Q & A with Tantra GM

 

Adam Lilley

What is your favorite menu item?

All things boiled down, I’d have to say the Busy Bee; it’s a drink served with yerba mate, honey, and orange juice. It’s actually what kept me coming back initially, when I first came here just as a customer.

How’d you start working at Tantra?

I wanted to spend more of my time in San Marcos and be more part of the community and not just rest my head here. A lot of my friends were already currently working here, and I talked to Nathan, who was previously the sole owner. He said okay they brought me on. I worked here for about a year until Nathan was seeking people to buy into the coffee house. So there was a need for somebody to come in and be more of a part of it and kind of take charge. And I had the opportunity to become one of those people. And so Kyle Mylius, who owns the Root Cellar, and myself bought in, so the three of us are all part owners, and I’m the General Manager, so I’m here just making it happen.

Why locate in San Marcos?

What we do is very much about community; it’s very much about local sustainability as far as promoting culture and feeding into the local system. Which means, we live here in San Marcos we pay taxes in San Marcos, we shop here in San Marcos, so if our business is in San Marcos, then the revenue stays in San Marcos – it’s specifically to build this place up. It’s something that hadn’t been done. In San Marcos there was a real void for that type of alterative place for people to hang out and to be artistic and to support artistic culture, so that’s pretty much why San Marcos.

What makes Tantra unique?

We’re the only business in town that has an outdoor live music venue, so the only other place in town that you’ll see outdoor music is when the city puts it on in the park. This place is just kind of a hybrid; it’s a coffee shop, a bar, a music venue, a restaurant, a community center. We have people who have business meetings here, people who have different meetings for their groups for the university. It’s really a place, especially since I’ve taken over as manager that I seek to serve the community in every way possible.

Do you have a memorable event that was held at Tantra?

Our 5^th birthday party. Most everybody that works here plays music, so most of our bands played that day, and several of the local favorites that are good friends of ours all played. And at the very end of the night, we had Roger Sellers and Artheism play at the very end of the night. So my band had played and all of our friends’ bands had played and we were all here; it felt kind of like a family reunion. And at the end of the night, with the stars shining bright above our heads, we had that.

Who has been your most interesting customer?

It’s hard to say. There’s been a lot of talk about a friend of ours named Michael Schooley; he runs around town like a crazy person just telling everybody that he loves them. He’s a good friend of mine, and he’s been a long customer here. He’s just one of many, but he’s certainly one of my more interesting customers that comes in.

What changes have you seen Tantra go through?

So, there’s been a lot of physical changes; we’ve built the surface deck that’s outside, we’ve improved the stage, the outdoor arena. We used to have shows out there, and if it started raining, the show was over, and we’d pack up and put everything away and it was done, or we’d move inside and have music inside. We’ve grown so much in the past year and half. We put in a full-size kitchen and started doing food. We’ve done a lot of physical changes to the structure of the building and how everything flows. There’s been a lot of new staff. And the best thing I’ve seen is that the customer base has just grown. We see so many different types of people now that come here to study, or just to hang out. Some people come here just to play music of just to listen to music. And some people come here just to drink coffee and get on their laptop; it’s wonderful.