Rock Around The Clock

Tasty World Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary

originally published September 12, 2007

Since it opened in September of 1997, Tasty World has held down the fort, a bastion of local music in a section of downtown that's becoming increasingly geared towards the college drinking scene. Renovations to the old Frigidaire building on the southeast corner of Broad and Jackson streets seemed to drag on and on, and lead to much speculation in '97 about what was going to happen with the space.

While finding its footing, the two-level club initially featured deejays. The first live-band shows took place in '97 before a stage was even built. "We had shows on the floor," says club owner Murphy Wolford, who was 30 years old when he opened Tasty World. "We had no sound system per se, just speakers and a monitor, and we plugged a mic into our stereo system and turned off the music so you could hear vocals." A few months later, in February of '98, Time Toy played a reunion show and was the first band to perform on the club's stage. Since then, Tasty World has cultivated a reputation as the club in town willing to give green bands a shot.

This weekend, Tasty World celebrates its tenth anniversary, with three nights of music on two separate floors [See box for details.]. Flagpole spoke with Wolford last week about the ups and downs of the past decade.

Flagpole

So, 10 years is coming up.

Murphy Wolford

Unbelievable! We worked real hard, and we're here. We've been here for 10 years and we're not going anywhere now. If you'd've told me in 1998 that we were going to make it until 2007, I would've been iffy on it there. Same in 1999. But we made it through that year and I discovered that if we could do that, we could do anything, and so here we are.

Flagpole

What about those two years was tough?

Morning State

Murphy Wolford

Competition, figuring out where we belonged, what our place in town was, what our mission was. Basically finding our footing as a club with two separate levels here in Athens.

Flagpole

Do you feel you've accomplished the initial idea of what you wanted Tasty World to be?

Murphy Wolford

Yeah. At the beginning we didn't have the second floor open, but I knew I wanted to do live music. With two levels, we found that the best way to find our place was to be the place that's just wide open. Anything goes. We can do anything at Tasty World; we're not too cool for anyone… just wide-open booking, basically. It took us 18 months to renovate this building. It was about to fall down, literally. If you walked around on the second or third floor of this building, you'd be in danger. It was beautiful in appearance from the outside, but the inside was a different story. My landlord and I loved this building. It should've been condemned.

Flagpole

When did you come to Athens?

Murphy Wolford

1985, for school. Played in bands, lived at the 40 Watt and the Georgia Bar. I graduated in '89 from the journalism school. Worked at the Georgia Center in their television department for 10 years - even for three years after I opened Tasty World, I kept my day job there.

Flagpole

What made you decide to give it a go and open a club?

Murphy Wolford

I just had the opportunity. My parents helped get this place off the ground. They backed the whole thing and were so great throughout the whole process of renovations. My dad was retiring and ready to invest, and he decided to invest in me because he's crazy. [Laughs.] The right place at the right time. The building became available, and it was in the right spot… except maybe it could be on the other side of town! [Laughs.]

Flagpole

That's something I was curious about. When you opened Tasty World, Lunch Paper was on College Square and it seemed there was a lot more back-and-forth between the different corners of downtown. But since then, Little Kings and Detour and Repent have opened, Go Bar and Hot Corner are booking shows too… except for Tasty World, the music's almost completely sequestered off in the northwest corner of downtown.

Stylofone

Murphy Wolford

And not to mention that Clayton Street used to be the college kids' place to be and drink when we opened. Broad Street used to be "cool," and we didn't have to have a rock show to have people in. Gus' was still hopping. Boar's Head didn't open until the summer of '98. The High Hat was open when we were open. One Love opened a year after. But it's not like that anymore.

There's a lot more competition in music right now, more than there ever has been. The Melting Point, too, is part of that. But ever since '93 or so when the 40 Watt moved over there and everything grew up around that, it's become more of the "artists' community" part of downtown. I'd love to see it spread out a little more, but Athens is always changing.

Flagpole

Does that present any problems to you? Even during AthFest, I've heard people complain, "Oh, I don't want to hike over to Tasty World."

