taste this!

taste this! is a Flint, MI band that infuses its rock-pop energy with a mix of soul, funk, and hip-hop. Their signature “rock ‘n’ soul” sound has earned them comparisons to Maroon 5, N.E.R.D., Kenna, 311, Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Black Eyed Peas. Blending innovative rock guitars and powerful soul vocals with danceable drum beats and old-school scratches and samples, taste this! creates a unique sound.

Before the phrase “taste this!” ever graced a fan’s t-shirt, guitarist Paul Woolcock and drummer Tim Jagielo were just two friends trying to put together a rock band in their Davison garage. The two placed ads around local college campuses to find a vocalist and bassist. With a bassist selected, they auditioned two singers on the same day, deciding to pick one and passing on the other, Tunde Olaniran. A month later, after their initial singer left the band for personal reasons, Tunde called back and joined them. With a small register of songs, they played together in Tim’s basement, teaching Tunde the lyrics the previous singer had written. It wasn’t until they gave Tunde the freedom to re-write some of the lyrics that the music began to take on a different sound. After the abrupt departure of their bassist, new music began to flow out of the trio.

Within weeks, they had written over half of the songs featured on their 2004 self-titled release. In the studio, after a long process of searching for the right name, they agreed to call the band taste this! While not Grammy material, this first recording displayed enough originality and raw talent to make Tim, Paul, and Tunde think seriously about performing live. Finding a bass player proved to be difficult; they seemed to have incredibly bad luck keeping a bassist longer than one rehearsal. In the meantime, they met up with Jimi Hendricks (yes, real name), who added his scratches and samples (and later, rapping) to the mix. In December, Tim solved the problem of the vanishing bassist by contacting a coworker’s brother, Jordan Sneller. Jordan joined, and not a moment too soon; within a month taste this! played its first show in January of 2005. The performance proved to be the first of many that year. Though far from a polished veteran act, the band managed to impress audiences with its infectious original music. “People would come up to us at shows and ask who we were covering,” Tunde remembers, “the songs were so catchy that people found it hard to believe they were all originals.”

taste this! has no shortage of original material, regularly playing three-hour shows with as little as two covers. Writing two or more songs per month is par for the course with the group. “We pump this stuff out, and, amazingly, it’s not crap; it’s all really good,” marvels Tim. In late 2005, with a large quantity of new original material, taste this! recorded their second album at Innerflux Studios in Novi, MI.

In the first four minutes of their 2005 release, “back for seconds,” taste this! lets you know what they’re all about. Besides serving as a summation of the band’s attitude, the first song of their album, “Alright,” encapsulates the group’s musical style. With a simple programmed beat, Paul’s spare guitar riff, and Tunde’s feathery vocals giving way to a crashing rock hook and beautifully complex guitar solo, it synopsizes where taste this! is coming from, musically.

Given the diverse musical backgrounds of the members, it comes as no surprise that they create such a unique sound. With the momentum of their new release, and plans to begin booking shows around the Mid-western United States, taste this! is poised to let a few more people in on one of Flint’s best-kept secrets.

For more info & booking, feel free to contact:
tastethisband@hotmail.com
-or-
810.813.0899

For a complete set of press photos, visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46703752@N00/sets/72057594070109162/