands, Taxiride and Airway Lanes. With Taxiride, as guitarist, pianist and vocalist, he had a top 10 hit on the Australian Recording Industry Association Singles Chart with "Get Set" and a No. 1...
had each played in cover bands
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
across Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Watson and Wild began writing together in 1997 in Camberwell
Camberwell, Victoria
Camberwell is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Camberwell had a population of 19,637....
, Melbourne, and soon recruited Singh as an additional vocalist. The trio invited Hall, whom Wild first encountered busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
, to join the group, and he accepted. The band named themselves Taxiride because they had given some of their early work to a friend of theirs, a taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
driver, who had tested these songs on passengers. The group produced a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
at Melbourne's Secret Sound Studios, and used it to land a contract with Warner
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
in Australia. Meanwhile, a friend of the group passed their work onto a Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
executive in the U.S., who signed them despite the group being unknown.
Pop success (1999–2002)
In 1998, Taxiride relocated to Ocean Way RecordingOcean Way Recording
Ocean Way Recording is the name of a series of recording studios in Hollywood, California and Nashville, Tennessee. Ocean Way Studios is well known in the recording industry due to the award-winning albums that were produced there....
studios in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to work with producer Jack Joseph Puig
Jack Joseph Puig
Jack Joseph Puig is a Grammy Award-winning music engineer and producer with a long track record of successful productions, including the mid-1990s production of Tonic. Puig also worked with Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Green Day, The Counting Crows, No Doubt,...
on their debut album. Imaginate
Imaginate
Imaginate is the debut album by Australian rock band Taxiride. It was recorded in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. Imaginate went double platinum and reached number one on the Australian ARIA Charts, with "Get Set" and "Everywhere You Go" becoming top 10 hits...
, released on 1 June 1999 in the U.S. and 18 October in Australia, reached number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, with debut single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Get Set
Get Set
"Get Set" is the first single by Melbourne band Taxiride. It is the second track on their 1999 debut, Imaginate. The song was recorded in Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. This song became a Top twenty hit in Australia and Japan, but it was not as popular in the...
" reaching number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart, number 41 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 36 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Get Set" won the 1999
ARIA Music Awards of 1999
The 13th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 12 October 1999 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre...
ARIA Award for "Breakthrough Artist - Single" and was nominated for "Best Pop Release", while Imaginate was nominated for "Breakthrough Artist - Album" and "Highest Selling Album" in 2000
ARIA Music Awards of 2000
The 14th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 24 October 2000 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre...
. Imaginate was certified double platinum, indicating an excess of 140,000 sales.
Taxiride wrote the majority of the album in a studio, and the final product generally used songs that band members had worked on individually. Imaginate earned a mediocre reception from critics. Steve Kurutz of Allmusic gave it three stars, calling the album a "slick...bid for pop radio". The use of a sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
on "Get Set" was praised, as was the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
influence and Puig's production. To promote the album, Taxiride toured Australia, America, Japan, and Europe, with the album selling well in all areas. Despite the album's success, Hall, then lead singer, left the band to work independently and with his other pet project, Airway Lanes
Airway Lanes
Airway Lanes is a band from Melbourne, Australia. The band released their debut album "In Vino Veritas" in May 2008. Their debut EP Airway Lanes, was released mid-2006.-History:...
. Hall said he was unhappy with "the pop direction the band was taking".
Following Hall's departure, the band recruited drummer Sean McLeod and bass guitarist Andy McIvor, and began work on their second album. Garage Mahal
Garage Mahal
Garage Mahal is the second album by Australian rock band Taxiride. As with Imaginate, Taxiride's debut album, it was recorded in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. It contained Taxiride's most successful song, "Creepin' up Slowly", which went on to be the most played...
was released on 5 August 2002, and produced three singles: "Creepin' Up Slowly
Creepin' Up Slowly
"Creepin' Up Slowly" is the first single off the album Garage Mahal, by the Melbourne band Taxiride. This single was released on 10 June 2002. It is the third track on their 2002 album Garage Mahal. The song was recorded in Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, and produced by Jack Joseph Puig, as with...
", "How I Got This Way", and "Afterglow". All three songs charted in Australia; "Creepin' Up Slowly" was the most successful at number six, also reaching number 19 in New Zealand. In 2002, Garage Mahal and "Creepin' Up Slowly" were certified platinum by ARIA.
Much of Garage Mahal was written on the road, while touring, and as such had a different sound from the band's prior work. Most of the writing was done in two places; Mount Macedon in Victoria, and Palindrome Studio in Venice Beach, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the home of producer Fred Maher
Fred Maher
Fred Maher is an American drummer, programmer and record producer.He was a member of Massacre , Material, Scritti Politti, Lou Reed, and is best known as the producer of I'm Talking's album Bear Witness , Lou Reed's album New York , Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend , and Information Society's self...
. Mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
ing was done by David Way and Mike Shipley
Mike Shipley
Mike Shipley is a Grammy Award–winning mix engineer who has been prominent in the global music industry for several decades, having worked on projects with combined sales in the hundreds of millions....
