With their debut EP, Never, out now, we took some time to hear from Dude’s Taken. Read below to learn more about Dude’s Taken, the story behind Never, and what’s to come.
Hi! Let’s start with how did the band’s name come about?
Ryan (Vocalist): I always mess the story up, but it started as a sort of joke.
Collin (Guitarist): We were going to waffle house… *both laugh* Ryan was like, “I really want our name to be Dude” or something and I was like “Nah man, that has to be taken,” and he looked it up and was like “Nah, dude’s taken,” and I was like Oh, OH, OH!
What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?
Ryan: I was born and raised in Leicester/Spencer, Massachusetts, but we met in NW Florida. I dragged him along with me to Newcastle, NSW Australia where we met our other band members Sean (Drummer) and Jye (Bassist) and play now.
Collin: I’m from small town Oklahoma.
How and when did the band form?
Collin: We met on Vampr, and we were just gonna team up, Ryan and I, to help each other out with side projects, but one day after…How do I say this nicely…
Ryan: Mild inebriation?
Collin: Yeah, couple of cocktails. *both laugh* I was like, “I like My Chemical Romance, Ryan likes My Chemical Romance, we should just make music like My Chemical Romance!”
Ryan: And, the rest is history.
How would you all describe your band’s sound?
Collin: Effin’ banger, Effin’ bangers. Definitely high energy, get up and jump.
Ryan: Dance, dance, revolution. Haha.
Collin: We are a familiar sound with a bit of salt off your elbow to keep it interesting.
Who are some of your band’s main musical influences?
Ryan: My influences are MCR, Silverchair, Mother Mother, and Cage the Elephant. Heck, I’ll throw Will Wood in there too.
Collin: MUSE was my biggest influence, they were why I wanted to become a musician. When I started to learn the guitar that I wanted to be like Cage the Elephant, but of course, my first love was The Offspring.
What’s one of the proudest moments of your group’s music career so far?
Ryan: For me, it was after our first gig. We played a free show called Indie Jams Live, and after rehearsal, they bumped us to the last slot. I was sure we were gonna be playing to no one since we were last at 3 PM on a Friday. The showout was great and the crowd really digged it. But, the proudest moment was when a few kids came up to us after for free CDs and wanted us to sign them. I was all, “are you sure?” Eventually we signed a wallet and a Switch 2 case. Not at all how I thought our first show was gonna go, but it was amazing!
Collin: Our first show, I’m still pretty pumped about that. Another thing I’m pretty proud of was when we met Sean and Jye, and they said they actually enjoy listening to the music. That and my buddy back home buying a bunch of our merch.
What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?
Ryan: We haven’t done all that much as a band quite yet, but the greatest lesson so far is to open up my mind to ideas. Learning to work as a band, I’m not gonna say it has been difficult cause it’s been crazy fun, but time to time I have to slow down and truly listen to what they are suggesting and swallow my expectations of how a song should go to let it become what it’s going to be.
Collin: So, you just have to try your best, while you’re in that flow of writing, don’t eff with it. Then when you’re done you can always go back and eff with things, change it up, whatever.
Now onto Never. What inspired this EP?
Ryan: Hard to say haha, Coll and I had just started writing songs together and these songs stood out the most. I will however delve into the story behind the lyrics of the song, “Never!” “Never” was the first song that we wrote together instrumentally. I struggled to write lyrics for it for like four months. Then, one night, we were outside The Handlebar in Pensacola, and I’m eavesdropping on these two people across from us. All I hear is “Daniel’s on coke again, so Taylor left him.” Every nerve in my brain connected at that moment, I could see the equations. Haha. I thoroughly let whatever Collin was ranting about go in and out of my ears. The lyrics were fully written out that night! Sorry Taylor and Daniel, whoever you are, and sorry Collin. Haha.
What is the overall theme of Never?
Ryan: I’m not sure this EP has an overarching theme, but I feel like our full set/discography sort of does. A general theme of recklessness. I also don’t wanna spell out song meanings ’cause I think it’s better when you come up with it yourself. However, I will say that “Let Go” is about a man with Alzheimer’s coming to terms with forgetting everything.
Collin: Three banger songs. It was just three songs we felt super confident in and felt could do some damage.
What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for Never?
