Taxiride are an Australian

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

. Formed in 1997, the band consists of

Dan Hall Daniel James Hall (born 30 June 1978) is an Australian musician from Melbourne who has been in two rock music, rock bands, Taxiride and Airway Lanes. With Taxiride, as guitarist, pianist and vocalist, he had a top 10 hit on the Australian ...

Jason Singh Jason Mahendra Singh (born 12 March 1974) is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist. From 1997 to 2006 he fronted the rock band Taxiride as their lead singer. In March 2009 he issued a duet single, "The World As You Know It", with Todd Watson ...

Tim Watson Timothy Michael Watson (born 13 July 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After retiring from the game, he has continued working in the Australian footb ...

and Tim Wild. Prior to formation, the four founding members of Taxiride—Hall, Singh, Watson and Wild—had been playing in

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. Ne ...

s around

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The quartet recorded an EP, which a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a 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 first hearing their music on a taxi ride. After their music was heard by an executive from

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Warner Warner can refer to: People * Warner (writer) * Warner (given name) * Warner (surname) Fictional characters * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' * Aaron Warner, a character in ''Shatter Me s ...

, 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 An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or f ...

'' did not follow in the success of its predecessors. Taxiride's musical style has changed significantly over the course of their career—from a hybrid pop/ pub rock sound merged with classic harmony referencing bands like

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...

to a heavier sound on later works. Throughout their history, the band has had multiple lead singers and songwriters on the majority of their songs. The band continued performing live until 2008. In 2015 the four original members reformed and have been performing on the Australian festival circuit as well as public shows.

History

Formation and early work (1997–1999)

Prior to forming Taxiride,

, Tim Wild,

, and

had each played in

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

bands across

. Watson and Wild began writing together in 1997 in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

, Melbourne, and soon recruited Singh as an additional vocalist. The trio invited Hall, whom Wild first encountered

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

, 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

driver, who had tested these songs on passengers. The group produced a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

at Melbourne's Secret Sound Studios, and used it to land a contract with

in Australia. Meanwhile, a friend of the group passed their work onto a

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

executive in the U.S., who signed them despite the group being unknown.

Pop success (1999–2002)

In 1998, Taxiride relocated to

Ocean Way Recording Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates record ...

studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to work with producer

Jack Joseph Puig Jack Joseph Puig is an American audio engineer, A&R executive, and record producer. He has worked with Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Roger Hodgson, Taxiride, Green Day, Counting Crows, No Doubt, Klaxo ...

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 The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, with debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Get Set "Get Set" is the debut single of Melbourne band Taxiride. The song was recorded at Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, and produced by Jack Joseph Puig. Released in May 1999, it peaked within the top 10 in Australia and also reached number 41 in N ...

" reaching number eight on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, number 41 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

, and number 36 on the

Hot Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. "Get Set" won the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

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 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. ''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 AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave it three stars, calling the album a "slick...bid for pop radio". The use of a

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

on "Get Set" was praised, as was the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

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 was 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 Airway Lanes formed in late 2004 after Dan Hall (musician), ...

. 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 "Creepin' Up Slowly" is the lead single and the third track from Australian rock band Taxiride's second album, '' Garage Mahal''. This single was released on 10 June 2002. The song was recorded in Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, and produced by ...

", " How I Got This Way", and "

Afterglow An afterglow in meteorology consists of several atmospheric optical phenomena, with a general definition as a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the twilight sky, consisting of the bright segment and the purple light. Purple light mainl ...

". 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 Mount Macedon ( Aboriginal Woiwurrung language: ''Geboor'' or ''Geburrh'') is a dormant volcano that is part of the Macedon Ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located in the Central Highlands region of Victoria, Australia. The mountain has ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and Palindrome Studio in

Venice Beach Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the home of producer

Fred Maher Frederick J. Maher is an American drummer, music programmer and record producer. He was a member of the bands Massacre (1980–81), the Dance, Material, Scritti Politti, and has recorded and toured with Lou Reed. In 1984 he released ''Basic'', ...

