Taste

TASTE sez

ROCK IS GOD!

Interview by Ken Morton

Taste unveils rock and roll in the grand and epic tradition of classic bands such as Queen and Sweet. With a brilliant career dating back to the 70’s within the vast Australian music scene, Taste is ready to make an impression all over the world above and beyond these pandemic days. Rock Is God is a compilation of their recordings now available via MR Records, featuring mega standout tracks such as Hello Can You Hear Me, Remedy, I Am God, and Rock Is Dead! In the New Year, Taste will present a brand new collection of songs entitled Brothers Forever - also from the MR Records compound. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Taste co-conspirator Ken Murdoch to find out more about the timeless and ambitious reveries of this eternally amazing collective! Read on...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in TASTE and how long the band has been together.

Ken Murdoch, singer, guitarist, keyboards and chief songwriter in Taste. We formed in high school in the late 70s. Michael and I went to school together and Joey was 15 when we met. He left school on the Friday, we played two local gigs, then played Festival Hall (10,000 people) with Sweet for two nights and then toured NSW for 6 weeks. I think he’s still enrolled at his old school! We then had 4 top twenty hits and two top twenty albums and played to big crowds including a gig on the banks of the Yarra to 13,000 people.

What was it like to reform a band in the 21st Century after not having worked together since the mid 70’s?

It was surprisingly easy. We had always kept in touch. We reformed for a huge 70s concert at Clader Park Melbourne with Santana and Alice Cooper. Virgil flew in from the States. The old chemistry was still there. The concert was cancelled at the last minute due to promoter issues but strangely enough we were the only act to get paid. It was the best paying rehearsal we’d ever had. Five thousand dollars! I had

a few new original songs and Michael and Joey and I decided to go back into the studio and record. We found a new drummer Joel Wittenberg as Virg went back to Los Angeles. That became the ROCK IS DEAD album.

How did you wind up signing with MR Records?

MR Records asked us to do an Australian package tour and we were incredibly impressed with their organization and integrity. Shortly after they got in touch and asked if we’d be interested in a partnership. They distribute all our old and new recordings including merch and they work very closely with us on everything else. Really a management group. They’ve done a lot for us overseas,

MR Records released an amazing compilation of TASTE songs entitled Rock Is God. How did you wind up signing with MR Records and what was it like to revisit these songs?

Rock Is God was MR Records idea as they felt a strong compilation of all our rocky stuff would really capture overseas attention, especially Europe, which it has. It was fun to revisit and decide what we should include. I think the mix of songs is correct in showing the heavier stuff with the interesting songs as well. They all seemed to gel despite some being recorded 20 years apart. (which he added!)

The name came from a DJ mixing up our album ROCK IS DEAD and single I AM GOD.

Rock Is Dead is such a bold statement. Tell me a little about the inspiration behind the song.

When I wrote the lyrics in 2007 American/Australian Idol was everywhere and seemed to be monopolizing the music industry. There didn’t seem to be any long term plans for these artists. I thought the whole idea was basically a bad karaoke scheme to make money. You’d be hard pressed to remember any of the winners these days with the exception of Adam Lambert (thanks Queen). So I really was voicing my opinion…”don’t buy the ringtone, stick with the real songs”

Speaking of bold statements, I Am God is such an epic song. Give me a little background and inspiration behind that one.

I came up with the riff first. Its in drop D tuning. Sometimes great things come from playing normal chords with different tunings. Lyrically its from a short story that I wrote about what if God was not so benevolent as everyone believed and was playing us like a video game. “ I wonder what will happen if I send a tsunami here etc”

It was hard to write the lyrics from a history of disaster point of references, so I drew back on my history lessons at school; “Deserts of Naim”, “Clondalkin Paper Mills” and “Screaming Turks of 1664”

The video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGAaXBzUevA was directed by Clayton Jacobson who had directed a huge film hit over here called “Kenny”. The vid was epic and had lots of apocalyptic vision and background shots. Our only initial criticism is we asked for more “robot spiders”

Give me a bit of background on the song 2020’s Dead and what was it like writing and recording in lockdown?

