MakeaStar.com: Welcome to the finals. Did you ever think you would get this far?

Soul Taco: Never in a million years!

MAS: What do you think it is about your song that it has gotten into the finals?

ST: Ground Shaker has a sound that is hard not to get into. It offers an original style with an infectious groove.

MAS: Have you been getting any e-mail from Fans? The Industry?

ST: A few from Make A Star website but tons from our own site SoulTaco.net.

MAS: What is the response to your song and your sound in general?

ST: The response is amazing. People seem to appreciate the diversity and freshness of our sound and material.

MAS: What do you think about MakeaStar.com's Industry review service?

ST: We’ll tell you when you make us STARS! Just playing around. It means a lot more having an experienced industry person give you a no holds barred review that gives an honest bottom line response.

MAS:  What about the equal voting power being given to Fans and the Industry in the contests?

ST: Make A Star raised the bar and the professionalism by adding the industry’s insight into the voting process. Unlike comparable sites I vote on.

MAS: Was getting into the contest your primary goal or were you more interested in the industry review?

ST: Our goal was strictly the industry review. We had no idea at the time of how one would get in the contest or if there were any qualifications.

MAS: How did you develop your sound? Is there a primary songwriter? Is it collaborative?

ST: Developing our sound took many years, sweat, black eyes, cigarettes and practice. Ground Shaker was primarily written by singer/guitarist Guy Jones, but yes most of our music is collaborative.

MAS: Any influences you care to mention? What have other people compared you to?

ST: The group has a passion for music of all types. But if you must have names: Elvis, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Run DMC, The Clash, Social Distortion, Bob Marley, Biggy Smalls, Johnny Cash and Black Sabbath.

MAS: What do you think may set you apart from other Artists in your genre?

ST: Originality and we rock harder.

MAS: It’s obvious that your recorded material is great, how about the shows?

ST: It’s been said time and time again our live shows are 100% better than what you hear on the CD. The stage energy brings out an amazing sound from the band.

MAS: Are you playing anywhere anytime soon?

ST: Soul Taco plays continuously but a big event is our 2^nd annual Pimps and Hos show on the 22^nd of Oct. at the Blue Lamp in Sacramento, CA.

MAS: Have you released your music already? If so how, where and when? If not, do you plan to in the near future?

ST: Our current album Don’t Trip was released in Feb. 2004 to local record stores and available all over the web. We are now working on an international distribution deal.

MAS: Where would you like to see your music take you?

ST: Of course we would like to see our music take us into the national spotlight.

MAS: How realistic is that goal in terms of the immediate future?

ST: We will stop at nothing to get what we want. Realistically, as musicians dealing with the industry for many years, we know our chances are very slim.

MAS: What one band would you like to follow in the footsteps of down the road to success?

ST: Aerosmith. They have shown longevity, reached a very broad audience and they introduced Rock and Rap together.

MAS: Any inspiration behind your band name or was it pretty much a straight forward thing?

ST: The name Soul Taco was derived from a line in Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke. Also it was used as a song title by a friend’s band about our former guitarist Big John Rodrigues. Then was adopted by us as our band name, for reasons still unknown.