Thursday, October 24, 2024

Taking Sides

ORIGINS: Sydney, NSW
GENRE: Hardcore
YEARS ACTIVE: 2003-2006
 
MEMBERS:
RELEASES: 
 
  • Demo (2003) [Limited release] - Download Here.
    • 1. Old Foundations
    • 2. Shatter
    • 3. 7 Months With Half a Heart
    • 4. Not Trying [This song only found on this version of demo]
    • 5. Nothing in Common
 
  • Demo (2003) [Main release]
    • 1. Old Foundations
    • 2. Shatter
    • 3. 7 Months With Half a Heart
    • 4. Nothing in Common
       


  • Smash the Windows to the Dead Hearts (2004)
    • 1. Another Show
    • 2. The Outcome
    • 3. Save Your Prayers
    • 4. Clock In/Clock Out
    • 5. Cut To Ribbons
    • 6. Backs to the Wall

  • Dresscode (2005)
    • 1. C'est La Vie
    • 2. Cross It Out
    • 3. This Street Is Off Limits
    • 4. "Oooh It's Kinda Crazy"
    • 5. Love Conquers (Fuck) All
    • 6. ...
    • 7. Clock In / Clock Out
    • 8. Old Foundations
    • 9. "Donny, You're Out of Your Element!"
    • 10. "Sonny Was Right... The Working Man is a Sucker"
    • 11. Black is the New Black (FTW)
SUMMARY: Initially formed by Mook and Ricky Taylor when they enlisted the talents of BxE, Wade Keighran, and Amy Bibby, Taking Sides quickly grew to become a force of nature in the Sydney hardcore scene. The band toured regularly, including interstate visits to Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia, and supported international bands such as Throwdown, American Nightmare, The Hope Conspiracy, Sick of It All, and Alexisonfire. After several lineup changes in 2004 and then again in 2005/2006, the band called it quits with the exit of founding guitarist Wade Keighran. Taking Sides later reformed in 2017 for some reunion shows. Founding bassplayer Ricky Taylor sadly passed away in 2018.
 
SHOWS: 
  • Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle - 19th September, 2003 
  • Bar Broadway, Sydney - 20th September, 2003
  • Carringbah Bizzos, Carringbah - 21st September, 2003
  • ANU Bar, Canberra - 24th September, 2003
  • Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 8th January, 2004
  • Carringbah Bizzos, Carringbah - 9th January, 2004
  • Hunter on Hunter, Newcastle - 10th January, 2004
  • Backdoor, Panthers Leagues Club, Penrith - 11th January, 2004 
  • The Church, Canberra - 14th January, 2004
  • The Metro, Melbourne, VIC - 15th January, 2004
  • The Arthouse, Melbourne, VIC - 16th January, 2004
  • Enigma, Adelaide, SA - 17th January, 2004
  • Club Sabotage, Brisbane, QLD - 21st January, 2004
  • Youth Activity Centre, Byron Bay - 22nd January, 2004
  • Gaelic Club, Sydney - 7th April, 2004
  • Vic on the Park, Marrickville - 17th April, 2004
  • Missing Link Records, Melbourne, VIC - 8th May, 2004
  • Hardcore 2004, The Gaelic Club, Sydney - 3rd July, 2004
  • Mary St Nightclub, Brisbane, QLD - 14th July, 2004
  • Troccadero, Gold Coast, QLD - 15th July, 2004
  • Youth Centre, Byron Bay - 16th July, 2004
  • Bat and Ball, Surry Hills - 17th July, 2004
  • House Show, Willowbank Road, North Fitzroy, VIC - 13th August, 2004 
  • Green Square, Zetland - 21st August, 2004
  • Arncliffe Hotel, Arncliffe - 8th October, 2004
  • Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 18th November, 2004
  • Joe's Garage, Gosford - 5th December, 2004
  • Manning Bar, Sydney Uni - 19th February, 2005
  • White Sands Hotel, Scarborough, WA - 4th March, 2005
  • Swan Basement, Fremantle, WA - 5th March, 2005
  • HQ, Leederville, WA - 6th March, 2005 (ALL AGES)
  • Castle Hotel, Perth, WA - 6th March, 2005
  • Blackwire Records, Sydney - 2nd April, 2005 
  • Next, Melbourne, VIC - 28th April, 2005
  • Stonecutters, Melbourne, VIC - 30th April, 2005
  • The Rev, Brisbane, QLD - 18th May, 2005
  • Youth Activity Centre, Byron Bay - 19th May, 2005 
  • Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle - 20th May, 2005
  • Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 21st May, 2005
  • Stonecutters, Melbourne, VIC - 22nd May, 2005
  • Fowlers, Adelaide, SA - 25th May, 2005
  • Next, Melbourne, VIC - 26th May, 2005
  • The Clubhouse, Glebe - 17th June, 2005
  • Hardcore 2005, Gaelic Club, Sydney - 1st July, 2005 
  • The Rev, Brisbane, QLD - 31st August, 2005
  • Youth Activity Centre, Byron Bay - 1st September, 2005
  • Green Square, Zetland - 2nd September, 2005
  • The Arthouse, Melbourne, VIC - 3rd September, 2005
  • Enigma, Adelaide, SA - 4th September, 2005
  • Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle - 19th August, 2017 (Reunion show)

