Tastemakers

The best that ever did it and got away with it.



We are Promoters/DJs/Freedom Fighters/Artists/Mouth Pieces for the Tampa Bay area. Originaly spawned as a reason to spread our collective wealth of music and to allow local and emerging artists to get a brighter spotlight, Tastemakers became an event and not just another club night, featuring guest DJs, various styles of musicians, live paintings and an overall energetic vibe. Now, Tastemakers has become a seal of approval, an undeniable brand of quality & refinement.

The Weekly Planet, Best of The Bay::BEST CATEGORY-SMASHING SERIES:: Tastemakers



No, its not just because they invited me to curate an installment several months ago in fact, I think Tastemakers heads Deacon and Colonic were a bit nonplussed with the Faith No More and the tunes from Monty Python movies. For nearly a year, this twice-monthly Wednesday-night New World phenomenon has brought all styles of music together, and successfully drawn a crowd while doing so. Where else are you gonna get hip-hop, techno and power-pop one week, and alt-country, indie-rock and New Wave the next? Many kudos to the several local agencies (primarily USF radio station WBUL, WMNF, Aestheticized Presents, tampahiphop.com and the New World) who come together, juggle schedules and promote hard to keep this thing interesting.

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Tastemakers



In late 2004, best friends and DJs Deacon (Durium Jones) and Colonic (Joe D'Acunto) set out on a mission to promote local music and be a part of a combined music and art movement under a name that entails just what the name implies, Deacon says, to allow people to 'taste different kinds of music. Deacon and Colonic met at WBUL, the student-run radio station at the University of South Florida, in 2000. We didnt click at first, but its been rock n roll since, Deacon says. Tastemakers as an entity has scaled back since spring and plans only to put on the Summer Jam annual festivals. The two moguls, however, continue to stick their fingers into several pies to cross-promote rock, DJs and hip-hop genres in Tampa Bay. They work with GwanMassive, Dichotomous, Aestheticized Presents and TampaHipHip.com. Plus, Deacon hosts the Battle Basics hip-hop nights at the Orpheum.

--- Tampa Bay Times"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell