Mocktigers

Mocktigers are a band of transplants. Four guys from all over the country who converged on Austin and somehow found each other. Taye Cannon left the Mississippi gulf coast after Hurricane Katrina, Deano Jones is from NYC, Logan Zavala is from California and Justin "8Track" Godwin (the only native Texan), is from Houston. "Austin's definitely the epicenter of the musician lifestyle" says Taye Cannon, "Yeah, they call it the live music capital and all, but slogans aside, we really do have a unique microcosm here that supports a kind of rock and roll bohemia."

These four different personalities united to create an infectious blend of danceable punk rock. "There's a definite obsession with early English punk like Adam Ant, The Damned and The Clash, but there are lots of current bands that have influenced us too—Alkaline Trio, Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, The Gaslight Anthem, and the Bravery have all had a huge impact on our music" says Taye.

Tirelessly writing and performing brought the Mocktigers two CDs in their first three years ("Battle Cry!" (2008) and "Dead in a Warm Place" (2009)), which they recorded and printed on their own "Mock Pit Recordings" label. And there's already work on a 2010 release. Says Deano, "We've always agreed that there's no sense in waiting around for somebody to do something for us. We love everything about a band, not just the shows. Writing, recording, making posters, making our own CDs, it's all great. And at the end of the day it's pretty satisfying to have done it all with just your bros."