Band Interview: 21 Taras
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life are pleased to bring you an interview with 60s and 70s influenced rock band, 21 Taras who hail from from Denver, Colorado.
1. How did you get started as a band?
James (lead guitar), Alec (drums), Jim (bass) and Austin (rhythm guitar) all went to the same high school and started playing together. At first it was just Alec and James with a few other guys. Alec actually started on bass guitar and they had a different drummer. Eventually Alec switched to drums and there was an opening for bass and rhythm guitar, as well as a vocalist. James went up to the first guy he saw and asked them if they played bass. This happened to be Jimmy and he graciously accepted the offer to join. Austin came shortly after, another recruitment of James. I (Julian) joined later after I moved from Alaska to Colorado and found James online. We had a few rehearsals and the rest is history.
2. How would you describe your sound?
Our new album “Change” is very 60s and 70s rock influenced but it’s hard to say. The first album was very straight forward rock and we are moving further away from that naturally. We are always changing. We don’t want any two songs to sound the same, but we don’t intentionally try to write different sounding songs. It just tends to happen naturally.
3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?
The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Doors and the Zombies; just to name a few. For Austin it would be more of a Tame impala and the Strokes kind of influence. For James, Earthless and Randy Rhoads. Alec loves Little Feat and Deep Purple, while Jimmy has a huge hip hop background with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips as influences. These all come together and form one big musical love fest.
4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?
It can do both, but I think it is cool to have music so easily accessible because it can lead to more exposure and people hearing your music that may have never had the chance before. It is a balance but it is the way things are now, so we all have to adapt.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
We all like to listen to music, and we enjoy going to local shows to check out other bands in our area. It is great that we all enjoy spending time together even when music is not involved.
6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?
We have a new single that will be released before the year is up. Tour sometime in 2019 for sure. Always working on new music, hopefully a new album will be released by the summer.
You can pick up 21 Taras’ music digitally and find out more by going to their website, Facebook Page, Instagram and YouTube.
