Sense of Place: Telemarket captures the 'existential quandary' of life in Athens

Enlarge this image

Telemarket Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of the artist

Telemarket

Courtesy of the artist

Athens, Ga., is widely considered one of the birthplaces of alternative rock. It's a city rich with music history, with fans making the trek two hours out of Atlanta to see the record store where Kate Pierson, of The B-52s, used to work or Weaver D's Delicious Fine Foods, where a sign outside that reads "Automatic for the People" inspired one of R.E.M.'s biggest albums.

But that illustrious music history isn't simply "the past." It is ever-present, and it continues to influence new bands.

As part of our Sense of Place: Athens series, we sit down with Adam Wayton, the frontman of Athens punk band Telemarket. The five-piece recently released their debut album, Ad Nauseam, which puts to words some of "the existential quandary, heartache, and hilarity" of the past few years.

Adam Wayton fronts the Athens punk band Telemarket. Kimberly Junod/WXPN hide caption

toggle caption

Kimberly Junod/WXPN

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.