Murphy Wolford

Is it a problem? Getting my piece of the market will always be a challenge. I try not to gripe, but sure, it's a problem getting our cool national acts seen when a lot of the people who go to shows don't want to get off their stools at the Max Canada and walk three blocks. That's a problem.

If a band's got a buzz going, it's much easier to walk next-door to the Caledonia or the 40 Watt than it is to come over here… But you can't stop rock and roll in Athens. If a band's got energy, people are going to come see them. It might take a while - and that's one thing a lot of local bands don't realize - but people will see them. They could even play someone's dorm room in Myers, but if they're good, people will see them.

Flagpole

What shifts in the local music scene have you seen in the 10 years since you've opened?

Murphy Wolford

When we opened, hip-hop was carrying the bar scene. No one cared about seeing bands. Tasty World doing live bands in '97 and early '98 seemed like a stab in the dark to certain people. People wanted to see deejays back then. There'll always be changes, and it'll always be a roller-coaster ride. Figuring out those changes and predicting them, that's the tough thing, and that's for people that live far away in big cities and make lots of money. [Laughs.]

Flagpole

The open arms policy you mentioned earlier, it's something the club has a reputation for. Is that an aesthetic, philosophical mission of sorts, or did it just seem like good business to you?

Murphy Wolford

Because of where we are and what we try to do - as a music club with open booking - it's both. It rapidly became our philosophy because we discovered it was the only way we could survive. Tasty World is all about a 64-crayon box. There are people in Athens whose head is so far up their ass, they couldn't name the primary colors anymore. So we have to appeal to the college kids as well, and provide those 64 crayons. We had to be wide open. Our niche is we have no niche. But yeah, you could see anything from a drag show to a hip-hop show to a rock band to Mr. Quintron here, and I think people understand that. And the more people get to know Tasty World, the more they'll know their night here. It may not be every night, but there will be a night you find something you like.

Flagpole

That's another thing that Tasty World has played around with more so than other clubs: regular events. Dubconscious used to do every Thursday upstairs. There used to be weekly bluegrass shows. That sort of thing seems to have dropped off in the past year or two.

Murphy Wolford

It's all changing depending on what people want to do. Dubconscious can't do it anymore because they're way too big now, but when their guitarist James, who used to be in The Goods approached us, we were open to the idea. Our big advantage is we have two rooms. Of course, sometimes that's a disadvantage - you don't want to be an acoustic guitarist at midnight on a Friday. But that's something we try to plan for.

Flagpole

Sound issues are something that Tasty World's also known for around town, whether it's sounds bleeding from one floor to another, or sound just being too loud.

Murphy Wolford

It's a loud room. Brick walls, glass… when we have a lot of sound system to overcome a weird space, that happens. The upstairs room, sonically, is a beautiful sound space, it's just a natural. The first floor is where we chose to put our main music room and sound system. But a band like Hope For Agoldensummer is not the sort of band who'd want to play a night-time show here. That's just business. I have this-side-of-town rent to pay. If I don't book both floors, I don't stay open. That's just the way it is.

Flagpole

The club's also known for stacking bills with four bands, five bands even. Is that the sort of thing you have to do? Are you just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks?

Murphy Wolford

Again, that's more of who's going to break through. It's all about getting people's friends here. But those shows are mostly earlier in the week, and mostly smaller bands. You've got four bands, that's four bands worth of friends. Most of those bands want to do it, and they're usually all about it. If not, then a different club might be better for that band.

Flagpole

Are there any particular highlights that stand out?

Murphy Wolford

Tons of great shows. We weren't able to list them all on our website because there were so many to remember. The ones that stick out are when you're completely blown away by someone you've never heard before. The first time I saw the Cherry Valence. The first time I saw Centro-matic. Local bands: The first time I saw Maserati. Japancakes. When they take it over the top, it reminds you what live music is all about. It's what keeps you going when you get down. Hopefully that band will come back and re-energize you, or somebody else will do the same thing. When it's a Tuesday night and there's hardly anybody here and a band gives its all, that's always the best.

Chris Hassiotis