. Mixing was done by David Way and

Mike Shipley Michael Shipley (6 October 1956 – 25 July 2013) was an Australian mixing engineer, audio engineer, and record producer. Shipley's music career spanned more than 30 years – mostly working in Los Angeles. At the Grammy Awards of 2012 he ...

. 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'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

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 Bernard Zuel is an Australian music journalist. Zuel wrote for Fairfax Media newspapers ''The Age'' and ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' since 1992. He became their senior music writer and reviewer. Zuel is a judge of the Australian Music Prize a ...

of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' 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 (2003–2008)

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

. Taxiride's third album, ''

'', 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. Following the release of ''Axiomatic'', Wild and Singh began to write new songs, accompanied by Hall. The band's first acoustic album, ''

Electrophobia Taxiride are an Australian rock band. Formed in 1997, the band consists of Dan Hall, Jason Singh, Tim Watson and Tim Wild. Prior to formation, the four founding members of Taxiride—Hall, Singh, Watson and Wild—had been playing in cover ban ...

'', was released on 16 September 2006 on Australian record label

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

. 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 were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

The Tea Party The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with industrial rock, blues, progressive rock, and Middle Eastern music influences, dubbed " Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s and up until 2005, the band re-formed in 2011. The Tea P ...

). Andy McIvor left the band in 2006, and is now playing with former

Australian Crawl Australian Crawl (often called Aussie Crawl or The Crawl by fans) were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams (bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David R ...

member James Reyne.

Reformation (2015–present)

In 2015, the original lineup reformed. In July 2017, Dan Hall elected to take a break from the group to focus on other musical projects, including South Side Rebel and Interlocker. It is yet to be confirmed if his departure is permanent. In August 2019, Taxiride will celebrate 20 years since the release of their debut album with a 'Live in Our Lounge Room' tour, where the band will sing and tell stories behind their songs.

Musical style

Taxiride is primarily a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band, also drawing influences from pub rock.

Ed Nimmervoll Edward Charles Nimmervoll (21 September 1947 – 10 October 2014) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974) and ''Juke Magazine'' (1975–92) both as a journalist a ...

said that the band distanced themselves from the

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

generation, comparing them to

Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...

. Steve Kurutz, in reviewing ''Imaginate'', related the album to the pop work of boy bands

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

, and

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

, labeling the album as a bid for pop radio. The ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

''s Mike Zwerin noted the band's style of having "four lead singers, four potential front men"—''Imaginate''s 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.

Band member timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1997 till:2017 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vox-gui value:red legend:Lead_vocals,_guitar id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar,_vocals id:bass value:blue legend:Bass,_vocals id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_Albums Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1998 BarData = bar:Jason text:"Jason Singh" bar:Tim text:"Tim Wild" bar:TimW text:"Tim Watson" bar:Dan text:"Dan Hall" bar:Sean text:"Sean McLeod" bar:Andy text:"Andy McIvor" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Jason from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2008 color:vox-gui bar:Jason from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2017 color:vox-gui bar:Tim from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2008 color:guitar bar:Tim from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2017 color:guitar bar:Dan from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2001 color:bass bar:Dan from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2008 color:bass bar:Dan from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2017 color:bass bar:TimW from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2003 color:vox-gui bar:TimW from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2017 color:vox-gui bar:Sean from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2008 color:drums bar:Sean from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2017 color:drums bar:Andy from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2006 color:bass LineData = at:01/06/1999 color:black layer:back at:10/07/2002 color:black layer:back at:05/09/2005 color:black layer:back

Discography

Studio albums * '' Imaginate'' (1999) * '' Garage Mahal'' (2002) * ''

'' (2005) * ''

'' (2006)

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "Get Set" ,

ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist - Single In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

, , rowspan="2", , - ,

ARIA Award for Best Pop Release The ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Music Award for Best Pop Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Australians, Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by ...

, , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", ''Imaginate'' ,

ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist - Album In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

, , rowspan="2", , - ,

ARIA Award for Highest Selling Album The ARIA Music Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industr ...

References

External links

Taxiride Official Site
{{Authority control ARIA Award winners Australian alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Victoria (Australia) musical groups Australian power pop groups Articles which contain graphical timelines