Name Taken

Bobby: Starting with the basics, can you please state your name and what you do in the band.

Blake: I’m Blake Means, I play guitar.

Bobby: Alright, you guys originally started as “All That’s Left”, but then changed it because another band already had that name. Why did you guys change it and not the others?

Blake: We had to change the name because somebody already had “All That’s Left” and I posted our name on a website and it wouldn’t be posted unless I put a different name. So I just put “Name Taken” until we thought of a name, and we couldn’t think of any so we just put “Name Taken” and we just got stuck with it you would say.

Bobby: Your EP, “The Silent Game”, was released on Top Notch Records a couple months ago. How did you start working with them?

Blake: Well I guess it started talking to them after we recorded it. We recorded it I think about almost 2 years ago now and I don’t even remember how I got a hold of them. We started talking and they said they’d help pay for a release, just getting it pressed and what-not. And I think February 2001, we just decided to put it out finally in November around there.

Bobby: Alright, what’s your favorite song on the EP and why?

Blake: Well… I don’t really like, no one in the band really likes that EP. We kinda consider it out-dated and a poor representation of the band but I guess you could say… I think… I don’t even know. Ya, I wouldn’t even know because I really don’t like the EP very much.

Bobby: Well that’s interesting. Who came up with the idea to do the split with Bayside?

Blake: I think that the owner of Dying Wish Records contacted out manager about it. I’m not sure if that’s what happened but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. And we listened to them and thought they were cool and we played a show with them in San Diego and we thought that they were like extremely extremely nice guys. And said “Ya, it would be fun to do it” and just did it.

Bobby: Alright, cool. Your website is like constantly being changed. Lance Brown, your manager, told me that you guys constantly want a new layout up. Why do you guys always want to change it around?

Blake: One: I guess because we are really picky and never like what we have and two, we don’t like having it the same all the time, we like to keep changing stuff. Probably eventually when we find something we really like, we’ll just keep that but until then we’ll just keep changing it because we like to and our friend designs sites. And you know, we can meet up with people that design sites and we say go ahead. I guess that’s that.

Bobby: Who would you say influenced you as you grew up? Like who were your idols?

Blake: When I was younger, like when I was in fourth grade to like eighth grade, it was all punk bands like Rancid and all them. Then in like freshman year of high school, it was probably like MXPX and Slick Shoes and what-not now. So I guess when I was younger it was all punk bands and pop-punk bands.

Bobby: Cool, why did you decide to become a musician?

Blake: I don’t know. I’ve seen video tapes of myself when I was like “ohh, baby” and I just always wanted to play guitar and I always messed up with instruments when I was little even. I just always loved playing guitar and playing drums; I just loved playing every instrument. So that’s what would motivate me, I guess, is me liking everything about it, liking playing stuff.

Bobby: Do you have any advice for young musicians who are just starting out?

Blake: If you want it, go for it and don’t listen to anybody unless it’s positive. Because basically if they say anything negative, where does that get you? Just ignore it and try your hardest I guess. Do the best you can.

Bobby: How do you guys normally write all your material?

Blake: It used to be me or someone would just write a song and then bring it to practice and we’d work on it. But now, pretty much all the songs we have, except for the exception of a few, we just start playing something at band practice and everyone says “Hey, that was cool. Stop and we’ll all try it” and we’ll just work with it, basically just jamming stuff out.

Bobby: I recently read an article in Alternative Press magazine about Rancid. And one major theme was “Through Music, You Can Live Forever”. When you hear that quote, what do you think?

Blake: I think.. wait, do you mean if I think it’s true or what’s my opinion on it?

Bobby: Ya, do you think it’s true and what’s your opinion.

Blake: I think it’s very true. I think anything that you do that causes an impact on anybody will help you live on and help influence people in the next age or whatever. I mean as long as your doing what you like and other people are liking it, then ya it must be passed on if other people are liking it. So I’d say I agree definitely.

Bobby: Now-a-days, you can find MP3s all over the internet. Kazaa, morpheus things like that. How do you feel about that?

Blake: I used to think it was awesome when we were just starting out because I think MP3s and all my music is the most amazing thing ever for a starting band cause that’s how our band got heard by pretty much everyone since we didn’t have distribution of a record label or anything. We still don’t have that yet, but I think if your a starting out band, it’s an amazing thing but I think there are definitely limits which should be held as like the band should be able to regulate what goes on. Like we recorded a full length called “Hold Your Breath, You Know How Long” and we didn’t like it whatsoever so we pretty much trashed it but, a couple of a friends and people just kept getting a hold of it and it’s all over the internet which we preferred wasn’t but you know, whatever. I guess I would say Kazaa and stuff I think is awesome, but I think there should definitely be some sort of regulation by the bands but I don’t think it should ever be just gotten rid of completely cause I think it’s a great thing for small bands.

Bobby: Alright, you guys are sponsored by clothing companies like Atticus and Macbeth. How did that end up happening?

Blake: Atticus, we were good friends with SideOneDummy Records and they distributed and put out the Atticus:Dragin The Lake compilation and I guess since we were on that, Atticus heard us and said they liked us and said they wanted to set some stuff up. And that’s how that came about. I guess every time we get up a sponsorship, it’s just that somebody hears us and thinks we’re worthy of getting free clothes. Which I don’t understand but think is pretty awesome when somebody wants to give you free clothes for doing what you like. So ya, I’m very appreciative of that.

Bobby: What are the benefits of having sponsors like that, other then the free clothes?

Blake: Umm, well you get great friendships. I know everyone at Atticus and Macbeth are great friends of ours, we love all those guys there, they are very nice to us. And also, you get your band’s name out when you get any sort of sponsorship.

Bobby: Do you have any opinions on major labels? Would you ever sign to one?

Blake:. I don’t have anything against any sort of label. I think labels are great as long as you still have some say in what you’re doing; they shouldn’t completely take over. I know our band would want to go to a indie first before we would sign to a major. Only because I think it’s very important that you establish a strong home fan base with just strong fans, not fans that come and go like if you’re on MTV all of a sudden and we just get the fans of a song. I think it’s very important, not for every band but for our band, to go for a indie first and try to develop a fan base and maybe later, someday, on move up to a major possibly. I don’t know.

Bobby: Why do you think major labels have recently been picking up punk bands?

Blake: I really don’t know I guess because the market is doing well. I guess all I could think off is people are getting into this genre, whatever this genre may be. More indie genres are kinda exploding out now that boy bands are kinda left behind, I guess you could say.

Bobby: To you, what does it mean to be “punk”?

Blake: *laughs* O, wow. I wouldn’t be the one to answer that, I don’t consider myself punk, I can’t answer that question.

Bobby: Alright, what do you see in the future for Name Taken?

Blake: Well we just graduated High School, so hopefully a lot of touring and recently we took about a month, two months off to practice a bunch of songs which we want to record for a full length in the next month, or within the coming months we really want to get it done. So basically getting a full length out, we’ve been a band for 3 years and don’t even have a full length, so it’s really important to us to get that out and to go on tours.

Bobby: Do you have any shout-outs before we end?

Blake: I guess I’ll say thank you guys for just interviewing me, calling me up, taking the time.

Bobby: Thanks for doing it.

Blake: And our friend’s band, Amity, “amitymusic.net“. Good band, very good people and thank you to Atticus and Maphia and all of our sponsors. Thanks to all the local bands that we play with, their all awesome.

Bobby: I guess that’s it. Thanks a lot.