Comments by A.C. Carter (keyboard/organ) of TAUK.
In 2015, TAUK has continued their rampage into the hearts of live music lovers, slaying countless tour dates, securing a humbling first Red Rocks show under their belts, and riding the monster wave of success from their latest studio album, Collisions. While their diehard fan base, appropriately named the Staukers, have been supporting the band for years a lot of us have more recently become familiarized with the rock fusion stylings of the quartet from Oyster Bay, New York.
I don’t know if we can point to a specific time or place that confirmed our arrival in the “jam band” scene. As far as we’re concerned we still have a lot of work to do and much more to say. People in our scene love to support live music, and we love to play live music for those people and ourselves.
One moment that definitely helped spread our music was Sirius XM Jam On Radio adding our material into their rotation. In addition, our consistent touring schedule and opening up for well established acts like Umphrey’s McGee, allows us to keep expanding to new places. But let’s not forget the fans that have been very supportive and encouraging.
It’s hard to compare the music of TAUK to any other artist for reference point. Sure, they comfortably hover above a jam band categorization, but I don’t know any jam bands that draw creative inspiration from hip-hop icons or master electronic music producers.
Recently, I’ve been digging deeper into Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, Kneebody, and Aphex Twin, to name a few. Each of these artists has a very distinct approach to song structure, and that is one of the elements we try to incorporate into our own sound.
They carry themselves in such a unique and refreshing way, mesmerizing crowds with their contagious energy on stage. It’s no surprise that undeniable kinetic musicianship has landed the band at the door of their next career move, the release of a live-recorded album.
Stay tuned for details to follow in upcoming weeks.
It’s hardly even noticeable that TAUK chooses to forgo a vocal component in their act. Distracting with words just wouldn’t do their ripping melodies justice. However, if given the choice to work with any vocalist to compliment their sound they’d go with Stevie Wonder, Thom Yorke, or Lalah Hathaway for the job. While on the topic of dream collaborations, Carter also highlighted Herbie Hancock, Bob Marley, and Radiohead at the top of a long list of artists the guys would love to share a jam with on stage.
When you’ve been making music with your good friends as long as these guys have there are bound to be some shenanigans…like divulging the reasoning behind the name of “We Hope Your Exorcism Was Successful,” the closing track off the band’s first album Pull Factors. You’ll never hear it quite the same ever again.
Our guitarist Matt Jalbert wrote that one. Often to kill time during his bathroom ventures, Matt takes his laptop with him. Usually he surfs the interweb, however this time he decided to delve into a song he was working on. About 2.5 hours later, he emerged from the bathroom and handed me his laptop and said, “I’ve finished it. It’s called, “We Hope Your Exorcism Was Successful,” and apparently Matt’s was.
TAUK returns to Atlanta this Friday 7/31 at Terminal West. The show kicks of at midnight so you have plenty of time to migrate over after Phish wraps up night one of their summer tour double-header, down the road at Lakewood Amphitheater. We’re not 100% sure what a whoopi cookie is, but it sounds delicious, and we’ve been warned that the guys plan on buying all of them before the show.
Connect with TAUK:
https://www.facebook.com/taukband
https://twitter.com/TAUKband
https://soundcloud.com/tauk
http://taukband.com
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