This is an interview conducted by Bangkok Recorder with myself and the guys I run Club Professionals at Cafe De Moc with:

For Bangkok’s party people, Tuesday nights are traditionally consumed by a re-tread of random drinks promotions, magazine launches and the occasional early night. However, this is beginning to change as Tuesdays become synonymous with what is becoming a MySpace-powered institution at Café Democ.

With our 60 baht door charge in hand, we went to “Club Professionals” to ask its organisers – Matt, Will, Patrice and Leigh – to explain the rules of the evening, and the role of their mysterious Uncle.

What is Club Professionals, and how did it come about?

Will: Club Pros is a weekly DJ competition at Cafe Democ. Every Tuesday we open the DJ booth to whoever wants to play his or her own records. Each DJ spinning for 20 minutes. At the end of the night, a winner is chosen and asked to come back the following week to play an hour set. The winner is also given 50% of the door charge we made on the night.

Patrice: We do not see it as a very serious competition or expect the participants to be outrageously fantastic mixers or turntablists. It is pretty much about the fun of it all, about having a laugh.

So, who’s behind it?

Matt: The original idea came about from the Dude/Sweet crew. They organized a night that a few of us liked the idea of, largely because it meant that we had somewhere to DJ and play the sort of music we like in good company.

Note [of DUDE/SWEET fame] seemed a little bored and frustrated with the night so he handed it to us and it became our child, so to speak.

Leigh: I think Note had so much on his plate… We were all regulars at Club Pros and friends with Note so I guess it just kind of all made sense.

What role does MySpace play in the proceedings? How important do
you think it is becoming these days?

Matt: As much as I hate to say it, if there was no MySpace there would be no party. We have promoted the entire night through the internet and word of mouth. It’s a strange state of affairs but one that seems to work in our favour. This isn’t to say we don’t have to work at getting people down, if it was rubbish nobody would care, but I think people appreciate the attitude and the vibe at the parties and it somehow all comes together.

Patrice: MySpace is simply awesome for this kind of stuff. It makes it easy to stay in touch with friends, to keep everyone posted on events you're putting on, parties you're going to attend, and so on. I'd say we're pretty much MySpace whores.

Why do you think your night has become so popular?

Will: The people who come, even if they don't enter the competition, are involved in it by their voting. Also because of the quick DJ turnover, every 20 minutes it's another face in the booth, another style of music, another show. Club Pros doesn't stick to one style of music, there's a bit of everything for everyone and if not, feel free to make it.

Leigh: I think the night has become such a hit due to the laid back, open-minded nature of the people that come along every Tuesday. They are all there to support their friends while they DJ which adds a very friendly vibe to the night. While it is technically a competition, it is the most non-competitive competition I’ve ever experienced.

What type of DJs play at Club Pros? Is "everyone a DJ these days"?

Will: All the DJs who have played at our night were great because most of them were innocent. They had never seen CDJ's or a mixer before but wanted to try. They had prepared their selection carefully and were really concerned about their set. That's what we want. We know we'll not be impressed by their mixing skills. A super experienced DJ who plays shit is more boring that a clumsy good selector.

Patrice: Club Pros is a great mix of all sorts of DJs. We just completely ignore this highbrow attitude to DJing that you encounter here and there. I mean, personally I can appreciate a DJ’s technical skills – but they are wasted if he or she is useless at programming the music of a set. I'd always choose musical selection over technical abilities.

Leigh: The competition is open to anyone and everyone. We’ve had a string of professional DJs come along but they tend to lose each week – funny about that. The entire audience are potential DJs in making! I think that often people come along intending to support their friends and come away thinking ‘I can do that!’ and end up coming along the next week and spinning a few tracks of their own which is cool.

Are people more open to different genres of music these days, and
how much do you think this has to do with the advent of the iPod?

Patrice: I'm an Apple fan, but I don't think the iPod per se has anything to do with anyone's taste in music. Maybe there are more and more people who realize that a whole night of just one style of music can get a bit boring, and are willing to open their minds and ears to some new stuff. At Club Pros, if you do not like one DJs choice of tunes, you are at least assured that you'll have to endure the ‘audio terrorism’ for twenty minutes only.

