Ten years of Taxi Violence

The current members of Taxi Violence began their musical careers with Rian Zietsman and Louis Nel in a band called 508, George van der Spuy was the drummer for rival band Drain, and Jason Ling replaced Taxi Violence’s ex-bassist Loedi van Reenen in 2008.

 

Birth of Taxi Violence

 

In September 2004, they put their differences aside, and George finally accepted Zietsman’s invitation to jam with them in a storage room at Wynberg Military Base in Cape Town; this saw the birth of Taxi Violence.

 

"We booked our very first show at Mercury Lounge in March (2005), and of course we needed a name for marketing purposes. It was decided that each member would bring a list of names to rehearsal, and we would then pick the best one," explains Nel. 

 

 

"The very last name that I wrote down on my four pages of band names was ‘Taxi Violence’. I saw it in a newspaper heading as I left my house to drive to band practice. The heading was something like: ‘Taxi Violence rocks Western Cape’, which was exactly what we set out to do initially."

 

2005 was also the year Taxi Violence entered and won the Emerging Sounds Battle of the Bands competition. Being the headstrong band that they are, they turned down the prize of a record deal with Sheer: "It was the kind of deal that was not beneficial to any of the parties involved," explains Nel.

 

Taxi Violence then spent the most part of 2006 working on their debut album, Untie Yourself, with the official launch taking place in November at Mercury Live.

 

Defining year

 

Nel describes 2007 as the band's defining year: "Untie Yourself was doing very well and we were picking up steam with regards to gigging and making a name for ourselves." That year they played Coke Fest with 3 Doors Down, Hoobastank, Staind and Evanescence, and title track "Untie Yourself" reached number four on 5FM’s Top 40. 

 

In 2008, with the exit of van Reenen, Jason Ling won the band over with his energy and personality and took on the role of not just bassist, but manager. 2008 was also the year they received a SAMA nomination for Untie Yourself, and spent a "debaucherous" weekend in Sun City at the SAMA Awards: "Taxi have a slight love for gambling, and Rian and Jason made good around the roulette wheel that weekend," says Nel.

 

Tour abroad

 

In 2009, Taxi Violence released their second album, The Turn, and took their music to Europe, playing Germany and Holland.

 

"I would recommend an overseas tour to any young SA band. The lessons that you learn and the experience that you gain are indispensable. You immediately realise how much higher the standard of music is over there. We actually have it easy in SA. Any Tom-Dick-and-Harry can pick up some instruments, record a below-average album and make a name for themselves in South Africa. Especially if you’re going to make music that’s the flavour of the month," says Nel.

 

"We came back from Europe a different band, better band, and a band who received a meal and a case of delicious German beer at every single show."

 

 

Launch at the planetarium

 

Taxi Violence got in on the FIFA World Cup action in 2010 playing at the official fan parks for the tournament. The following year they released Unplugged: Long Way From Home with a unique launch setting at the Cape Town Planetarium.

 

"George and Jason built a stage by hand for the show. On the night, we played two packed shows back-to-back, because space was limited and the demand was huge. I sat near one of the control consoles during the gig and was able to manipulate the brightness of the stars between songs. I felt quite powerful, I must say," explains Zietsman.

 

"We toured the album countrywide and made use of session musicians to fill out our sound for the first time. Richard Brunyee on keys and Nic Roos on guitar joined us on the road and fun was had by all. Especially Richard – we were often worried about where he was until quite close to the times we needed to play. Nic still plays with us today and will be joining us at our launch show in 2014."

 

The debauchery continues

 

Taxi Violence returned to Sun City in 2012 after receiving two nominations for Unplugged: Long Way From Home, and picked up where they'd left off in 2008 with more debaucherous behaviour...

 

"Louis and I almost got thrown out of a casino, because we were cursing the roulette wheel loudly, standing in the corner drinking wine from bottles. We did see a guy get dealt a royal flush at one of the poker tables though, so he got our luck. We didn't win either of the awards we were nominated for, but that was secondary to us having the opportunity to meet (and laugh at) Kurt Darren," says Zietsman.

 

Highlights from 2013 included "Devil ‘n Pistol" featuring in Spud 2: The Madness Continues. "We’re still not sure if Mr Cleese ever listened to the song, but we like to tell ourselves that he did," says Nel. Taxi Violence also released their fourth album, Soul Shake, that year - Nel credits Ling for his input on the project: "We all worked very hard on Soul Shake, but not as hard as Jason did. I truly believe that if it wasn’t for him keeping the team together, we wouldn’t have pulled it off."

 

 

Touring Tenfold

 

This year they hit the big ten, and will be releasing their fifth studio album this September. Get a taste of Tenfold with their first single, "Beaten by the Gun", available for free download on SoundCloud. 

 

Taxi Violence will kick off their national tour at The Assembly in Cape Town on Saturday, 6th of September, before hitting a city near you.

 

6 September: The Assembly, Cape Town 

10 September: The Mystic Boer, Bloemfontein 

11 September: The Tap, Potchefstroom (ex -Arcade Empire) 

12 September: Arcade Empire, Pretoria 

13 September: Rumours Lounge, Johannesburg 

17 September: Aandklas, Stellenbosch 

26 September:  TribeOne Dinokeng Festival

 

3 October: Rocking the Daisies, Darling

10 October: Ollies Pub and Grill, Amanzimtoti 

11 October: Live The Venue, Durban 

 

Tenfold will be launched on all the digital platforms and the band will be promoting the album with shows across South Africa during September and October. CDs will be sold at shows and online from www.taxiviolence.com. Pre-orders are open for the limited edition pressing of Tenfold on vinyl and can be ordered at music@taxiviolence.com, costing R280 each.

 

"The big ten! I honestly can’t believe that we’re still together after ten years in the SA music industry. Personally, it is my biggest achievement as a member of Taxi Violence," concludes Nel.