Taproot

Fourteen years, seven albums, and hundreds and thousands of tour miles traveled, they are a band of many fortunes; Bad fortunes such as lineup changes and losing record labels, and good fortunes including touring with Deftones, Incubus, Mudvayne, as well as having multiple Top 20 singles off of various albums. Resilience is key when considering Taproot. Bassist Phil Lipscomb tells Maximum Ink a little about where he came from musically, and what sets Taproot and their fans apart.

Maximum Ink: Where did you get your start with music?
Phil Lipscomb: For me personally, my start was with my brother. I got my first bass off of him, and he had been playing guitar for years. I just going from there.

MI: You have been touring a lot in the past year or two. What do you do to stay sane when you’re on the road for months at a time?
PL: Well, my dad was in the Air Force, and I’ve moved around all my life, so I really enjoy traveling. I love being on the road. Two or three months is a long time to be on the road. By the end of the tour, I get that, “I need to be home, and I need to be able to relax for a little bit,” feeling. For the most part, we’re all friends, we’ve been friends for years and we get along pretty well. That helps tremendously.

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Serianna

Maximum Ink: Describe your music to me as if I’m someone who has never seen or heard you perform before.
Chris Ferraro (Drums): I would say it’s honest, intense, hard-hitting metal-core.
Kris Meyer-Ruef (Guitar): Riffs, breakdowns, Sing-alongs, everything we love about metal!

MI: Is there a message that you’re trying to portray with your music?
Chris Ferraro: Our lyrics strive to push people to challenge themselves and their surroundings. From our experiences in life, nothing comes easy, and that’s what makes life worth it.
James Milbrandt (Guitar): Everything we write is as a whole, each of us constantly challenging each other to play/write to the best of our abilities.
Kris Meyer-Ruef: There’s so much negativity in the music scene these days, I guess we hope to set an example with our music to stay positive, and look at live critically; spread tolerance and awareness.

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