It was written with a friend of ours Les Brazil. It concentrates on mental health, which was something we experienced first hand when our drummer decided not to do the Brothers EPs with us due to the Pandemic really effecting him. He felt there was no reason to even continue with music so it hit him very hard. Early on Beyond Blue (Australian Mental Health organization) got on board with the song and royalties go to them every sale.

We had managed to record the bass and guitars before lockdown but in regard to mixing I would have to do it in my studio and then send out mixes for everyone’s approval. It was usually a little more democratic than that. We ended up getting a couple of different drummers to record where ever and whenever they could to the tracks for use which gave the tracks an interesting slant.We now are using a fantastic drummer called Anthony Ziros, who originally worked for us in the 70’s as Virgil’s drum roadie. Hes got the expertise but also bring a more heavier attitude with him.

Let’s go way back to 1977 and your single Rebecca. Tell me the story behind Rebecca and how it feels to have the track show up on TV shows such as Rage?

My parents bought me a piano when I was 16 and Rebecca was one of the first songs I wrote. It’s a fairly boy meets girl, boy loses girl story. I wasn’t so dark and angst ridden in those days. That clip on RAGE (Australian rock TV show) is from ABCs Countdown, an Australian institution for rock TV in the 70s/80s. We were the first band to play on the pilot. We were on it many times but unfortunately the ABC started to record over the show due to cutbacks. Luckily a producer jumped

in and bought what was left from the late 1977 onwards but most of our stuff disappeared.

What could one expect from your upcoming album Brothers Forever and how will it compare to the previous TASTE classics?

This album isn’t as dark as the other ones. My wife always says you never write any songs for girls so I had a crack with “I Can’t Sleep” and “This Could Be A Love Song”. But of course the albums still full of epic over the top songs. There’s a great Bjork track called “Play Dead” which is as heavy as anything else we’ve recorded. I can’t wait to sing that live! I think it’s the most accessible album we’ve done. “{We All} Stand Up” got a lot of airplay across Australia and “2020’s Gone” made it to number 6 in Madrid. There’s quite a lot of interest in Europe and Japan. It’d be nice to tour again.

Has TASTE ever played here in the States or plan to do so in future days?

We nearly made it to the States in the late 70s. Seymour Stein from Sire Records came to our manager’s house and listened to our stuff and decided to sign us. We unfortunately changed management and broke up before that happened but there was lots of stories in the tween US magazines saying “young band from Australia coming soon”!! We have discussed with MR Records about touring with ex AC/DC’s singer Dave Evans before Covid hit. In the 70s we were good friends with AC/ DC touring a lot together. My favorite Bon Scott story is of him walking towards me in a TV studio grinning madly at me. I asked him “Why was he so happy” and he said “New Teeth!!”

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming live show in February? And have you been able to play live at all during the pandemic?

No gigs or rehearsals but plenty of rehearsals with new drummer Anthony Ziros up until lockdown cock blocked us. Sounding very big too. We can’t wait to get back onstage.

Will there be any future solo albums from Joey Amenta or any other members of TASTE?

I’ve been stashing away tracks that don’t really suit Taste and threatening to put out a solo album but I spend so much time on Taste projects that it seems unlikely at the moment. I’m currently mixing our live album, plus a Live DVD, putting together a book on our history and throwing together videos for the album which is out next year. We’re also planning a box set so there’s some outtakes that I have to dig up.

What do you hope 2022 brings you for and for TASTE?

Well if we’re allowed, we want to start touring again. We’ve got the new “Brothers Forever” album coming out and the box set to promote plus the live stuff. We are already talking about doing another album. We’d like to make it our heaviest yet, which should be fun. Just get back to smashing those guitars.

Any final words of wisdom?

I think if you’re lucky enough to find a chemistry like Michael, Joey and I have throughout these years, always stick with it and believe in yourselves. Fame is great but enjoying the music you make is better than anything else you’ll experience. …….oh and wear earplugs!

www.taste-music.com www.kenmurdoch.com www.melodicrockrecords.com