Exclusive Interview With Taxi Violence

Bret chats to Taxi Violence about merchandise, creative freedom and the power of the internet.

Hey, Taxi Violence, thanks for taking the time out to chat to MusicReview. For our readers who have never heard your music before, how would you describe it?

Sexy, sleazy and dangerous all in one, plus we have the live show to go with it.

Haha! Cool answer. Incidents of taxi violence have been some of South Africa’s darkest moments in recent history. What made you guys decide on ‘Taxi Violence’ as your band name?

The words TAXI and VIOLENCE are just 2 words next to each other that make a cool name for a band. It was never intentional to to create a stir when Louis read “Taxi Violence Rocks the Western Cape” on a billboard 5 years ago.

In music circles, it is common knowledge that you proudly defend and acknowledge your right to creative freedom. In fact, word has it that you have turned down lucrative record contracts in favour of keeping Taxi Violence’s creative independence. Is there any truth in this? How and why is creative independence so important to Taxi Violence?

I guess when we read the fine print of the contract, it just didn’t suit what we wanted, so we chose the longer but more satisfying road. Being able to write and produce music on our terms and conditions is very important. We do what we want in our own time and take it as seriously as we decide it has to be. We make all our own decisions and have no one to blame except ourselves if things go wrong. That’s just the way it is for now and the way we like it. If the right contract got put in front of us, who knows what we will decide as a band.

I really admire that, and I think that it is something that local bands should strive for. Speaking of contracts, Die Antwoord have been signed to Interscope – partly because of the success and buzz that has been generated on various social-networking websites. How do you guys think social-networking has revolutionized the music industry?

The internet has completely changed the way people look and listen to music as a whole. Gone are the days of saving up till you could afford that vinyl , cassette or CD in order to hear it. Nowadays it’s a matter of finding and downloading albums before they are even released in the shops. You can try fight it but it is the way forward.

MusicReview talks with aspiring artists and musicians on a day-to-day basis. If you could give these musicians any advice, what would it be?

When in doubt
1) Turn left
2) Order chicken
3) Bet on Black!

LOL! One of the aspects that is very important in getting a band’s name out there is merchandise. What role has merchandise played in the success of Taxi Violence?

It has played a very big part. In the past, we were pretty slack by not having stock or just being too lazy to set up a merch table. However we have come to realise that it does make a difference even if we only sell 1 cd or t-shirt for the night. Let’s face it, if one person buys a CD, it translate to 10 people having it on their iPods. (ed. Haha! Point proven.)

In Europe, we sold loads of CDs and t-shirts which has resulted in our European fan base growing even bigger at a faster pace. Once people hear your album, they will immediately find you online.

Taxi Violence, thank you for chatting to us, do you have any upcoming gigs that you want to tell us about?

fri 26.03. ZA Pretoria Hotbox Studios
sat 27.03. ZA Johannesburg Joburg Burning
tue 13.04. ZA Stellenbosch Aandklas
fri 16.04. ZA Cape Town Zula Bar
thu 06.05. ZA Pretoria Tings n Times
fri 07.05. ZA Potchefstroom Volume Rock Festival
sun 16.05. ZA Cape Town The Silvertree Restuarant, Kirstenbosch Gardens
fri 04.06. ZA Cape Town Mercury Live
tue 29.06. ZA Johannesburg Saints Festival,

Finally, where can we find out more about you guys?

www.taxiviolence.com
www.myspace.com/taxiviolence
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- Bret D
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