Taken for Granted
Laval, Quebec, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | SELF
Bio
Montreal-based band Taken for Granted’s journey started in 2015, when Maxime Toussaint, vocalist and guitarist, released his first EP Until Now as a solo Alternative Pop/Punk project. In order to be able to play a live release show, he decided to bring new members on board for one show. Amongst this quickly put ephemeral team was keyboardist Alexis Thivierge, whom later joined as a full-time member.
With college starting later that same year, Maxime put the project on the ice for a while. Upon his studies in music, he met other musicians that shared his love of music, and with whom he decided to start a cover band. After having jammed for a few months together and seeing as they had a nice chemistry together, Maxime asked guitarist Raphaël Girouard-Laflamme, bassist Xavier Paquette and drummer Louis Nadeau if they were willing to get on board and officially make Taken for Granted graduate from a one-man band to a full-pledged 5 piece project. After listening to the songs Maxime was working on, they all agreed. The only missing piece was the keyboardist, and so Alexis was called back, this time for more then a show.
The recording of their first album started in October 2016 and dragged on for half a year. During that time, Xavier started taking a different musical path, leaning more towards more progressive and experimental music. Around the same time, Louis had to practice more and more for school-related exercises for personal motives, leaving not much time for band practice. As such, at the beginning of 2017, Taken for Granted was left without drum and bass. Not wishing to stop playing their gigs, they played for a few months with replacement musicians until, during the summer of 2017, they finally found the right fit: Jean-Sébastien Pelchat would bring his energy to the bass, while Mathieu Giosi hit the drums with all he had. As such, Taken for Granted’s formation was finally complete.
With the release of Into the Abyss in August 2017, the band really took a step forward in their plan to share the music, starting with “Until Daybreak”, a catchy single that once you get in your head, you just can’t forget. They also got Sebastian Roel, which got known for his incredible performances at La Voix (Quebec’s version of the american The Voice) to come and sing a verse of Follow Me with them. Despite some lighter songs, Into the Abyss features a darker vibe than it’s predecessor, while retaining the drive and the intensity that makes Taken for Granted stand out. Aiming forever higher, they plan to takes their place in the landmark that is today’s music scene.
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