Band Name: 
Interviewed: Taddy Porter
Interviewer: 
Date: 2010-07-17
Previous Interviews

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I’M AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES IN ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA TALKING WITH TADDY PORTER. HEY GUYS THANKS FOR TALKING WITH ME. YOUR SELF TITLED DEBUT ALBUM IS NOW OUT, SO CONGRATULATIONS!
Taddy Porter: Thank you so much, it was two or three years in the making, so we are really excited.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I’M EXCITED TOO. IT DID REMARKABLY WELL IN ITS FIRST WEEK. YOUR SINGLE “SHAKE ME” DEBUTED AT #3 AS THE MOST ADDED TRACK AT ACTIVE ROCK. HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO HEAR THAT?
Taddy Porter: Excellent because we heard the song the day we wrote and recorded it, but it took a long time for it to get out. We were really happy with the song, we thought it was a cool rock track, so it was cool to actually see it do that well. It was a very good feeling.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I TALKED TO YOU BACK IN FEBRUARY AND WE DISCUSSED THE MAKING OF THE ALBUM. LIKE I SAID BEFORE YOU ARE APPEALING TO A WIDE RANGE OF PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE PEOPLE WHO GREW UP ON CLASSIC ROCK AND THEN YOU HAVE THE YOUNGER KIDS WHO ARE REALLY INTO THAT NOW TOO. WHAT AGE RANGE DO YOU TYPICALLY SEE AT YOUR SHOWS?
Taddy Porter: You will see a bunch of different age ranges depending on where we are playing. You'll see four year olds dancing in the front all the way up to seventy year olds. We had some seventy year olds coming up to us last night telling us how much they enjoyed it. You see a little bit of everything, it's pretty fun.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT BANDS DO YOU OFTEN GET COMPARED TO?
Taddy Porter: There is a bunch of different random ones. We hear The Black Crowes a lot, The Black Keys, Ted Nugent and Bad Company. It’s cool though because those are our influences.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHO DID YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WERE GROWING UP?
Taddy Porter: We listened to classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Bros. and the Beatles.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: BESIDES THE STANDARD GUITAR, BASS AND DRUMS DO YOU INCORPORATE ANY OTHER INSTRUMENTS INTO YOUR RECORDINGS?
Taddy Porter: Yes, there is actually some organ on the album. We don't have a keys player at the moment, but we are in the looks for one maybe. There's not a lot of room in the van right now, so it's a hard decision.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: THE ALBUM COVER IS CLASSIC, WHICH I LIKE. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BIRD?
Taddy Porter: The bird on the cover of the album is a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher which is the Oklahoma State bird where we are from. It's not a mythical creature, it's the real deal. When it flies the tail goes back and forth like scissors opening and closing. Anyone from Oklahoma knows that though.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: TWO OF YOUR SONGS WERE FEATURED ON ENTOURAGE'S SEASON PREMIER. WHICH SONGS WERE THEY AND DO YOU WATCH THE SHOW?
Taddy Porter: The two songs were "Mean Bitch" and "King Louie." We do watch the show and we were very happy when we found out we were going to be on Entourage. We have heard many of our favorite bands play on it. It was really nice.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I HEARD YOU WERE GIBSON GUITAR'S "ARTIST OF THE MONTH" IN JUNE. WHAT PRIVILEGES COME WITH THAT TITLE?
Taddy Porter: You get to hang out on Twitter a lot. We helped promote them through Twitter and they did the same with us and featured us on their website. It was one of those they help us and we help them sort of thing.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: CURRENTLY YOU ARE ON TOUR WITH SAVING ABEL AND WE ARE THE FALLEN. IS THIS YOUR FIRST COAST TO COAST TOUR?
Taddy Porter: I guess so if you consider that it is all in one run.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: HOW ARE YOU LIKING LIFE ON THE ROAD AND WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING TO GET USED TO?
Taddy Porter: On the way up here we drove through the desert and our van has a tendency to overheat so we have to drive without air conditioning. We have to roll down the windows with the heat on full blast. Those are the bad things you have to go through. Long drives with no air conditioning can be rough sometimes. Sleep deprivation is also bad, but it’s worth it.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: HOW WAS ROCK ON THE RANGE?
Taddy Porter: It was great. There was a huge crowd. There was probably 5-6,000 people there. A lot of them knew our music and we had a really great show. We got whisked away to go do some interviews, so it was a pretty rock star feeling day. It was a good one.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: YOU GUYS ARE ROCK STARS! AFTER THIS TOUR IS OVER IN AUGUST, WHAT ARE THE PLANS?
Taddy Porter: I think we will go to Disneyland. No, I think we are going to take a little break and write some more songs. We picked up some shows with Slash. He is touring with Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge. It will be great to listen to Slash play every single day.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO THAT YOU HAVEN’T DONE YET?
Taddy Porter: We would like to play in New Orleans, leave the country to play a show and maybe get some TV.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RELEASE AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD OR SAY ANYTHING?
Taddy Porter: We are on Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, check us out! Thank you for listening out there and be good to each other.