Taken (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Taken


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Origin = Orange County, California, U.S.
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Genre = Metalcore
Post-hardcore
Hardcore
Progressive metal
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Years_active = 1997-2004
Label = Goodfellow Records
Associated_acts = Bleeding Through
Circa Survive
Mikoto
Name Taken
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Past_members = Troy Born - drums (1998-2003)
Dan Baird - guitar (1998-2003)
Ray Harkins - vocals
Chad Tafolla - guitar
Nick Beard - bass
Erik Bensberg - guitar
Juan Pereda - drums
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Taken was an American melodic hardcore/metalcore band from California that played a similar style to bands like This Day Forward and Thrice. Although they were sometimes considered melodic hardcore, their style was frequently more technical than that and more comparable to melodic metalcore. They split up in 2004, and members have went on to form Mikoto, and Circa Survive.

Biography

Taken formed in the summer of 1997 by five friends. Chad and original guitarist Dan Baird knew each other since high school and had played in a few punk bands together before starting to write heavier music. After being tired of playing punk they began looking for three other members to form a hardcore band. Ray Harkins and original drummer Troy Born were also looking to form a band and the two were contacted from a flyer they posted at a local record store. When the band's first bassist didn't work out, Nick Beard joined the band as the bass player.

After many months of practice and shows with the new lineup, the band entered Doubletime Studios in San Diego, CA (Unbroken, Kill Holiday, blink-182) to record a demo tape with Jeff Forrest. The demo was released in October 1998 on Rays label, Here We Are Records, and they were sold out not long after that. The band realized they were not happy with the music from the demo and wanted to write new songs with a more melodic approach. The "Haven/Crayons" seven inch was recorded at Doubletime once again in early summer 1999 and released on Here We Are Records in July of that same year.

The record was sent to many different labels around the US and Canada, hoping that someone would be interested in putting out the next release. Chris Logan of Canada based Goodfellow Records contacted the band and offered to release an EP and full length CD on his label. Being more than excited about this, the band agreed and recorded a seven song CD titled "Finding Solace in Dissension" not long after that. The album was released in June 2000 just before the band embarked on their first US tour. Most of the dates fell through, but the band still played 4 solid shows in Virginia, Boston, Ontario and Montreal, Canada. Selling more than 4,000 copies to date, "Finding Solace in Dissension" has been distributed by many distribution companies around the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The response has been amazing to say the least.

Taken returned to Doubletime Studios in June 2001 to begin the recording of their full length CD titled "And They Slept" which was released by Goodfellow Records in August. Shortly after finishing the recording, the band joined This Day Forward (Eulogy Recordings) in July to tour the U.S. and parts of Canada with Season of Fire (Goodfellow Records) in August. German label Incendiary Records released the vinyl version of "And They Slept" in June 2002.

Like most bands, Taken has gone through some member changes since the beginning. In October 2001, Troy decided to leave the band for personal reasons. After trying out several drummers in the coming months, the band decided that Juan Pereda was the best man for the job and began rehearsing with him. Dan also decided to leave the band in May 2002 after being accepted to a well known University for grad school. Band friend Erik Bensberg joined the band in July as the second guitarist.

The band toured the U.S. and Canada twice in the summer of 2002 with This Day Forward, The Rise, and Curl Up and Die.

In 2004 the band decided to call it quits. Rumors are that the band got in a fight during a band practice, however in interviews Ray Harkins says that both guitarists quit because of the touring lifestyle and the drummer left to play in Name Taken.

Taken will play a special reunion show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA on March 8th, 2008. Taken will also travel to Japan between March 13th-18th. The times and venues of the shows will be determined at a later time.

At their reunion show they announced that they are going to continue making music together and play small shows periodically, however they do not wish to be a band that goes on tour for extended periods of time, They're doing it for the music and for the fans.

Discography

* 2001 - "Finding Solace in Dissension" EP
* 2001 - "And They Slept" LP
* 2004 - "Between Two Unseens" CD/DVD of the final show at the Chain Reaction
* 2008 - ""

External links

*Biography taken from http://www.myspace.com/takenlives
*Punkrocks.net Interview http://www.punkrocks.net/display_interview.php?id=69
*Final Show Review http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2004/06/2349.cfm
*Final Interview http://www.sctas.com/taken.html
*Pastepunk.com Interview http://www.pastepunk.com/features.php?v=128