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Posted by: Scream

Instigator of the Headbang Army. Scream's potty mouthed behaviorism often and undeniably gets overlooked thanks to his prodigal taste in heavy metal. A Screamgazm is something Scream only experiences when epic screams and deep growls are present.

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Posted on: December 15, 2009
Posted in: Interviews
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Taxi Violence

Exclusive Intewrview with Taxi Violence READ ON!

What you put in is what you get out. It’s a team effort which ends in a clash of heads a lot of times but as long as you have a common goal , don’t let people tell you otherwise…

-Jason Lee.

Taxi Violence: a band that was once said to be

“the best thing to happen to
South African rock music since The Springbok Nude Girls”

-the Mail
and Guardian.

Interviewed by: Scream

Band Photos and Live Photos by Adriaan Louw.

Date Published: 2009-08-20

IN THE INTERVIEW:

Jason Ling: Taxi Violence's Bassist	Louis Nel: Taxi Violence's Drummer
Jason Ling: Bass	Louis Nel: Drums

Headbang Today: Welcome home!
Let’s shoot off with the first question… Your new Album, ‘The
Turn’ released just recently has already sparked a launch tour which
promises a series of gigs around the country. Tell us a bit more about
your latest release and what can those who haven’t seen or heard about
it yet expect?

Louis: Thank you very much for having us! The Turn will sound a bit different than our first album. More bluesy, more mature, darker and experimental. That about sums it up.

Jason: The Turn represents new beginnings for us. Just like tides turn or seasons change we just wanted a fresh start. it has been 3 years since our last release and thought we’d try a new direction while still maintaining our sound.The songs are epic and sleezy with blues undertones. Apart from the music, George’s lyrics make this album special.

Headbang Today: Tell us more about your national tour and gigs so
far… Where have you been playing and what was the response like from
the fans?

Jason: We are probably the first band in the history of SA rock to launch an album in Benoni. From there we played Burn in Durbs. Next on the list was Oppikoppi. This leg of the tour proved to be a little tough as we have been in the studio for 3 months. A little rusty but the crowds went mad for it.

In Cape town we played the Mercury and Klein Libertas in consecutive nights.This is home turf for us and we had massive gigs on both nights. Our fans have been waiting so long for the new album so they showed up in the masses.

From here we head to Port Elizabeth, East London , then back to JHB and Pretoria.

Louis: We’ve only done 3 so far, with the big home town launch coming up this weekend. Benoni was cool. Durban will never forget us for the gay porn mags, and Koppi was… well, Koppi. Great overall response to the new sounds.

Taxi Violence - Photo by Adriaan Louw

Headbang Today: You’ve turned down a prize record contract with a
major record label in the past; what was that all about?

Jason: I wasn’t in the band at that point but the story goes, after reading the fine print in the contract, the band thought that it would be best to remain independent cos more would actually get done in the long run ….and on our terms. DIY attitudes die hard.

Louis: This is hilarious, because we are now actually signed to this label. When we started the band in 2006, we wanted a push into the scene, so we entered a nationwide battle of the bands comp. We won the thing and the first prize was a record contract. Lets just say, those pages look much better today than it did 3 years ago.

Headbang Today: We’d like to hear more about the concept of your band
name. How did that originate and how does it fit in with what you do
as well as your material?

Jason: It was never meant to be a political statement or anything like that. Louis walked by a billboard that said” Taxi Violence rocks the Western Cape” and thought that would be a cool name. At the end of the day, we see it as 2 words next to each other that makes a great name for a band.

Louis: There was no concept. It’s 2 words, which we saw in a newspaper headline, that sounded great together.

Headbang Today: If any, what have you guys done differently from your
previous album ‘Untie Yourself’ compared to your new release?

Jason: The sound has naturally matured after 3 years. We have found our sound which means that this album is more focused than untie yourself. Although chalk and cheese to the first album, the Taxi sound and energy is still very present.

Louis: The Turn. This is what we want to sound like.

