Skip to main content[DO IT YOURSELF] Two years ago, Rob Taxpayer decided he wanted to play a gig. His house, a converted meth refuge in St. Johns affectionately called "the slime house," was hosting a benefit concert for Food Not Bombs. "There was no punk band on the bill," he says, talking over 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in his current North Portland crib. "So we put a band together."
That band, since dubbed the Taxpayers, has gained a loyal following of supporters, many underage, who sing along to nearly every song at Taxpayer shows. All three members—singer/guitarist Rob, drummer Noah, and bassist Nate, all in their mid-20s—adopt "Taxpayer" as a last name to keep them anonymous, and the band's name is vague enough that they can support myriad causes.
"Our goal is to use the music itself as a vehicle for something more important than music," Rob says from the home he shares with his girlfriend and two rabbits, Whizbang and Inky. "Ultimately, we want to be sticking our fingers in a bunch of different pots—helping out with gay rights, with bike rights—we didn't want the name to negatively affect who we want to be working with."
The Taxpayers' sound is nearly as eclectic as its range of causes. Heavily influenced by the Minutemen and DIY hero Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi) the band jumps from herky-jerky Against Me!-style acoustic guitar jams to more traditional thrashy pop-punk and countrified narratives about stealing apples from the Man. Rob speaks with the same gravelly voice that he sings in, and it's tough to tell if he just has a nagging cold or has lost a permanent part of his vocal range from yelling so much.
Bracing for the debut of the band's second record, A Rhythm in the Cages, the Taxpayers are playing unorthodox shows that preach the ideas of community and selflessness—including a local release show at the Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center and a trip to Minnesota to play multiple shows around a bicycle race.
"I've met people at shows who've taught me how to screenprint, how to cook, how to garden," says Noah. "It's a much more rich culture when you're championing all these different things and having that be a part of the culture and community. It's not just about bands."
The Taxpayers play Thursday, Jan. 22, at Dunes (9 pm. $1. 21+) and Friday, Jan. 23, at SMYRC (7 pm. Free. 23 and under).
WWeek 2015