Paul Hennessey’s studio on Industrial Avenue has the kind of rustic-meets-utilitarian features that would make a condo marketer salivate.
The exposed beams, polished concrete floor and sprawling back patio overlooked by derelict train tracks and a graffiti panorama are the stuff developers could only dream of.
But this isn’t the work of a slick marketing machine selling “urban authenticity” or “edgy cool.”
Hennessey has restored this space through his own elbow grease and initiative. In the process, he’s breathed new life into a building that has a notorious history among certain circles in Vancouver.
People into the electronic music scene will know it as the former Submerged Studios, before that, The Grove. “They used to have raves here, like full on, all weekend,” explains Hennessey, a native Torontonian who spent nearly a decade in the B.C. Interior before moving to Vancouver a couple years ago.
In taking over the space, he learned of the darker parts of its history. It held some upstanding events, for sure, but it was also the site of more than a couple drug overdoses and run-ins with the law. “It was really nasty in here, it had this crazy stench and this crazy energy.”
Now, Hennessey’s no raver hater. In fact, the 34-year-old is a huge fan of electronic music, as evidenced by the bass and beats flowing from speakers as he takes me on a tour.
And it’s his love of music and dance more commonly reserved for underground clubs that he’s hoping to share with a more, shall we say, diverse crowd. His offering is Morning Special, a weekday dance party held in the early morning to get the blood and creativity flowing for people who love to dance but also need to function at their 9-to-5. (In true Vancouver style, there will also be an optional yoga practice and a “super food” buffet.)
“The morning party idea came up a few times,” says Hennessey. “The real basis for it is that a lot of experiences that I’ve had that are kind of standout in terms of music and socializing, they happen when I’ve been sober or, like, when I’ve had good rest.”
And not to knock the nightclub crowd but “it kind of brings out a different level of playful energy when you’re not surrounded by a bunch of waste-cases spilling beer on you.”
While similar parties in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles have been getting major press lately, Hennessey said he first heard of them happening in London more than three years ago.
It’s not surprising the trend appears to have originated in Europe, where, unlike in North America, it’s acceptable for people in their 30s, 40s or — gasp — older to continue going out to dance, socialize and listen to music as they age. In North America, we tend to view the practice of “partying” as something reserved only for people who have not yet reached, or failed to reach, the hallmarks of adulthood like, say, having a stable relationship or a job.
But Hennessey, and I agree with him, doesn’t see that happening in Vancouver. This city benefits from a rich electronic music community that grew out of the initial rave scene of the 1990s and has exploded with the recent global resurgence of dance music.
Social dance in our modern world is set almost exclusively to house, techno and the like. That, combined with Vancouverites’ tendency to prioritize play over work, means many members of the generation that came of age in the era of rave are reluctant to swear off the dance floor — even if, like Hennessey, they are no longer able or content to sleep their weekends away.
However, not everyone straddling the line between young and, um, no-longer-so-young, is ready to trade in staying up to the wee hours in favour of waking up at that time. Hennessey’s first two morning parties, held in December and February, were on weekends but he found that excluded the people that still wanted to hit the clubs on Saturday night. Moving Morning Special to a weekday will, he hopes, welcome that crowd as well those who perhaps feel they’ve aged out of the dance scene or simply don’t do clubs.
No matter who shows up, I think it’s brilliant to offer dance events that can mature along with the party crowd because I’m one to leave it all on the dance floor and I don’t plan to grow out of that any time soon.
Morning Special takes place April 29 from 6 to 10 a.m. at 390 Industrial Ave. Tickets $20/$30 from brownpapertickets.com.
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