Bio
Once upon a time, rocknroll was limitless, passionate, and beautiful. It wasn't distracted with the battles of style vs. substance or form vs. function. It was honest, and borne of dreams, passion, and hard work. Do you remember rocknroll? Can you recall the days of back-patches and band logos? Fists raised in unison, pounding beats into the air? Afternoons in parking lots and record stores, with radio stations spinning endless memories? It's been a while, hasn't it?
Formed in Anaheim, California, in 2005, Takota was built with the simple notion that memorable melodies, and explosive performances make for the best bands. Grant Arnow, a classically trained singer, was introduced to drummer Justin Ferreira at Chain Reaction, Orange County's legendary music venue. The two quickly found that they shared a common taste in music, and both having been recently liberated from signed bands, they immediately enacted a plan to build something massive. Through Myspace, Grant and Justin discovered bassist Danny Roddy and guitarist/vocalist Brett Anderson, all of whom shared the same perspective, passion and drive. The group of individuals instantaneously gelled into a band, and before long, they began captivating a massive local following with legendary performances. This spirit expanded quickly into other communities, eventually crossing oceans and energizing other parts of the world.
In Spring of 2006, Takota recorded and released their debut album, 'The Ivory Tower', Produced by Brandon Saller (of Atreyu); an album of powerhouse hooks, energy and staggering ambition. A few of the tracks managed to catch the attention of Bruce Dickinson (of Iron Maiden), who featured Takota on his BBC radio program. Not bad for an unsigned band, right? Equally humbling was the response the album received from the world's press, as illustrated by reviews in such major music magazines as Kerrang, Rock Sound, Classic Rock, AP and Metal Hammer. All of the above encourage this particular band towards greatness. In their short year together, Takota has played with Fall Out Boy, Silverchair, Head Automatica, Further Seems Forever, Bullets and Octane, Zebrahead, Young Love and Bleed the Dream, and this past summer completed a third tour of Europe as they toured with Plain White T's and All Time Low. The UK's Scuzz TV placed Takota's first music video (for 'Carpark Conversation') in main rotation, while Sean Stiegemeier (Atreyu, Haste The Day) recently directed another for 'Satellite'. They've done all of this with the help of their ever expanding fanbase, a few key friendships, and a lot of hard work. Grant, Justin, Danny and Brett have been working hard and digging deep for most of 2007 with producer Bob Marlette on their debut album "Just Before Morning" for Island Records. In March of 2008 Takota welcomed Sergio Ruelas as their lead guitarist. Takota isn't interested in reinventing the wheel, yet they're obviously keen on improving it. And why not bring the once massive sounds of rocknroll out of hibernation, and back onto the stage, one unstoppable melody at a time?
