"When they were in their early twenties my mother, Glenys and my father, Eric heard the Buddhist teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche on the radio in Montreal. They decided to seek further knowledge and ended up at a Buddhist centre near Langham, Scotland called Samye Ling. It was there, in a retreat hut in the middle of winter that I was conceived. I suppose most people don’t know or don’t care where or when their conception took place, but to me it seems like an auspicious time and place to have been "made" and has definitely influenced the shape of my life." - Tara Slone

Her parents returned to Canada and Tara was born in Montreal, on September 7, 1973. She began taking classical voice lessons when she was twelve. The more Tara studied, the stronger her voice became, and the more realistic it seemed for mher to make a career out of singing. By the time she hit university age, she’d decided that she would study music, in hopes of becoming an opera singer.

Slone received a scholarship to Dalhousie University, and did a year of the music program there. She quickly realized that, although she loved singing, she didn’t want to spend every minute of her life living and breathing opera. She left school, pierced her nose, got a tattoo, moved to Montreal, and joined a rock band. Tara returned to school a year later at Concordia University, only this time to study theatre. By the time she was in her second year, she was receiving roles in theatre and film, and was missing many of her classes. She was given an ultimatum by the school; either she study or she work, not both. Tara chose the latter and left Concordia, figuring that it was more valuable to learn on the job than in an academic environment. She stayed in Montreal for two more years, and then decided to move to Toronto, where the film industry was booming. It was a hard move for her; she knew nobody in Toronto and missed singing desperately. After six months of misery, bartending and acting in the odd TV show, Tara picked up a newspaper and saw an ad for a band seeking a singer. She almost didn’t bother to call. Tara spoke to someone named Tony on the phone, and made arrangements to meet at the Joydrop rehearsal space. The connection was instant and the rest is history.