Taxi Violence - Picture By Adriaan Louw

Headbang Today: You’ve got a long road ahead of you regarding touring
and gigging. What do you love and hate most about touring?

Jason: I love being on the road in general, meeting new people and going to places i’ve never been before. There’s not much i “hate” about touring but if i had to say anything, i would have to say all the junk food you end up eating. I love good food so when i’m forced to eat Burger after burger after pizza after burger………i get a little cranky hahahah

Louis: I hate airports, the Joburg traffic, waking up early, and carrying gear and luggage. I love playing in different cities, meeting cool and new people, the parties and the funny stuff that happens on the road.

Headbang Today: We don’t mind junk food… Tell us about the biggest obstacle you’ve ever faced as a band during your reign in South Africa’s rock industry.

Jason: We don’t write for radio but it is an essential medium to get yourself out there. Generally the campus radios are very supportive but bigger stations have rules and regulations which we sometimes find hard to see eye to eye with.Also, everyone in the band has a day job as we are still waiting for the day where the scene is big enough for us to do this full time. Sorry to burst your bubble , but it’s the reality of the situation.

Louis: Wow! To be honest, I think that obstacle is still coming.

Headbang Today: Speaking of which, do you think it’s possible to genetically modify a human into a super human by extracting the substance that makes a shark immune to all known diseases and injecting that into ourselves?

Jason: Never heard of that before but would be a great idea with all this swine flu going about.

Louis: Absolutely! I think Pierre Spies is a genetically modified super-human.

Headbang Today: Awesome, now we can continue with that experiment after the interview… - Apart from being on the road to your next gig on your off days, what do you guys do to pass time?

Jason: George and i play squash……..and discuss band strategy. From there we head down to the pub for a few cold ones……and discuss band strategy. It never ends.

Louis: As little as possible.

Headbang Today: Well you guys, we here at Headbang Today like to do both, hit the pub, do as little as possible …combined… except for the squash part though… Do you guys think you can pull off some death metal?

Jason: We never tried before , but we’ll give it a bash.

Taxi Violence Pic By Adriaan Louw

Louis: Heck yes! Rian and I were in a band in high school called 508. We had an Afrikaans death metal song called Bomwerper. Rian actually sang it. 15 years before KOBUS! Eat that!

Headbang Today: What would you call your first death metal song?

Jason: “I baked this pie so shove it where the sun don’t shine.” hahahahahaha Sorry i find it hard to be an angry person…

Louis: I’d stick to the Afrikaans theme and call it Dobbelrot.

Headbang Today: Dobbelrot? We dig… we dig! Who do you think your biggest rivals are in the South African
rock scene?

Jason: Rivals is such a harsh word but rather bands who push us to keep our standards high. Um , Isochronous , The Sleepers. just saw Shadow club at Oppikoppi…….all i can say in Oh My God!!!

Louis: You don’t need rivals in this small scene. Only allies.

Headbang Today: We want to hear from you, why should Headbang Today and fans that still remain undecided, be at your next gig…?

Jason: Well if you’ve never experienced the Taxi Violence balls to the wall Live energy, you’ve been missing out. Before i joined the band, i was huge fan and it would always been the best 1 hr of my week whenever the Taxi took the stage.

Louis: Well, our next gig will actually have a bunch of free and interesting shit.

Headbang Today: Taxi Violence have been around for quite a number of years now. What can we expect from you musically within the next five years?

Jason: This album has been 3 years in the making so we’ve decided to not make fans wait that long till the next one. Our next goal though is to get international exposure. In October we travel to Germany and start taking over the world. maybe by next year we will realease an unplugged album cos we have worked really hard at polishing our unplugged set.

Louis: A Christmas album, a tribute album to Roxette, and more tattoos… and grey hair.

Headbang Today: What advice would you give to fellow bands that have just started climbing their way up the hard rock ladder in South Africa’s
competitive music industry?

Jason: What you put in is what you get out. It’s a team effort which ends in a clash of heads a lot of times but as long as you have a common goal , don’t let people tell you otherwise.

Louis: Stick to your guns. Dont let people exploit or use you.