ORAL HISTORY:
MOOK: Ricky Taylor and I met when I was on the Warped Tour with Toe to Toe. He came to help in almost a roadie capacity, bit of merch selling as well. We instantly clicked and became very close. It was during one of our long drives that we decided we needed to start a band together - started chatting about it in 2002. Something heavy that paid respect to the old school sound but with some melody. We decided to ask Brett Eberhard to do vocals.
Ben Muckenschnabl (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

BRETT: Ricky Fucking Taylor (RIP) put an ad up in Resist Records looking for members and I'd known Ricky from his time doing push ups in Pitbull Attack and later as a member of Restraint. He was a great guy and loved hardcore so I was "I'll give it a go". The band was a lot more personal lyric-wise for me... It was also a bit more - I don't want to say melodic - but maybe had more dynamics than other bands I'd been in previously. We were also super tight and pretty much in-sync both in and outside of the band. The name 'Taking Sides' was a No Warning song title.
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


WADE: I knew Brett from going to shows and we both worked at Broadway Shopping Centre on and off at the same time. I was 18 and he was 28. His band Deadstare was already finished by that time and he wasn't doing a new band yet. I'd played some shows with Panic Attacks where I was sometimes doing two shows a night - one with Dime A Dozen and one with Panic Attacks. Anyway, Brett and I always got along and he was kinda like an older brother - always showing me new bands and recommending 7"s. I was only 18 at this point but I'd been sneaking into venues since I was 15 with fake IDs. When Brett started Taking Sides with Amy from Arms Reach and Ricky Taylor, he said the second guitar player should be me. Ricky messaged me out of the blue, I'd never spoken to him before, and he said, "It's Ricky from Restraint. We've started a band that sounds like American Nightmare and Carry On. Do you want to play guitar?" By the time he messaged me I think they had Mook from Toe to Toe on drums too so I was basically joining my dream band with heaps of people who were already in some of my favourite local bands. 
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JON: Ricky had asked Mook from Toe to Toe to drum. Amy Bibby was on guitar at first - I think also Wade was suggested by Graham from Resist and we all knew Brett from his previous thousand other bands. Anyway, Graham told me that they needed a guitarist and Ricky asked me to join as well. I remember in the beginning talking to Ricky and he expressed that he didn't want Taking Sides to be metal at all - so we were trying to create something fast, kinda old school but modern with some melodic undertones I guess.
Jon Williams (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


WADE: We jammed a few times with Amy but never did any shows because she got really busy and couldn't commit, unfortunately. I was bummed when she left - I thought it was because of my guitar playing or something but she later told me she didn't even remember me being there, hahaha. Then Jon from Life.Love.Regret joined. They were probably my favourite Australian hardcore band at the time and easily one of my Top 5 to this day. I loved playing with Jon.
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
BRETT: Recording the demo was just fun. It was at Fridge Studios. There's two different versions of the demo - the pink cover version has an extra song which... I haven't heard in a long time and I'm not sure I want to, haha. I was trying something a little different - I'd been listening to a bit of Strike Anywhere. Let it be known that I cannot sing. 
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

