Its from last month, but a nice interview with Luis, giving his thoughts on the new Space, a new Club Space cd, the Rave Act, and other good stuff. From www.xpander.nl: 'Behind the Scene' with Louis Puig (Club Space Miami) "by Norah Salazar" Here is an excerpt with our conversation with Louis Puig. On WMC and Danny Tenaglia: In the year 2000, Danny Tenaglia became a resident at Club Space and that’s when his marathons moved to the venue. The WMC Danny Tenglia party was moved from Groove Jet because the club was closed down and also because he loved our venue, it was like love at first sight. Besides, I have known Danny for about twenty years –maybe even longer. Future plans for Club Space Miami: We are moving to a new venue, about half a block away from our current location in Downtown Miami. Space will be bigger and better. The terrace will be upstairs in the roof. The sound will be a lot stronger; the dancing areas will be larger with higher ceilings. The DJ booth is going to be the biggest one in the United States, if not the world. It is going to have a bathroom, refrigerator, maybe a kitchen, sofa, basically more like a DJ’s studio or living room. As far as equipment is concerned we are looking at three different companies Nexo, Function One or JBL has a new product called Vertex, but probably somewhere between Nexo and Function One. Now we are using DLW and they are also coming up with a new line array system that we may try out. We are going to bring four different stacks of sounds systems, try them out to see who comes up with the best sound system for Space. All four companies that I have spoken to, want to call their new design for the sound system after Space, like Twilo in NYC did with Phazon. Lighting will be High End, Space has Martin now, but we will be using High End for the new venue. The dancing area and the DJ booth will be bigger. The club will be two stories with very high ceilings of about 40 feet height with balconies all around for the main room and the Red Room will be like a lounge. Our original Blue Room [main dance floor] will be two stories and the Patio will be located in the roof. And a total of four bars. The Patio will get a new sound system, new light show, a bigger dancing area, basically, we are taking the Patio to a higher level. Space Miami different from other clubs: Internationally, we are very much alike to other venues located in the UK, Ibiza, or the rest of Europe; we are all trying to follow a certain music pattern. As far as being different here in the USA, I think that Space stands out because it is centrally located and is like a Casablanca for the music industry. From Miami you can easily get to many places in the rest of the country as well as South America, as an artist/DJ. Another difference about our club is that Space has a very eclectic mixture of people from all over the world: Europeans, Latin people and other cultures and races. Our audience is very receptive to whatever is played. There is a good reason why DJs like to come here and this is one of the reasons because [they] know that Miami clubbers are accepting to new tendencies in dance music. Clubbing in the 1980-1990 vs. today Dance music and clubbing has gotten commercial for those who let it be that way. I don’t think electronic music has become commercial; I feel that it keeps evolving and changing with the times. On the other hand, hip hop music has definitely become more commercial than any other genre; it’s competitive and basically based on the same theme over and over again. House music is not a specific sound at all! For instance, take what Oscar G and Ralph Falcon from Murk have done with their sound and right out of nowhere came out with a new beat, as their track ‘Dark Drums’ has accomplished. Upcoming House Sessions II CD: Coming soon! (Smiles): The Club Space House Sessions II compilation, will be released real soon. I feel that it is about time that we put out another one, music has changed, DJs have evolved and basically we are ready to do it. We are shopping for a new label as a matter of fact, so if anyone is interested in publishing our new double CD, call us! It will probably feature mixing by Ivano Bellini, Oscar G or Roland our other resident at Space. Though, I think it will be Oscar and Roland. He [Roland] has been working with us for about eight years and evolved as a DJ, the town has embraced him as the new Space resident. Key aspects of running a successful and long-standing venue: You have to be continuously on top of the game and ahead of everybody else, not only in music but in all other aspects. You have to know what the trends are going to be, the style. The nightclub industry is very much like the fashion industry, you are here today and you may be gone tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what type of venue you run whether small or large. You must stay on top of the music, that’s the most important thing [along with your club promotions]. Be ready to evolve and not afraid to embrace change’. On the RAVE Act threat to clubbing and dance music: I don’t think it will pass. However, I think there is a slight chance if we don’t unite as club owners/ promoters and also as club fans. There is a tendency for people involved in the nightlife and music industry to be laid-back and not be politically involved. We should let our opinion count! If we don’t voice our views and send emails to our representatives, then we cant complain. Drugs are found at every scale within our communities, they are not sold at nightclubs exclusively; they are consumed and sold at schools and jail. Use this analogy as an example, if the school principal knows that drugs are being consumed in his jurisdiction, should a school principal be arrested and taken to jail for drug consumption? After all, he/ she is the one managing the school, is he/ she guilty? If the owner of a nightclub is going to be arrested and taken to jail because there are people using drugs inside the club, then I think a school principal should also be taken to jail or a prison warden arrested. This is ridiculous. Hopefully, this [RAVE Act] won’t happen!
