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New Night Club Opening in the City: A Q&A with Jerry Francis, Manager of Kyte

Canberra is no stranger to being labelled a ‘boring’, ‘quiet’ or even ‘dead’ city, but in reality, we have quite an abundance of nifty bars and nightclubs on offer.

It seems there are new bars popping up in every new complex, but when it comes to nightclubs, it has been some time since a new venue has been opened in our progressive city. In fact, the last club that opened up in the city was Mr Wolf back in 2015, but the wait is over as newcomers, Kyte, have stepped onto the scene with a bang.

Kyte's iconic club-front sign. Photo by Mitchell Keenan.
Kyte’s iconic club-front sign. Photo by Mitchell Keenan.

The new bar/ nightclub has set up shop in the previous location of Digress Bar and Restaurant, and the club’s management has big plans for the future of the Canberra electronic dance music scene.

I was lucky enough to sit down with the manager, Jerry Francis to discuss the new club and their plans for the future in their brand new bar/ nightclub.

Q: Firstly, I understand you are located in the old destination of Digress Bar and Lounge, how did you come into ownership of the location? What drew you to this location in the first place?

A: The location is perfect for a club as it’s in a basement level, which is automatically great for encapsulating sound and the natural progression of walking down, to a basement draws an underground sense of feeling, hence why 11 Akuna Street was chosen.

Q: What is your plan for the venue in terms of target market, attracting DJ’s and performers as well as expanding the progressive electronic music scene in Canberra?

A: This new venture was developed for the one reason, which is to celebrate quality house/dance music with a really well-tuned sound system in Canberra. We believe that the acoustic and sound system is crucial for a great clubbing experience, each night will have a sense of authenticity with good music and some surprise elements with the production of the night. We are going back to basics and keeping it minimal and tasteful.  We will also find a balance with showcasing our resident DJ’s, versus our guest interstate and International DJs so that we develop a club culture and not turn it into a venue.

Q: Presumably, your venue will promote mostly house and techno events. There are a couple of other venues in Canberra (namely somewhere like Mr. Wolf) that offer gigs based around the same genres. How do you aim to stand out against clubs like these?

A: Ideally, we are focusing on house/dance music genres from the past, present and future. All quality house/dance music is welcome at Kyte, as that is what makes the electronic music eco-system survive and excel. We will provide  different focus on certain days of the week, i.e House, Deep House, Tech House, Techno, Trance, Trap, Dubstep, Drum & Bass etc. so that the punters have a sufficient exposure to their favourite genre, once again we are focusing a lot on the acoustics, our sound system is tuned by the world class sound engineer known as MOB. We will be treating the club and the punters as one big family that love music and are here for one reason. To Dance…

Q: In terms of attracting potential patrons, how do you intend on marketing the club? Is there any aspect of novelty involved with the menu of drinks or food on offer?

A: On top of music and sound, Kyte’s offering will include scrumptious food, outstanding cocktails and regular creative masterclasses. The cocktails will be the main feature for our happier hours from 5-9pm from Wednesday to Saturdays and must try cocktails are the ‘Dark and the some’, ‘Dirty Mojito’ and our ‘Salted Caramel Martini’. Our food menu is developed by a well-respected Canberra chef with years of experience that will focus on a variety of share plates and a Bagel bar and finally, our creative masterclasses will include training for real life industry experience through DJing, Music Marketing, Event Management and Music Production to name a few.

Putting the final touches on the venue's exterior. Photo by Mitchell Keenan.
Putting the final touches on the venue’s exterior. Photo by Mitchell Keenan.

Q: Lastly, have you done much in terms of alteration to the venue? As a bar/restaurant, the venue must have been an easy starting point?

A: We have reconfigured the whole space with acoustics and crowd flow in mind and all the materials chosen to relate back to the main purpose, there are various booths an extended DJ booth, a wraparound bar and another room called canvas which has an outdoor in a basement feeling.

Story by Mitchell Keenan

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