REVIEW OF DEMO: The second I threw the tape into the tape deck I regretted not having bought it earlier. I was hooked. What grabbed me most were the lyrics. They weren't the most original, nor were they the most insightful that I'd heard. Yet I found them to be compellingly relevant. Here was a group who, in 'Old Foundations', were concerned with living their lives int he present rather than revering those of the past. Here was a band who, with the track 'Nothing in Common', reflected my thoughts on growing up in the stiflingly conservative, image-obsessed Hills District. I agreed with the sentiments of 'Shatter' and I knew what it was like to be separated from a loved one for a prolonged period of time.
Michael Tuckerman, Drink Drank Tuck Issue 1, 2007

WADE: The demo and first EP were done really quickly and had the feeling of a band figuring out what we were doing. There was some of the early Amy-written songs mixed together with some of my songs and then some of Jon's songs. Looking back on it now, it seems pretty obnoxious or over confident of me to think I could come in and write anything back then and tell them what to play - considering that they had all been in so many good bands and I hadn't really done anything in that more hardcore music at all yet.
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

BRETT: Our very first show was supporting Terror on their first time down here - it was at a venue in Granville that I'd never been to for a show before (and never went to a show after that there either). I think it was one and done for that place. Our demo was already out so people were moshing and knew some words. We probably did a cover although I don't recall what it may have been... then we all moshed and dove for Terror; people were scared and kept trying to move out of the way of the dives, haha. 
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


WADE: The first Terror tour spot at Granville was a really special show. All Ages. Big crowd. The whole American Nightmare tour was also truly a dream come true for me and I made some lifelong friends with those guys. I was such a fan of the band so it was cool to do that whole tour. The Parkway Drive all ages show at Penrith is also a really good memory because my little brother Harrison from the band Homewrecker was filling in on guitar and we had a killer show that day. Our first tour to Perth where we played with Miles Away was pretty incredible too.
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

REVIEW: The setting was Hardcore 2003, and the band were making their live debut. Once again Eberhard had sustained an injury, this time having broken his wrist before the set, although I was unsurprised to find that he had simply used his plaster-cast as a canvas on which to X-up. Sporting a Last Nerve shirt, he was clearly ready to add his personal touch to Sydney's reemerging old-school scene... Thrashing across the stage like a man possessed, Eberhard spat vocals with a guttural growl as his band delivered a set of unquestionable quality. 
Michael Tuckerman, Drink Drank Tuck Issue 1, 2007


REVIEW: Taking Sides were as subtle as a sledgehammer. Eberhard bounded on stage in what faintly looked like gardening gloves although they were quickly discarded as the more serious business of pounding our skulls-in began. All the tracks off the demo made an appearance... I think they threw a Floorpunch cover in somewhere but who cares? They could have played 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and still sounded brutal.
Michael Tuckerman, Drink Drank Tuck Issue 1, 2007

BRETT: We recorded Smash the Windows at some remote property on the Central Coast. It was pleasant. Too pleasant for a hardcore band.
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JON: We recorded Smash the Windows to the Dead Hearts and hearing back Brett's first takes it reminded me of Mid Youth Crisis. Brett wanted to redo his vocals and put more into it, sing it harder, and it gave it a more hardcore vibe.
Jon Williams (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

WADE: Harrison first filled in on guitar before the album came out but after the Smash the Windows EP. Jon had left the band - it was getting too busy and too hard for him with work and life commitments. So we had Harry do a run of shows before Joel joined. 
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

