New York City’s Black Taxi creates an interesting dichotomy both onstage and in its music. The quartet meshes a balls to the wall punk rock ethos with pop sensibilities, resulting in high energy live shows and head banging rock tunes laden with infectious guitar riffs and catchy vocal harmonies. 

This interesting blend of genres has gotten the new band a plethora of placements in television shows, films and commercials, as well as a devoted fan base. Black Taxi is currently on tour on the East Coast, and vocalist/guitarist Bill Mayo was nice enough to chat with me about the band’s upcoming EP, latest song placement and new music video while on the road.

Katrina Nattress: I’ve heard you guys put on a killer live show. How would you describe it to someone who hasn’t seen you perform?

Bill Mayo: We’ve been called raucous and high energy, but sometimes people associate a raucous rock show with crushing beer cans against your head and shit like that. That’s not what it’s about; we just perform really hard, and we encourage the audience to play hard to, whatever that means to them. 

KN: You’re currently on an East Coast tour. What’s been your highlight so far?

BM: The highlight for me has been performing our new songs live.  We’ve spent the last few tours playing songs from our first two albums, but we have a bunch of new stuff we wrote in Austin this year. The new songs have been really well received and that’s making me feel pretty good. 

KN: Any plans on touring the West Coast?

BM: Yes! But I can’t talk about it right now. This year, though. 

(Editors Note: Since our interview was completed, Black Taxi has announced a weekly appearance at LA’s Bootleg Bar in September).

KN: You’ve received some cool placements. Which one are you most proud of?

BM: Actually I’m really excited that we’re in Keanu Reeves’ new movie, Generation Um, partly because the band will be sitting around sometimes, and we’ll imitate the Keanu voice (a la Bill and Ted era)  and say things like “Black Taxi…  Whoa.  Excellent.”

KN: You recently released a new single “House on Fire,” in anticipation for a forthcoming EP.  The instrumentation is upbeat but the lyrics sound a little pessimistic. What’s this song’s back-story?

BM: All my songs contrast light and dark. I’ve always found that to be a good combination, either happy music with dark lyrics, or vise versa.  The term for that is chiaroscuro, which is the name of the new EP.

KN: You also released an accompanying music video for the single in early June. What made you decide to go with the taxidermy storyline?

BM: It was a suggestion from a journalist friend of mine who had come across some interesting people in his work. Rogue taxidermy is a whole scene unto itself, some people make freak animals, some give new life to road kill. It was fitting, having been in Texas living at a ranch for two months – the decor was all taxidermy. 

KN: What can you tell me about the EP you’re working on?

BM: We went to extremes on this one. Some of it’s heavily electronic and some of it is super raw, sometimes within the same song.

KN: You’ve been compared to bands like Talking Heads, M83, Fun. and even Daft Punk. Who would you say are your largest influences?

BM: It depends when you ask me. Some days I will tell you Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder, some days I will tell you John Coltrane or Frank Zappa. I like to combine Top 40 radio with more obscure music and see what happens.

KN: Who are some of your musical heroes?

BM: I have influences but not heroes.  Rock ‘n’ roll kicks ass, but it’s bullshit and I think people should recognize that. Nobody in this industry is a hero.

KN: What are some albums that influenced you to make music growing up?

BM: Return to Forever - Return to the Seventh Galaxy: Chick Corea’s distorted electric pianos and synths make me feel like I’m in 3rd grade, watching a film strip from the 1970s.

Nirvana - Nevermind: I grew up in the ‘90s. Enough said.

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions: There’s just something about a Rhodes piano.  This album is so funky but the melodies are heartbreakingly beautiful.

Primus - Brown Album: Les Claypool is one of the most underrated songwriters around. This album taught me how to play hard and mean without being heavy metal.

KN: You’re finishing up your tour in mid-July. What plans do you have for the rest of the summer?

BM: I’m going to turn my fucking phone off and kick it with my family up in Maine and not play any music. I need to recharge if I’m going to be worth a shit when I come back in the fall.

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