Sydney superclub Home has seen plenty of shifts in clubbing culture, from committed weekly turnouts to the steamrolling effect of festivals. Its long-running Friday night Sublime has had to adapt with the times, sparking debate on the inthemix forums earlier this year for its DJ booking policies. We spoke to Sophie Page from Home about the state of affairs in 2010.

Obviously the club climate has changed in recent years – what do you see as some of the key challenges, particularly for maintaining a weekly event?
One of the most obvious changes is how quickly everything is moving – from the lifespan of the buzz band to how quickly Supre can copy top designer clothes. People can access the music so much faster so there’s no real discovery phase. Within a few months of, say, The Bloody Beetroots attracting a great local crowd, Warp was being blasted all over Nova and Channel V for the young tweens to devour.

The next is the somewhat ridiculous amount of festivals Sydney (and assuming this is happening interstate too) has for its population. The price of these festivals to the average punter – once you’ve included ticket price, the perfect outfit, whatever party favours – takes them out of circulation within the club world for the week before, week of and week after. What’s more, these festivals don’t really support the local scene and DJs, favouring huge international line ups instead making the expectations of the punter that much higher – and not as a special event, but as something that you can probably go to once every three to four weeks. It’s almost like it’s a fad. There’s a festival crowd who aren’t particularly there for the music but more the festival atmosphere.

That said, we’ve got a really strong Saturday night Homemade which attracts nearly 2,100 people each week. It’s more the smaller, niche events that aren’t being supported or developed like they used to.

An opinion I’ve heard often is that there’s a ‘new’ generation of clubbers who are less loyal to any particular club night now, and the club scene has become in some ways less motivated by music. Is there truth in that from your perspective?
Absolutely! From our perspective Sublime was a cult. People went there week after week after week, becoming part of the furniture. People met their future wives and husbands there – even Fuzzy’s John Wall. People have massive Sublime logo tattoos and there are numerous quotes about Sublime being ‘a way of life’. Maybe the drugs were just better then but there were some patrons who were beyond loyal.

Has it become something of a necessity to expect up-and-coming DJs to bring a quota of people to the club if they’re booked?
Sublime was hammered on ITM for having quotas but it was taken somewhat out of context. We are all about our DJs promoting the brand, as well as themselves, so we can build something bigger than a local dancefloor. What we did put in place was a bonus pay scheme so we could get some more dollars into their pockets and motivate them to really push themselves further than a new event on Facebook.

There seem to be two very distinct types of DJs within Sydney: Facebook DJs, and well, DJs. Everyone can be a DJ thanks to Serato and Scratch Live, iPod wars and so on. Set sluts roam around the city playing everywhere from OH MY! to Soho to Purple Sneakers to Candy’s Apartment, whereas Sublimes DJs used to be 100% exclusive – but more than that, they would attract a massive following. These days, perhaps everyone wants to be a groupie, because people are going out to see their friends play rather than see – or idolising – a decent local act.

Quite sadly for the scene, DJs are somewhat disposable. Very few young Australian DJs are becoming the next Nik Fish or Kid Kenobi on an international level. One that comes to mind is Redial, who is not only producing great tracks but touring overseas quite extensively. Other than that, they come and go as quickly as kids get bored.

Does the ‘incentive’ system run the risk of good salesmen getting the gigs, rather than good DJs?
If the system is attracting people who have no real idea on music but like the glory of being a DJ, then yes. I’ve heard of some clubs actually kicking people off mid-set because they can’t really DJ but happily accepting the 40 to 50 people they brought with them. I don’t know why any venue would put someone behind the decks without accepting a demo, seeing them play first – it’s mental.

That said, if you asked Tiesto or Erick Morillo, I’m sure they would consider their DJing a product. Just look at all the European festival adverts filled with DJ logos and brands. Then they come with stacks of merchandise – all selling themselves as a product, making them pretty brilliant salesmen.

What is Home’s strategy for the future in maintaining loyalty?
Our strategy, right from Sublime Pitt Street days, has remained the same. Provide the best quality we can, the best sound, the best environment, the best customer service and the best quality of music in the safest environment without any attitude.