about us
about the cactus
Founding member Michael "Earnie" Taylor:
"I think in was in `88 or `89 when I was recording (album) Earnie and Friends on cassette. I was working with Paul "Eggs" Benedict and he and I came up with (the name) based on a drawing my son* made."
* His son, Robin Taylor Wright, at a very young age drew a cowboy laughing his ass off. Dad liked it.
"We weren't sure if the cowboy was laughing because he was sleeping on a cactus or the cactus was somehow possessed and made people who sleep under it laugh. Anyhow, I think the smoke was pretty thick when we came up with that and then just carried it on through my recordings or any other times when I would have to put a label on it."
The METO Orchestra. L to R: Ross Mulligan, Michael "Earnie" Taylor, Terri Dans, Carol Miller, and Jeff Laughton at their jam spot in Stratford, Ontario.
Robin Taylor Wright, current artistic director, did a bit of writing at the University of Toronto in 2014, 2015. He moved up to northern Ontario and the Universe brought him a wee baby boy to raise with his co-parent. After some reflection, maturity, and managing mental illnesses, he decided to start writing again. He resurrected an older title called "Home for Boys" and ever since then, he's been touring under the Cactus label (with his dad's blessing) and focusing on developing new ideas, new works, and new laughs that come from the human heart - in an increasingly artifically generated arts world.
RTW, with Marmalade, 2025