Taking Dawn


Tattoos and metal -- they go together like milk and cookies; or bandoliers and devil horns. They go together, that is, unless you're Taking Dawn. The Las Vegas band wants nothing to do with the whole tattoo scene, and the band's lead singer even joked that getting inked would be grounds for dismissal from the band!

"I'm happy an entire generation capitalized on them and they had their own identity, but you know what? In 20 years, my generation is going to be one ugly generation with huge, droopy ears and f---ed up tattoos," Chris Babbitt intoned to Noisecreep.

Babbitt pulls double duty for Taking Dawn, singing his heart out sharing lead guitar duties with fellow axeman Mikey Cross. Babbitt isn't the only one who hates tattoos in the band, but he might be the most vocal about the popular trend. When Babbitt isn't mocking tattoos or observing his generation's fashion sense (which he approves of, by the way), he's working on songs and keeping his vocal chops in check.

Then there's the road. Taking Dawn have been out on many runs this past year, playing with a variety of rock and metal acts. The band also finished up its debut, 'Time to Burn,' with the help of producer Elvis Baskette. Even with a hectic schedule, Babbitt says he's already looking ahead to the future and album number two.

"We're already really excited about stuff on the next record," Babbitt said. "It's a little different, but it has everything that made us 'us' on this record. It feels like we're taking our sound and growing, and I like it a lot."

Like most fledging bands, one or two members take the reins and handle the day to day business affairs. While Taking Dawn are lucky that they landed a recording contract with Roadrunner Records, that doesn't mean they've got tons of cash for a big stage show. Everything is still very much DIY.

"It's our band," Babbitt explains of his partnership with Cross. "We started it from the ground up, and we do pretty much everything for the band ourselves. We write the songs. We do the stage stuff. Right now we're the pyro guys, too. We control everything from stage so we don't have to pay someone else!"

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