Ryan: I had drawn us in that exact position on our whiteboard we use for working on songs. Then, I didn’t like how plain it looked with just us IRL, so I drew our faces and slapped ‘em on top.
What was the creative process like when making Never?
Collin: All I can really remember is for the song, “Never,” I was like “I like MCR, you like MCR, let’s play songs like MCR.” Then, you (Ryan) came over I think the next day and I was like “But I don’t even know where to start.” Then, you threw down the rhythm that would become the instrumental. Then, I was like “That’s cool, but what can I…*explosion mouth noise* Then, I busted out what again became the instrumental. Then, you threw down what would become the chorus, just focusing on these three main chords. Then, I think I took the reins from there.
Ryan: The only other thing that I can add really is that the creative process for me lyrically is just what I consume on a day to day basis, books, billboards, music, social media. At any point, any time, I’ll see something and write a whole song around the idea. I got three notebooks full of lyrics.
How long did it take to complete Never?
Collin: Never took like four months because of the lyrics. I even remember sitting in front of my computer for a couple hours before work and just effin’ nothing. But “Crashing Down” was something Ryan wrote lyrically for this Taking Back Sunday thing.”
Ryan: Yeah, didn’t win that. Haha.
Collin: But, he came to me and was like “I’d like it to be sort of like this for the chorus.” I threw something down, then the rest just *snaps a few times* fell into place. We had the first chorus all the way to the end, then we had to go back and do verse one, which again just *snaps* worked great.
Is there a specific song on Never that speaks to you all the most? If so, why?
Ryan: I think “Crashing Down” speaks the most to me. I wrote the bridge ages before “Crashing Down,” and we had been trying to fit it into a song because it speaks to me in a million ways. I’m very glad it fits so well with the song’s overall vibe. But usually I write from a poetry aspect, although there are still a lot of heart-bleeding lines in other songs.
Collin: Yeah, I don’t know how old I was when I wrote “Let Go.” I was like 22 or 23, but it like evolved over years. ‘Cause “Shake Me Down,” I was really huge into that song at the time, so I was like “how could I make this song mine without it being ‘Shake Me Down.’” And, I remember it kind of is what the song is now, sort of it was mainly the first half. But then some years went by and I presented it to a buddy ’cause we were gonna start a garage band. And, he was like you should take it up an octave, and I was like “I don’t want to, but okay.” And, I took it up the octave, and I was like “awe, this is cool.” Then, from there, it was like “pop” it connected. Then, I was like “Dude, then I’ll come back with these palm mutes, then I’ll do this and I’ll play the main riff here.” *Snaps* It just started firing left and right. So though it’s technically the newest song of the songs on the EP, it’s a song that was almost a decade in the making.
What message or messages do you all hope fans take away from Never and your band’s music in general?
Ryan: Oh man, dance around, punch air, do something you love, why not.” Haha.
Collin: I just want people to find the songs fun and interesting.
What’s next? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
Ryan: We have a live sessions EP in the works! It’s almost done and may even have some videos to go with. So, that’s very exciting. Our next gig is 17 August at the Beauford Hotel in Mayfield. We are trying to get more gigs sooner, so you can always find our show dates on our website dudestaken.com. Little shameless plug there, haha.
What new song are you all excited for on the new EP?
Collin: The live EP? I’m most excited for “Pacing.”
Ryan: *fake shouting* “PACING!”
Collin: For a couple reasons, I think it was the first song that I wrote for Dude’s Taken that was just specific for the band. Usually, I’m the one in the band that’s like “ugh simple songs, lets make it a little bit interesting.” And, it’s probably our most simplistic song, but it’s just such a groovy song and also it’s our drummer’s favourite, so shout out to Sean!
Ryan: Mine’s “Cigarettes and Sugar.” It’s a song that I got to be lyrically dense and also have the song just absolutely bang. Head banging, jumping around kind of song with a lot of lyrical depth. Also, the title has a personal meaning to me that adds to it’s importance, haha.
Where can we follow you all on social media?
@DudesTakenMusic on all platforms!
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/dudestakenmusic
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dudestakenmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Dudes-Taken-Music/61590605881734
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5aQRxiVgmJSFiYR1zQmEXi
YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCqcGe4N6HSk76HZmKB-oM5w
Website: https://www.dudestaken.com
Thank you all for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!