. Despite the change in sound, the band were still seen as purely a pop band—Australian Musician magazine claimed this was because they spent too much time overseas. Gary Glauber of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
praised the album, noting it had not lost the quality of its predecessor, although it was a good deal heavier. Glauber reported on the overall high quality of songs, noting that "almost any of these songs could work as a single", and calling the lyrics of "Creepin' Up Slowly" "perpetually catchy". Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
said that the band did not hold back in their aim for American radio, calling the lyrics overly generic, and arguing the band only focused on their mainstream image.
Independent and acoustic (2003–2006)
Watson left Taxiride in 2003, and the band began work on a new album. They decided to release independently after splitting up with Warner Music, and recorded at Wild's Melbourne home for a total of 12 months. During that time, the band collaborated with vocalist Chris Bailey (The Saints lead singer) and Hall, who took time out from working with Airway LanesAirway Lanes
Airway Lanes is a band from Melbourne, Australia. The band released their debut album "In Vino Veritas" in May 2008. Their debut EP Airway Lanes, was released mid-2006.-History:...
. Taxiride's third album, Axiomatic
Axiomatic (album)
Axiomatic is the third studio album by Australian rock band Taxiride, released in September, 2005. Three singles were taken from this album, "Oh Yeah" , "You Gotta Help Me" and "What Can I Say"...
, was released on 5 September 2005, shortly after the first single, "Oh Yeah". It would be the only song to chart from the album, reaching number 40 in Australia. To support the album, the band toured India as part of VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Rock Rumble.
In creating Axiomatic, Taxiride worked independently, moving away from record labels in an attempt to make an album that would better reflect the music they wanted to produce. The band's prior albums were described by Singh as being Americanised, and the band now wanted to make "an Australian record". Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
influences were common; "Oh Yeah" was recorded using a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
, which was popular in the 1970s. The album was described as containing "heavier rock sounds" than its predecessors.
Following the release of Axiomatic, Wild and Singh began to write new songs, accompanied by Hall. The band's first live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Electrophobia
Electrophobia
Electrophobia is the first live album by Australian rock band Taxiride. On 26 May 2006, Taxiride recorded the album in front of an audience of one hundred fans in a church in Melbourne. The album features two new songs, "Everything's Changed" and "Beyond a Day", and live versions of all their hits,...
, was released on 16 September 2006 on Australian record label Liberation
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...
. It features songs from the band's first three albums, all recorded in a standalone session in a Melbourne church on 26 May 2006. The production was arranged by Rob John (producer for Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and Tea Party
Tea party
A tea party is a formal, ritualized gathering for afternoon tea.Formal tea parties are often characterized by the use of prestige utensils, such as bone china or silver. The table is made to look its prettiest, with cloth napkins and matching cups and plates. In addition to tea, larger parties may...
).
Andy McIvor left the band in 2006, and is now playing with former Australian crawl member James Reyne
Musical style
Taxiride is primarily a pop rockPop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
band, also drawing influences from pub rock
Pub rock (Australia)
Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music today....
. On Electrophobia, they showed a different side, playing acoustic music
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
for the first time. The band's style has progressed over their career; the pop direction the band took in the Imaginate era caused Hall to leave the group, only to return for heavier rock collaborations in the Axiomatic days. Allmusic's Ed Nimmervoll
Ed Nimmervoll
Edward Francis "Ed" Nimmervoll is an Australian rock music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock magazines Go-Set and Juke both as a journalist and as an editor...
said that the band distanced themselves from the boy band
Boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
generation, comparing them to Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)
Crosby, Stills & Nash is a folk rock supergroup made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, also known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young when joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young...
. Steve Kurutz, in reviewing Imaginate, related the album to the pop work of boy bands The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, and The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, labeling the album as a bid for pop radio.
The International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
s Mike Zwerin noted the band's style of having "four lead singers, four potential front men"—Imaginates strength was in their collective sound, argued Zwerin. On Garage Mahal, Taxiride had three active singer-songwriters, with their strong opinions on musical content clashing frequently. Singh told Dan Grunebaum of Metropolis Tokyo that the arguments came about "because we were very passionate about what goes down onto tape", and so they were resolved by recognising the overall goal of the band's work.
Discography
Studio albums- ImaginateImaginateImaginate is the debut album by Australian rock band Taxiride. It was recorded in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. Imaginate went double platinum and reached number one on the Australian ARIA Charts, with "Get Set" and "Everywhere You Go" becoming top 10 hits...
(1999) - Garage MahalGarage MahalGarage Mahal is the second album by Australian rock band Taxiride. As with Imaginate, Taxiride's debut album, it was recorded in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. It contained Taxiride's most successful song, "Creepin' up Slowly", which went on to be the most played...
(2002) - AxiomaticAxiomatic (album)Axiomatic is the third studio album by Australian rock band Taxiride, released in September, 2005. Three singles were taken from this album, "Oh Yeah" , "You Gotta Help Me" and "What Can I Say"...
(2005)
Live albums
- ElectrophobiaElectrophobiaElectrophobia is the first live album by Australian rock band Taxiride. On 26 May 2006, Taxiride recorded the album in front of an audience of one hundred fans in a church in Melbourne. The album features two new songs, "Everything's Changed" and "Beyond a Day", and live versions of all their hits,...
(2006)