REVIEW OF SMASH THE WINDOWS: Every time I saw Taking Sides, they were consistently good. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised then, to discover that their Smash the Windows to the Dead Hearts is good too. Very good. It kicks off with the brooding 'Another Show', from which the EP takes its title. It gets better with 'The Outcome' - a track about isolation and frustration. 'Save Your Prayers' is an absolute belter. A song about religion, it is a scathing indictment of ideologies that have been responsible for the death and oppression of more people than any other cause. Carrying on the theme of death and oppression is 'Clock In/Clock Out', a mid-paced song about conformity. The EP ends with another couple of corkers, the cracking 'Cut to Ribbons', a traditional hardcore track about enemies within the scene, and 'Backs to the Wall', a song about fighting complacency and jealousy. Overall the EP mirrors Taking Sides' live set. It is fast, aggressive and to the point. Mook batters away at the skins relentlessly. His driving beats are complemented by Ricky's skill on bass, and his unquestionable talents are in turn matched by those of Jon and Wade on guitar. As a unit they're tight. And in Eberhard they have a vocalist whose stage presence and personality is enough to draw punters through the door. He wears his heart on his sleeve and, regardless of the current rhetoric surrounding straight-edge ideology, he and Mook wear their Xs on their fists. Love them or hate them for it, they're visible role models to those who identify with the straight-edge scene.
Michael Tuckerman, Drink Drank Tuck Issue 1, 2007

Image from Ryan at Rest Assured. Possibly from 2003.

JON: We toured with Give Up the Ghost and I Killed the Prom Queen. That was a lot of fun, great bands and great people. We played in Canberra and Ricky and I had some white out. We grabbed Wade's phone and wrote a message on it, thinking we were funny as, and waited for Wade to see his new message. It was such a fun time being in Taking Sides and it was a great time in Australian hardcore. There were so many great bands and great people. 
Jon Williams (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

BRETT: All our shows were special in one way or another. I'm a simple man, if people moshed and sang along or just had fun - that's all that mattered. Wait, Gabe from Jungle Fever threw a handful of gravel in my face during a sing along at an early show. I've always wanted to do that to someone ever since he did it and I always forget or there's just no band playing that I want to sing along to. We went on a tour a bit - we played with a lot of touring bands, and did little runs as well. Pretty much any decent U.S. band that came through we played the Sydney shows. 
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 

 
JON: I had to unfortunately leave Taking Sides as I was living in Newcastle so the travel just to practice was a bit hard.
Jon Williams (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
JOEL: Jon, who lived in Newcastle, quit Taking Sides to concentrate fully on The Dead Walk!. From what I was told, when I joined, they were looking for a replacement and struggling - and were talking to members of Stronger Than Hate, who'd just replaced a guitarist (and had also struggled with it). They mentioned to them, "You'll need to think outside the square trying to find someone else". Supposedly they took a while to find a replacement until they got a guy who used to play in black metal bands (most notably Dimmu Borgir), because there weren't too many other guitarists 'in the scene' that weren't already playing in bands. I knew Wade well from our two punk bands playing together a lot (him - Dime A Dozen, me - Badanga) and, even though I played bass, he called me and said, "Hey - can you play guitar? We decided to see if any bass players we know can play guitar". And, as luck would have it, I was putting down a guitar I was playing to answer his call! In Taking Sides, I did all the 'simple' stuff and Wade did all the 'tricky' stuff, which was fine by me. A few days after the phone call I went to Wade's place in Enmore and we sat in his bedroom and went through about 8 songs from their demo tape and EP. Ricky Taylor came past to see how it all went and, after chatting to Wade, he asked me, "So... will you go off?" And I kinda looked at him like, I'm not sure what the question is...? To which he replied, "On stage. Will you move around and go off?" And I confirmed that I would - and basically that was my interview. I was now officially the other guitarist in Taking Sides.
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
BRETT: Ricky was such fun to be around and such a menace sometimes, but he had a good heart. He single-handedly stopped these two big guys from beating on this kid on the Gold Coast when we were walking around after the show. He had them both up against the wall by their throats. We stood behind him and thought, "Well, he's got this situation sorted." The cops rolled up and said, "What's going on?" and we replied, "Not much... there's no problem." Hahaha. Fuck, some of the funniest things happened in the time with this band. On the overnight drive to Melbourne once, for some reason, we were talking about Once Were Warriors and the scene where he says "Cook the man some fuckin' eggs!" And no word of a lie, we get into Melbourne city as the sun is coming up, turn towards Footscray, and written huge on this wall on the corner was "Cook the man some fuckin' eggs" We completely lost our minds. It was fucking surreal. We always spoke about having head noise and joked about it... and I think, as fun as those times were, we were all going through it in one way or another. I think that's why we were so tight. We were just all kind of out of our minds and a little unhinged. 
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
JOEL: My first show was Hardcore 2004 at the Gaelic Club, with a bunch of bands. The main thing I remember is that, a few weeks before, our drummer Mook was telling us at prac that he had a dream where these kids were dancing in a building that didn't have any walls - just structural poles and shit - and they were mindlessly dancing to the song where the only lyric were "60 kids, 60 kids, 60 kids, kids kids" and, as they danced, they would knock each other off the building but be totally oblivious to the carnage. Anyhow - so I made a shirt that said '60 kids' on it, thinking it would be a funny inside joke. Stories that go nowhere!
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
JOEL: My first show with the band was with Sick Of It All at the Gaelic Club. I don't remember much of it, 'cause I was scared shitless. Not of the crowd size, but of the fact I'd only been playing guitar for about three weeks before the show... Taking Sides was very organised.We had all comes from bands who had done a few things here and there, and put all our knowledge together and went from there. Mind you, it did help to have Graham at Resist Records on our side. Ricky Taylor is also a really smart dude when it comes to bands. He knows what has to be done, and has a drive like no other person I'd ever seen.
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), CTW Issue 11, September 2005
 
