Name Taken

Name Taken was an American rock band from Orange, California. They were originally known as All That's Left in October 1999 until they discovered that the name was already taken; thus the name "Name Taken".[2] The band started in the eighth grade where they would play shows in their amphitheatre at lunch. They later succeeded to record for such compilations as Atticus I and Warped Tour 2002.[3]

Name Taken
OriginOrange, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1999–2005
  • 2007
  • 2018
Labels
Past members
  • Chad Atkinson
  • Blake Means
  • Ryan Edwards
  • Juan Pereda
  • Danny Valencia
  • Bret Meisenbach

History

The band began practicing in a basement in their drummer's house. With each of the members being only 14 or 15 years old, they played shows at backyard parties and church dances. After parting ways with one of their guitarists, Chad Atkinson, Blake Means and Bret Meisenbach (former drummer) headed into the studio to record a demo, still under the name All That's Left. They produced, printed, and sold The Stupid Chad EP \by themselves. Shortly after, they decided to add a second guitarist, Ryan Edwards. They also discovered that there was another band under the name All That's Left, so they decided a change was necessary. The title "Name Taken" was chosen. In August 2001, with a new guitar section and a new name, the band went into Love Juice Laboratories in Riverside, CA to record yet another EP. After 3 days of recording, the EP The Silent Game was born. The recording was quickly picked up by Top Notch Records and put into pressing and released roughly 3 or 4 months later. In the following months their drummer planned to leave Name Taken; he was replaced by Danny Valencia of Downey, CA. Now with Name Taken's line-up in full force, the band had been picked up by One Moment Management, appeared on numerous compilation CDs and showcased for numerous record labels.

The band played shows in California with groups such as Yellowcard, Rufio, and Saosin, and toured with Alexis On Fire, Silverstein, Midtown, Homegrown, and Senses Fail. In July and August 2004, the group went on tour with Fall Out Boy, Bayside, Armor for Sleep, and The Academy Is....[4] The band split up in 2005[5] after two years of touring to pursue their college education. Chad and Blake attended Cal State Fullerton, Ryan Edwards attended University of California, Berkeley and went on to be a graduate student at Cornell University.

In February 2007 they announced that they were due to play two reunion shows on May 5 and May 6, 2007 at Anaheim's Chain Reaction.[6] Paul Riscalla assisted with drum duties for the shows. Despite the fact that both shows were sold out,[2] the band never regrouped to record a new album. On November 28, 2007, a message from Blake appeared on absolutepunk.net saying that Name Taken would in fact not be reforming and that the shows were just for fun. They released their first song in 14 years, "Blood And Bones", in July 2018.

The lyrics to the band's song "Panic" are said to have been the inspiration for the name of the platinum-selling band Panic! at the Disco.[7]

Panic at the disco
 Sat back and took it so slow
 Are you nervous? Are you shaking?

Reception
  • "Ignoring the uninspired power chord conventions of their scene, they chase each other across their respective fretboards forming tightly woven patterns." - AbsolutePunk review of The Silent Game [8]
  • "It's more emo on the brain...roils with the urgent, slickly produced fury that defines so much of this genre." - Allmusic review of Hold On [9]
  • "...an album that admittedly sounds a lot like every other emo-punk band in the genre, but still contains the energy and sense of melody that most of the other bands forget about." - Punknews.org review of Hold On [10]

Band members

Final line-up

  • Chad Atkinson - Vocals/Bass
  • Ryan Edwards - Guitar
  • Blake Means - Guitar

Early members

  • Juan Pereda - Drums (never played on any records)
  • Danny Valencia - Drums
  • Bret Meisenbach - Drums

Discography
  • The Stupid Chad EP (Independent, 2000)
  • The Silent Game (Top Notch Records, 2001)
  • Hold Your Breath, You Know How Long (unreleased, 2002)
  • Bayside/Name Taken split (Dying Wish Records, 2003)
  • Hold On (Fiddler Records, 2004)
  • Blood and Bones (Single) (Independent, 2018)

References
  1. Corey Apar (2016). "Name taken". Allmusic. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  2. Apar, Corey. "Name Taken Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  3. Torreano, Bradley. "2002 Warped Tour Compilation - Various Artists". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  4. "Armor For Sleep - "My Town" video online now!". Equal Vision Records. July 1, 2004. Archived from the original on July 22, 2004. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  5. White, Adam (18 May 2005). "Break-ups: Name Taken (1999-2005)". Punknews.org. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  6. "Name Taken Gigography, Tour History". Songkick. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2011-11-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Villagomez, Adrian (7 May 2007). "Name Taken - The Silent Game". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  9. Loftus, Johnny. "Hold On - Name Taken". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  10. TheMarc (14 May 2004). "Name Taken - Hold On". Punknews.org. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
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