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 (who currently plays in Circa Survive).

Upon the successful release of their discography entitled “Carry Us Until There Is Nothing Left”, Taken and Other People Records forged a important relationship that leads them to this, a new Taken EP. The EP is being released on April 27th, 2018 entitled “With Regard To” and will include tour dates all across the country and world in 2018 and beyond. The theme of this entire EP is centered around the vocalist’s wife, Kate Harkins. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in November 2016 and during this process Taken was recording the music for this release. Ray had an entire set of lyrics that he decided to trash as this new reality set in. “I knew I couldn’t sing about anything else while this was swirling around me. I focused on my experience in watching someone you love deeply fight for their life and how that impacts you.”

The music on this EP has been a long time in the making since the bands initial reformation in 2008 and subsequent sporadic shows across the world, music came together in spurts and culminated in a weekend spent locked in a rehearsal studio. “We had attempted to write over the internet for a few years and at this point we had to be in each others face to refine the ideas and hammer these songs home,” says vocalist Ray Harkins about the weekend. Producer Beau Burchell (Moose Blood, Senses Fail, Saosin) was pivotal in helping the band form the songs and ultimately record them in his studio in Los Angeles.

Taken is planning a record release show at Chain Reaction in May of 2018 as well as additional live dates in the US and internationally.

Taken

Reflect