BRETT: We went to W.A. once - someone flew us there and back, haha, I think that was the deal. They paid our airfares and we just stayed at people's houses. It was a great time - they looked after us and we played with From the Ruins. At the first Perth show I was so tired from the flight though, I had an in-depth discussion with someone about The Misfits, then apparently when I walked off the guy said to his friend, "Man, that junkie knows a lot about The Misfits", hahaha.
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


MOOK: We actually played a skate park in Perth. It was an all ages show on a Sunday arvo. It was huge. So many kids. We had such a great time. Ricky and Wade were so hungover from the partying the night before. It was hilarious. Plus the Youth Centre was soooo fucking hot, haha.
Ben Muckenschnabl (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

NOTES: As Taking Sides takes the stage, the crowd seems to formulate itself into three groups. There are those pressed against the barrier (the Taking Sides singer expresses his regret that the barriers are there at all but requests the audience makes 'the best of a bad situation'). The second group are those in 'the pit' (the dancefloor), and, further back, the majority of passive onlookers stand with arms crossed. Whilst the band's energy is high, what draws my attention from them are the people in 'the pit'. They are dressed in the standard hardcore jock-style attire. Baseball caps, hoodies, band T-shirts, long shorts and bandanas emulating the American style of hardcore punk dress. During the band's breakdowns, these kids erupt in a torrent of flailing arms and legs in dance moves such as 'windmilling' and 'floorpunching', the effect of which is that one cannot seem to distinguish one dancer from another. But when the vocals kick back in and the singer (BxE - the X standing for straightedge) holds out the mic to the crowd, there is a rush to the front to join and take turns yelling into said mic. Some even seem to mount those in front of them in an effort to reach the front of the stage. The other members of the band at this point seem almost secondary, their role being to merely provide the soundtrack to which this dynamic between the singer and the audience takes place.
Jo Donovan, Participant-Observation of Manning Bar show for Academic Paper, 2005

