Jeremy Taggart
- Born: April 7, 1975
Jeremy Taggart
Jeremy Ronald John Taggart is a Canadian drummer, best known for playing with Our Lady Peace.
Taggart was born in Toronto, Ontario on April 7, 1975, and has two brothers and one sister. Music was a central part of his youth, as his parents were also musicians. Taggart learned to play drums at an early age and was displaying a reasonably large amount of talent by the time he was in high school. Despite this talent, music was more of a hobby for him (especially at this point in his life). He auditioned for the then up-and-coming Our Lady Peace in April 1993.
In 1991, Jim Newell, Our Lady Peace's previous drummer, had decided to leave the band due to commitment issues. The remaining members and their management decided to hold open auditions for his replacement. They auditioned over a hundred drummers, and none of them thought a seventeen-year-old high school senior could possibly come out on top.
"About twenty seconds go by, and I run out of the control room into the recording area, and yell, 'I know I'm not supposed to do this, but this is the kid right here. If you let this guy go, you're a bunch of idiots.'" —Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace's former producer)
The band offered him the drumming position and he accepted it. Our Lady Peace had also recently been given a record deal with Sony Music Canada and were playing some small club shows. This caused a few small legal problems; Taggart was only seventeen and performers have to be legal drinking age (which is nineteen in Ontario) in order to perform in bars and clubs, even if they're not drinking. Our Lady Peace was caught trying to perform with Taggart a few times, and had to cancel several performances. They delayed recording their first album, Naveed, until after he had finished high school.
Taggart started recording Naveed with Our Lady Peace after graduating. His parents had originally hoped he would pursue post-secondary studies, but being in the band was too big an opportunity for him to pass up. He has said (in interviews) that his parents were disappointed at first, but eventually realized that he had to make his own decisions and that post-secondary education isn't really for everyone.
Taggart has often described himself as the "zany" member of the band, and has a self-professed fondness for practical jokes. He is easily recognizable due to his thick-rimmed glasses and curly hair.
According to Taggart, his musical influences come mainly from jazz (especially the late Elvin Jones, John Coltrane and Miles Davis), but he also derives much of his style from classic rock. His father, Ron Taggart, was also a big influence on his drumming. The parts he creates are a unique blend of jazz and rock, Jeremy often employs ghost notes, and other jazz techniques to create his sound.
In addition to drumming for Our Lady Peace, Taggart has worked on various side projects, including providing the drums on Chantal Kreviazuk's song "Blue", Geddy Lee's song "Home On The Strange", and The Beautiful Unknown's song "Riot in the House of Ruin". He also appears in the music video for Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott's hit song, "Hero", off the Spider-Man soundtrack, although he did not perform on the actual recording.
He runs a radio/podcast show called Taggarts Take, which mixes interviews of bands and politicians with Taggart's personal remarks. Taggart endorses and plays Istanbul Agop cymbals.
Taggart has two sons, John Ronald James Taggart, who was born on March 6, 2006, and Jack Henry Jones Taggart, born on October 31, 2007. Taggart married his wife Lisa in April, 2007.