Leigh: We are all pretty open minded when it comes to the music being played each night. It always brings a smile to our faces when we go from 20 minutes of indie-rock to a chilled out 20 minutes of reggae. Sometimes it is a bit of a shock to the system but you quickly get into the groove of whatever is being played.

Which musical genres tend to go down the best?

Matt: It tends to be the indie tunes that people vibe off the most, but I personally prefer the electro stuff people come down with. I'm still waiting for Dave (Specialist) to come and play some music I'm more into.

Patrice: Yeah, guitar-based Indie music. Personally, I'd love to hear more good Thai stuff! Even though this doesn't always go down all that well with the Thai crowd. But hey, as we claim: everyone can be a DJ, and we want to be assaulted with whatever people have to offer, as long as it's not breakcore.

Leigh: Indie rock without a doubt. The Bangkok indie scene is totally vibrant and like no other in South East Asia , thanks in no small part to the DUDE/SWEET crew (Note we love you). But at the end of the day everything goes down well with us and the crowd.

What's been the most memorable night/set?

Matt: I think when Montonn Jira came down and played an awesome techno set that seemed to confuse most people we were a little shocked at how people reacted. We all loved it, but Bangkok seems to not quite be ready for techno just yet. We always have a good time when the likes of Oum and Stargazer are down. We have asked DJ Slacken to come, but as of yet he’s said he’s too busy until next year. Nakadia showed an interest a while back but she’s quite busy being a superstar in Europe.

Who has been the worst DJ that's played to date, and were they suitably cyber-heckled?

Matt: When Note played El Nin-Yo! a part inside me died.

Patrice: Not Note, no way. He's everybody's darling.

Will: The most dramatic moment was when a DJ was about to start his set but had technical problems, Matt played a tune from his iPod to help him out. When Thaitanium's ‘Ta Leung’ came out from the speakers I almost fainted.

Leigh: I come off second best when Note found out I was using pirated copies of their “Channel [V] With Dude/Sweet” CD. I don’t know why I thought I would ever get away with it.

Has anyone ever been booed off before their 20 minutes are up?

Will: Our Club Pros people are respectful to others’ music and very frankly I couldn't name a DJ I didn't like. They were all great in their own styles. We only had one guy who decided to finish his set with an extreme kind of music. It was so odd.

Matt: Everyone was just very confused when that guy, Tom, played breakcore.

Patrice: Yes, yes, yes. That was when I suggested that we should introduce a new rule: we can at any time stop any contestant's set if we think it'll make people run out the door in a short while…

Who is the mysterious Uncle figure we've seen in your party pics, and do you attract many randoms being so close to Kao San?

Patrice: Apparently he's some breakcore fan hoping that Tom will spin
again. I feel Cafe Democ is too far for all the ‘adventurous’ backpackers to even accidentally end up there. They like to spend their time on Khao San; even Thanon Tanao is a bit far for them.

Leigh: Uncle is a guiding force for us all at Club Pros. When he turns up you just know the night is going to be a blast. He rarely says much but he turns into a human smoke machine when he burns up the dance floor.

Cafe Democ is a fairly cosy venue. Do you think you'll want to move to a larger space at some point?

Will: For now, Democ's capacity is very well adapted to our night. We also like the venue for its character. Democ is a little legendary in Bangkok and everyone feels good there. A bigger venue would kill the family vibe of Club Pros. We'll do an extra Club Professionals at Astra early 2007 but with another silly concept.

Matt: I think Pacha Ibiza have shown an interest. But on a serious note the night at Astra is shaping up to be something really cool. We’ve got a good concept worked out and I think people will be surprised.

Patrice: I think. If Pacha Ibiza do follow up and offer the right kind of Baht, we might consider it.

Interviewed by Laurie Osborne, esquire

Bangkok Recorder
Club Pros

Techno’ tags: Nightlife, Clubs, Bangkok, Thailand, Clubbing, Parties