JOEL: It was exciting for me to be playing guitar because it was a new instrument - I was learning as I was going and 'getting better' at it, which was like when I was in Year 9 and first started playing bass in high school cover bands. There was an air of "Let's see if I can fool these people into thinking I'm competent at this," because I was never scared of being on stage with a bass. So this kept me on my toes a bit more.  
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
MOOK: Taking Sides was a proper brotherhood. We loved each other like family. Whenever we'd play a show, I could be in the crowd watching the bands before us and each member would be in arm's reach to me. It was special. I've connected with all band members of each band I've been in, but Taking Sides was different - it was family for me. We all had the drive to be a great live band, a band that stood out somewhat. Any band can sound great on a recording but not every band can pull ff a great live set night after night. I feel we did that. We were better live. We were serious about our craft. We also started from nothing and built it together.
Ben Muckenschnabl (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
BRETT: Dresscode was recorded at the most-evil-Astenyu-from-Dimmu-Borgir-and-Stronger-Than Hate-backyard/laundry-recording studio at his grandma's house. There was a painting of Kramer from Seinfeld hanging on the wall and I think it was later during the recording gang vocals for the first Dead Walk CD that I couldn't stop laughing at it. I just thought of how absurd it was to just be hanging there. 
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOEL: My only memory of recording Dresscode was that it was hot as fuck. We recorded in January with Jamie from Stronger Than Hate. He had a granny flat at his place, which was kinda in the Fairfield area, that he had converted into a studio, and there was zero aircon and it was brutal.
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


WADE: By the time the album came along (and Jon had left the band) it was almost all songs that I'd brought into the rehearsal room. I'm sure if you asked Brett he'd tell you that the lyrics would be hard for him to connect to today but at the time he was clearly going through some shit. So unique and brutal and kind of poetic but never flowery or stupid. Right to the point. Kinda like him. And he was really open and cool with me writing some stuff too for one song and when he delivered it he did it with full power, like he could get behind it on my behalf too. Ricky would write the maddest mosh parts for songs and then I'd write some other stuff around them that could lead to that so a few of them were Ricky's idea too. And I could always rely on Mook to play exactly what was necessary for the parts and also play super fast and extremely hard. He added flair when needed but could be really straight and to the point when needed.
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOEL: When we'd go to Melbourne we'd stay at Jake Blood's house and we'd play a show there in his lounge room. These shows are always heaps of fun 'cause no one has anywhere to hide. Someone's dancing in front of you, and there's a chance you could get caught up in a pile-on erupting inches way. 
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), CTW Issue 11, September 2005

BRETT: One of the craziest shows was kinda unexpected. We got asked to play this show with some bands, we were pretty much the only straight up hardcore band on the show... anyway, personally I had no idea of who the headliner was, but it was Alexis On Fire. The place sold out and was packed. I thought, "Oh, no one is going to give a fuck about us here." I was so wrong - people just went fucking crazy. There was a barrier and when I was standing on it to have the mic out, these girls kept grabbing at me, hahaha, and I was, "What the fuck is happening here???" We sold every bit of merch we had and the guys in Alexis On Fire were super nice. Years later, my friend Dan, who is good friends with Dallas Green (Alexis On Fire), was wearing one of our shirts and Dallas was like, "Hey! We played with that band in Sydney!"
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
JOEL: We played a few shows with Parkway Drive before they were Parkway Drive. Even back then, they were destined to be huge! And they've worked their ass off to get where they are. We also played in a friend's lounge room in Melbourne one night - shit like that was always fun. Another show that sticks out in my memory is when we got a last minute call (I'm talking, hours before the show) to play with Rise Against at the Annandale Hotel (Irrelevant were meant to play but their singer Damien fell ill). I was, and still am, a big fan of Rise Against so that was a big one for me. 
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
MOOK: We had a great run. Everywhere was amazing except for Adelaide. They were really all about metallic hardcore at the time and didn't know how to take us. Fast, melodic but angry. We definitely had some fans but the shows in Adelaide weren't as wild as other major cities. Sydney was always my favourite. Melbourne definitely embraced us, as well as Brisbane.
Ben Muckenschnabl (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
BRETT: Another cool show was when we got to play with Rise Against at the Annandale Hotel. Again, it was sold out. During Rise Against the bouncers tried to kick out this girl Mel for stage diving. She basically put the show on so I grabbed the bouncer and said, "Yo! She put this thing together... let her go or you're about to have a problem with this entire room". He immediately let her go, hahaha.
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


