Photo by James Birtwhistle
Taco Hell are currently gearing up to release their new EP Breathe Deeply on cassette on August 12. We caught up with drummer Max Qayyum to get an insight into the band’s music tastes and influences. Get involved and check out the music below!
A song that influenced them
Mexican Guitars by The Menzingers. Before we started the band we kinda listed The Menzingers as a band we hoped to sound like. I don’t know if we do at all, but this song is the one we’d want to sound like. I’m a big fan of exciting outros and this one has just about the best.
A song they wish they could have written
Graceless by The National. I think this song is literally perfect. I don’t know how The National write such exciting controlled music, but I think this song is them at their best. When they play it live and Matt screams the ending is the kinda intensity I think every band wishes they could get away with but probably can’t – because they aren’t as cool as The National.
Their favourite Taco Hell song
Hold the Door – we wrote this song just after we released ‘Breathe Deeply’. Joe brought in this cool riff and we turned it into this really moody but kinda happy, loud song. I’m really excited to record it. We’ll probably start raking in all those hits too cos of our super relevant pop culture references or whatever.
A song they’ve been listening to a lot recently
Drove Me Wild by Tegan and Sara. This is one of my favourite songs but I’ve found myself listening to it a ton lately. It’s the perfect pop song, the chorus is absolutely huge. So are the synths.
Their all-time favourite song
Get Mad, You Son of a Bitch by A Wilhelm Scream. Ridiculous song by the most technical band in the punk scene. Super aggressive and driving, but it’s got some cool quieter moments too. The ending especially is perfect. They’re the kind of band that make you want to either be a better musician or stop playing music cos you’ll never be as good as them.
