The CEDISH team had the pleasure of working with two student interns during the 2025 and 2026 academic years in support of The Sounds of San Antonio. Marisela Cruz and Jamie Thomas blogged about their experiences and reflections on the project, sharing what they learned, the work they contributed, and the impact the internship had on their academic and professional development.
Tacoland - a place that makes anyone involved in the San Antonio music scene perk up their ears. To those who were not fortunate enough to experience it in its glory; Tacoland was a venue in Downtown San Antonio. A place for misfits, for punks, for anyone who wanted to have fun and enjoy music. Tacoland was founded in 1965 by Ramiro “Ram” Ayala who was nothing short of a legend. Though Tacoland started as a small set-up to serve ten-cent tacos to local workers, it grew first to a full-service bar in the late 60s and then hosted its first underground punk rock show - featuring the Hickoids, a local esteemed punk band - in the early 80s, becoming the venue for indie and punk shows in San Antonio.
Though I never got to experience Tacoland and all its magic, I can only imagine the kind of place that it was through the words of others. Chas Morales, an interviewee, describes it as the kind of place where you could always find community, similar to much of the punk scene at the time. They describe those who didn’t have money to afford the cover of shows waiting outside on the sidewalk, taking small donations in order to be able to attend the show. “I had a little community everywhere I went.”
As a queer person I know the value of being able to find community in a place where not everyone is accepting of you as they should be, even in today’s time that is invaluable and incredibly needed for our queer youth.
About Tacoland specifically, Chas states “It was home for little punks and waywards.”
Chas is not the only person who speaks so fondly of Tacoland, Jeff Smith, member of the Hickoids, reminisces on how much the area that Tacoland was previously in has changed, describing the area as previously “gritty and industrial” and a “fun little San Antonio joint”; he continues “If we hadn’t have been young, we wouldn’t have hung with it for very long, but it was all new to us - you know?” Jeff Smith paints a very clear picture of Tacoland as well as how the area has changed from how he remembers it. “Now there’s a Christmas Tree lot just around the corner and I thought ‘What are we doing people, what have we come to?’”
Jeff Smith also describes the first time that he heard and later played at Tacoland, recounting his friend and bandmate telling him about the location. “Arthur was telling me about Tacoland and he was saying ‘Yeah we should go over there and play!’ and I was like ‘Why do we want to play at a Mexican restaurant?’ I discovered it was not a Mexican restaurant in the traditional sense.”
Tacoland was truly anything but traditional, Phillip Luna, recounts his experiences playing at Tacoland “I was way too young to get in but I was in demand, y’know?” As someone who played at Tacoland every Monday night, Philip had many stories to tell in his interview. My personal favorite is when he recounted someone throwing a smoking amp into the river. “It wasn’t even somebody that worked at Tacoland or asked anybody ‘do you want me to throw this in the river?’ They just grabbed it and threw it in the river. It was funny.” Despite having many stories like this, Phillip still claims that he was “probably the most reckless person at Tacoland.” He recounts a story of when he did not care for the band that was playing, so he leapt onto the stage and tackled the drummer, forcing them to leave.
Tacoland would not have been the incredibly memorable place that it was without its owner, Ram Ayala. Each interviewee who even mentioned Tacoland followed it up with praise of Ram, speaking about how they miss him and how they wish he was still here. More than just a venue owner, Ram is described as a friend, a mentor, a huge supporter of the local music scene, and a loudmouth. Even when telling a story about Ram punching him in the face, Phillip Luna laughs and then continues to talk about all the ways that Ram has helped him and influenced the music scene in San Antonio. Luna also recounts the two studios Ram had built for him in order to help him produce his music “He didn’t charge me a dime, he wanted to see me make money for my family.”