JOEL: Ever since I joined Taking Sides, I was living on the Central Coast, not working much at all and 'living' off the government. From the first 'audition' in Wade's house in Enmore, to the last show at the Gaelic Club, it was always about having fun. But, it was really hard to make ends meet sometimes... petrol from driving to and from practice, having money to go away on tour, being able to come up with rent money/phone bill money, yadda yadda yadda every week - it just took its toll on me. After a bit of reflecting one night, at what the band had achieved since I'd joined it and what I'd experienced over the last 18 months... I thought it best that I moved on and get my personal life back in order. My last show was at HC05, where there was headwalking, big pits, stage dives, singaongs, Wade and Ricky and BxE deciding to jump into the crowd during our last song - that will probably be the show that sticks in my memory the longest. I never regretted my decision but seeing Taking Sides playing for the first time without me was the weirdest thing ever. I guess it's a feeling you can only get when you quit a band and then see them for the first time without you up on stage. Now I know how Jon may have felt when I played Taking Sides' show with Sick Of It All.
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), CTW Issue 11, September 2005

REVIEW: Taking Sides... have what most mosh hardcore bands don't: charisma and personality. Taking Sides, who are playing their last show soon, had the most developed sound of any of the bands on the night, and Brett's Ron Jeremy-styled moustache was winning points. 
Tesco Dee, What We Do Is Secret Issue 2, October 2005

MOOK: Our final show (before we made a little comeback) was amazing. It was Bar Broadway in 2005. Completely sold out with a heap of people outside trying to get in. Other great shows we'd played were the Bat and Ball with Within Blood and Last Nerve, that was bonkers. The shows with Hope Conspiracy were amazing, and the tours with American Nightmare and Throwdown were very special too. There were honestly so many stand out shows that I feel extremely blessed to have experienced it.
Ben Muckenschnabl (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOEL: I left a few months before the band pulled the pin. The reason I left was because I was getting pretty serious with my then-girlfriend (now wife) and I was over being broke. Such a boring reason. I loved that band, I love the members in it... it just made sense at the time to leave. I saw them twice after I left - once at the Annandale Hotel supporting The Explosion (where Harry, Wade's brother, played guitar) and their last show at Bar Broadway (where Jigzy from Jungle Fever played with them). 
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

WADE: After Joel left the band we had Harry do another run of shows with us and also Jay 'Jigzy' from Adelaide band ShotPointBlank also fill in. I think if we did another record we would have had Harry as a permanent member.
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

HARRY: I was the fill-in guitarist between when Joel left and before Jiggzy joined. I played three shows, maybe four. We played an all ages show with Parkway Drive at the Penrith Backdoor club, then we did two shows with The Explosion at the Anandale... I was only 16 at the time so I was smuggled in early and had to stay out of sight so as not to get kicked out. It was so sick! I was still in high school, had braces and everything. Ricky grabbed me to show me the queue of people waiting to get in at the Parkway show. It wasn't until then that I had even thought about how nerve-wracking it was going to be. It should be noted that Ricky took me to look at the queue purely to laugh at me, hahaha. 
Harry Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

BRETT: The band finished when Wade joined this band The Scare and they got some kind of deal in England. Ricky was moving to Canada, and I'd started to tattoo and wanted to focus on that. So it just ended when it did. I don't recall a specific last show. Maybe we didn't announce it until we were playing. 
Brett Eberhard (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

