Here’s my crazy taxi story, and I thought I’d share a bit about myself too. (hope you don't mind)
i hope this is right spot tooWell as some of us might relate, I suddenly found myself getting older and gaining some weight.. (LOL), so I did what most people do and jumped on a treadmill.
As I walked and walked in a daze, I found myself getting really bored.. So, I grabbed my IPhone to troll around YouTube for some interesting videos and mainly to keep my mind off how much I hate walking on that treadmill..(lol)
One day, I stumbled upon a (Taxi TV YouTube video) and found myself watching the full episodes, CRAVING MORE. Needless to say there were many more and I started walking away my extra pounds.(yay)
I will say, I wasn’t completely convinced this was a legit operation with all the scams I’ve seen in this world (especially coming straight out of Los Angeles) , Sooooo… I WAS a very hard sell at this point but remained interested and proceeded to log in to the LIVE shows with the chat on USTREAM Mondays nights ..
BTW, glad to say I’m a taxi member 4 years strong at this point. I’ve been very happy with my experience so far.
So , I researched and researched for almost 2 years, as I was somewhat hypnotized by these darn taxi TV shows for some reason. Michaels personality as a CEO appeared extremely educated, warm, and very honest..(Which helped me make this tough choice?)
I WAS in my late 40’s with 2 older teens (about to have that empty nest thing with my wife) and I DID give up the music business I was in “cold turkey” to raise my family in 1999. My discovery of taxi TV was around 2011 (around 12 YEARS after I gave it up, I think) and..Suddenly! I was itching to put together the old studio equipment I had in storage back together In a spare room..
(Needless to say, I was VERY out of date) my system was mostly a midi based MPC triggering rack mount sound modules using a ensonic keyboard controller “old school yuckyness”..(no, there wasn’t a computer in the setup )that’s the way I worked back then.. I was mainly a performing EDM DJ (lol) although, just before I packed it away I WAS starting to experimenting with the computer I used to burn demo mix show CD’s with…I started with a DAW Program called Acid.4.0 (which was pretty cool) I also used fruity loops too (now called, FL studio) and even Pro Tools LE (good stuff back then but my wife’s Mac was wack, LOL)
Well, it wasn’t long TILL some taxi members reached out and began to school me on the more modern setup and this may have been the best part about joining taxi.
So hooray for me I finally decided to join taxi and even booked my flights .. My first rally was VERY exciting and crazy… I knew but only one person who didn’t even know me (LOL). I guess I should have made more friends online and in the forum before I went. (arrgg). Well, that didn’t stop me, I marched right up to the boss with a cheesy smile and said hello this is my first rally, and with the TAXI TV warm smile I knew so well he said “welcome” but then politely said “ I wish I could talk, but I’m terribly busy with prepping this rally, but please enjoy yourself”.. (I didn’t forget those words) I thought to myself if he only knew the impression he made on me, and how my life improved with this new found vigor and enthusiasm. After all, I flew all the way to Los Angeles for the first time, by myself just to go to a convention I knew of one person.
Every since then, I have renewed my taxi membership every year… I worked hard re-learning my craft and tried to network intelligently like I did successfully in my previous musical career, I did make a few adjustments, mainly to get connected with possible deal makers. (Wow, so much easier now with the internet)
So, I Joined any and all groups (including the taxi forum) and soon I was even being invited to join many other groups on social media with people who really shared my interests and also found happiness within taxi community..(It’s this point I must stress, for new members that you control yourself and be professional) at this point you must be positive and magnanimous if you plan to be effective in a tough politically driven business like music.. (As I learned so many years ago) if you’re simply not liked you will fail (WITH EXCEPTION TO KANYE, LOL) doors will most likely close, and you WILL struggle.. You just never really get a second chance to make a first impression..
On a lighter note, I can now say that the taxi family has been truly a magical experience and most of the members are very helpful.. I clearly have made some real friends that I would have never known if it weren’t for taxi...I can’t quite describe the loyalty’s of some. I can also attest that so far from my perspective mostly all the taxi staff I met or spoke to in the past seemed very genuine and caring… taxi did offer so much more than I was expecting.
FTR, I’m currently a 16 year self-employed, Commercial/ Residential Real Estate Investor/Developer and my BIO is fairly exotic, as I’m a retired army veteran of the gulf war era, I also worked professionally part time as a Pro EDM Nightclub DJ for well over a decade , mainly on weekends, when available, and mostly stateside.. I’m proud of the “thousands” of live performances spanning 1986-2003 and from south Florida to Massachusetts, some shows alongside the biggest names in the 90’s
I was very lucky to effectively supervise and craft playlists in many, many, genres. I mostly excelled in “live beat mixing shows” mainly in clubs and often times with live remotes alongside major local radio stations and personalities.. My shows were always fully beat mixed underground and top40 electronic dance music (now called EDM) I simply used 2-3 turntables and crates of carefully picked vinyl records pitched to me from local record pools, shipped from all parts of the world..
*I would Listen to over 200 new white label “test press” records a week in my home, for the possibility to be played in my live sets where ever my dj residency was at that time ..it was quite a task and now I reflect with a chuckle as I learned how Music Supervisor of today have the similar task but on a much bigger level with today’s massive ocean of artists and composers now producing.
So, I would have NEVER came back this far to this day without Michael,the awesome Taxi Members and his very very helpful staff . The TAXI concept works, the information is put out there.. But, you MUST be committed. If you’re new and you’re reading this do not lose your hope if you get knocked down. DO NOT lose you cool and stay positive “everyone IS watching you ...”
This is I think my fourth year and now “just this year” I’ve had 10+ placements to date ( that I know of) and my first “PAID royalty BMI statement” came in just last month…also, I now have over 35 tracks in libraries and written over 150 pieces. And again, this is completely because I joined taxi AND became a part of the community.. I won’t lie there were moments where I was going to give up.. But I now see this will easily take me in the direction I craved, for the rest of my life..
*Sorry this went on so long perhaps I talk too much (lol)
.. oh well it was fun. Cheers. jimmy
