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27th
January 2003 - The Life and Times of Daniel Tapper:
20 years of age
Inaugural Retracide member
Studies: A degree of some sort at Murdoch University
It's a wet, cold and windy Thursday morning and I've only just woken
up. As scheduled Daniel Tapper pulls into my driveway in his 1987
Ford Telstar that is struggling in the cold temperatures. I am greeted
warmly by Daniel as I enter his vehicle, he is listening to skid
row on his portable CD player.
I ask Daniel about why he is listening to a Discman powered by a
cigarette lighter socket, which is essentially powered by his car
battery. He says it's because his car was broken into and they stole
it.
I request that we listen to Retracide's latest demo, it's always
a pleasure to listen to a song with one of the band members who
helped write it. Daniel has nothing to hide and is amused by some
of the songs they have recorded. He is more than eager to point
out mistakes on the album as he giggles along at his vocals.The
car trip was fairly silent for a while, I wonder to myself whether
it's an insight into the life of Daniel John Tapper.
I realise another thing about Daniel Tapper as we arrive at university,
he is almost fearless in some ways. Either fearless or ignorant,
as he opts to go without a parking permit and park in the best zone
at the university, hiding the bonnet of his car half way into a
shrub that overhangs the path.
We arrive at university, worlds away from Daniels guitars and amps
for which people know him so well. He seems almost helpless as he
climbs the steps to our tutorial, strange seems he has overcome
larger obstacles with Retracide in the music world. I ask Daniel
about the band but he is far more concerned with the test we're
about to sit, the test that I forgot completely about.
What startles me about Daniels character is his lack of faith in
his own abilities. Here in Willetton we are witnessing a musical
revolution, Retracide is just waiting to go full time. Yet Daniel
spends much of his time working so hard at a degree he intends to
never put to use. Seeing Daniel Tapper from a glance, you might
think him to be a smart man, but as a fan of the band, you might
see it as a complete waste of time. That's a day in the life of
Daniel Tapper, possibly Retracide's most selfish band member.
Steve-o
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