WADE: In 2004 we'd played at Manning Bar in Sydney opening for Alexisonfire on their first Australian tour. Also opening on that bill was QLD band The Scare. I became friends with those guys that night mainly because they were my age and (sadly) into drugs and partying. Whenever The Scare came to Sydney they would stay at my place in Enmore - and they were touring a lot at the time, so we hung out a lot. They were from a totally different genre of music that Brett and Ricky and Mook certainly weren't into - which I understood completely but I liked them for whatever reason so we had stayed in touch. At the time the hardcore scene wasn't as diverse and inclusive as it maybe would be now and I would get shit on a lot for hanging out with people like them. But I get it, different worlds. Anyway - in 2005, Taking Sides was opening for Throwdown (US band) throughout Australia and, when we were playing Brisbane, The Scare guys came down to the show to hang out with me. They'd just kicked their bassplayer out for being too wasted all the time and someone jokingly said to me while we were all hanging out, "You look like you should be in our band more than Taking Sides" (I think because they were all junky-looking kids in skinny jeans). It's important to note that The Scare were aged between 17-18 at that time. I had just turned 21, which meant Ricky and Brett were 31. I was a firm believer in trying to do a band for ten years and I really wasn't sure Taking Sides was gonna last that long. Ricky was mad into snowboarding. We rarely toured through winter because he would buy a snow pass and be down at Perisher every weekend. He'd just been to Canada for a snow boarding trip and met a girl and was flirting with the idea of moving their already. The band felt like it could go either way and I was keen to do it forever but wasn't sure if Taking Sides could sustain Ricky being overseas. Touring overseas wasn't as common back then for local Australian bands - at the time I reckon the only band I'd ever heard of that had played overseas shows was Day of Contempt. On the nights in Brisbane, The Scare jokingly asked if I'd play bass - I was guitarist in Taking Sides and they basically said, "We have The Taste of Chaos tour with The Used in two months, then an Australian tour and then we are moving to England indefinitely. Are you in?
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOEL: To my knowledge, the band called it a day 'cause one too many line up changes suck. I 'passed the torch' to Jiggzy from Shotpointblank, and when Wade decided to take the role as bassplayer in The Scare, I think it was decided that the band wouldn't be the same - the main songwriter was gone and it was probably better that they called it quits now, on a positive note. Most Australian hardcore bands have a shelf life of 2-3 years and then kinda end badly. At least this way it hasn't left a sour taste in everyone's minds.
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), CTW Issue 11, September 2005


WADE: By the time Taking Sides got to Sydney (on the Throwdown tour) I'd made my mind up to join The Scare. It was mainly because I could see they were hungry to do something for a long time, put it all on the line, move overseas, and give it a shot on the world stage. And I couldn't see that happening with Taking Sides, which was fair, we'd done that band to death by the time it ended and I was selfishly looking for a way to do music full time for a long time. And it paid off for me. That was September 2005. There was a few months where I played in both bands to finish out Taking Sides and do some farewell shows. By the time the band was over I was pretty sure everyone hated me for joining a band like The Scare. Which is fine. I was sad when it ended. I loved every mnute of being in that band and I still love all those guys. We patched it up a long time ago and all surviving members are still good friends. 
Wade Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

HARRY: I still to this day don't think the hardcore scene ever reached the height it reached in this era. Taking Sides, Last Nerve, Jungle Fever, Miles Away... the early '00s, in my opinion, was Australian hardcore at its best. And to get to play in Taking Sides and to be involved in it was life changing!
Harry Keighran (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


MOOK: Ricky and I started talking about a reunion and knew that we'd have to convince Brett. We knew we'd get Wade and Joel on board pretty quickly. Once we started practicing again, it was like we never stopped. It only lasted three shows, but it was worth it. Brett pulled the pin after the show we did with Life.Love.Regret in Newcastle. We would have kept going if everyone was open to it - Wade, Ricky and I wanted to write new music and tour again. Taking Sides was some of the happiest times of my life. 
Ben Muckenschnabl (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOEL: The reunion shows we did were heaps of fun - they can sometimes go pear-shaped but these were great fun. We lost Ricky Taylor in 2018, and there's hardly a day that goes by that I don't think about him. RIP Ricky Fucking Taylor. 
Joel Attenborough (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

RELATED BANDS: Toe to Toe, Straight to a Tomb, Badanga, Ballpark, Jungle Fever, Old Music for Old People, Irrelevant, Punk Rock Hillbilly, Through Being Cool, Padre, Deadstare, Black Fucking Eye, Cop Gestapo, Had It, Never Right, Razorback, Society's Chain, Dominant Hand, Restraint, The Scare, Dime a Dozen, The Panic Attacks, Pitbull Attack, Thrush, TBK, Eightfold, Zero Tolerance, xCautionx, Wolf & Cub, The Dead Walk, Arms Reach, Life.Love.Regret, Homewrecker, ShotPointBlank, Anomie, Found My Direction, Dropsaw, Discussion with a Gun, True Gentleman, Sex Wizard, Masstrauma, No Apologies, The Tossers








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