For three and a half years, Kink at the Arthouse Hotel ruled the weekly clubbing scene in Sydney. After many sold-out nights and countless calls for “one more!”, the Saturday staple departed the Arthouse in 2007 with an epic send-off. This weekend, though, Kink is set to be revived for one night only after thousands of fans rallied for its return. We caught up with the ringleader himself Scott Robertson to hear about the triumphant comeback.

Obviously Kink was a centerpiece for weekly clubbing in Sydney for several years. What was it about the Kink approach that you think inspired that kind of dedication?
I think there were a few key factors that inspired that kind of dedication. Kink was very much a music-driven club. I never aimed to be the most underground club in Sydney, but I was passionate about showcasing the best international talent irrespective of genre. I always wanted to offer something new and exciting every week. As a rule of thumb, if I wasn’t excited about the line-up that week, how could I expect anyone else to be? Whilst kids didn’t always know the names on the flyer, over time we earned their trust with our music policy. They knew if we booked them there was a pretty good chance they would rock the Arthouse the same as every other week. This kind of loyalty allowed me to be more adventurous with my bookings and push the boundaries, which ultimately kept me and my passion for music very happy, as things never got stale.

Some of the artists we toured or debuted at Kink have since gone on to become some of the biggest artists in the world, like David Guetta, Deadmau5, Boys Noize and Joachim Garraud. In saying that, the music was only one factor. On the other side, you had the undeniable feeling of family that built up around the night. We saw the same kids coming through week in and week out and soon everyone knew the door staff, the cash desk girls and the bar staff. Even if your friends didn’t want to go out one week, you knew if you went to Kink you would know a lot of the other kids there and if not chances were you would soon make some new clubbing friends.

And then there were the local residents DJs who were not only constantly breaking new music and rocking the house, but along with myself were pretty much having the best times of their lives on stage. When kids saw us having so much fun it was hard not to follow. It was infectious.

Was the decision to bring Kink to a close simply wanting to go out on a high? Or were you perhaps predicting a downturn in weekly clubbing as a whole?
A few things came into play that brought about the end of Kink at The Arthouse. First of all an opportunity came up for me to go into business with one of my best friends and own our own venue and I would get to design it from scratch and do things our own way. This was something I had always dreamed of and at the time I could see the Sydney scene changing and it seemed like the most logical step for me.

Both OneLove and Famous had also started up in Sydney around that time, which gave the younger kids two big new venues which they had previously never experienced before. The music scene was also fast becoming a lot more commercial and I could see that to maintain the same numbers I would have to pull back on some of my more underground bookings. At the time, that just wasn’t where my head or heart was at, so we threw one last party which went till 8am in front of a still packed main floor. It finally ended with about four encores and more than a few teary eyes in the house.

Have you noticed a shift in people’s clubbing habits? If so, have festivals played a role in that?
I have noticed a big shift in clubbing habits over the last few years. The new generation of kids that have come through seem to be a lot less loyal to club nights and venues, making it harder for promoters to sustain their nights. Sydney as a whole has become more and more motivated by free entry and cheap drinks and is a lot less motivated by music.

Furthermore, every man and his dog seems to think he is a DJ and as long as they can bring mates, they will get booked by the new breed of young promoters who don’t really care about programming, building a brand or music policy. And so the downwards spiral continues. Don’t get me wrong: there are of course still good promoters, DJs and events out there who have weathered the storm and continue to do well (you know who you are), but in general the quality of the ‘weekly’ club scene offerings in Sydney has in my eyes dropped dramatically.

When Kink first started there were only a handful of festivals and over the years this has grown exponentially. This means that a lot of the internationals who would have previously played on club tours now play at the festivals. There is also only so much money to go around and when kids are buying festival tickets every few weeks clubs are inevitably going to suffer.

What are you taking away from this Facebook push to revive Kink? Is there a gap that needs to be filled?
The Kink reunion Facebook group that started came as a big surprise to me and all our old residents and was very humbling. There are now hundreds of comments and videos posted on the groups wall as everyone relives their favourite memories from the club. It really is testament to how special the family atmosphere was at Kink. Does this make me think there is a gap in the market for Kink to return to the weekly club scene? In all honesty, no. Will this be the last we see of Kink? Probably not.

Kink returns to the Arthouse Hotel for one night only this Saturday 19 June.