If you’re into the Seattle club scene, there is no doubt that you’ve heard of The Underground, a venue in the heart of Pioneer Square that brings only the best experiences with trance, house, and bass.
The self-proclaimed Benevolent Dictator of Seattle Trance Alliance and General Manager of the club, Marc Pospisil, has been making waves with his team and his vision for what a night out in this town should look like. Having a long history in the Seattle music scene, playing an unbelievable amount of shows in venues everywhere throughout the Emerald City, Marc knows a thing or two on this front.
“I was a resident at Foundation, and they stopped doing trance. I didn’t want to see trance not have a place in Seattle.
I’ve had a long relationship with this venue when it was Last Supper Club, I’ve been involved here since 2002, so when that all went down I reached out to the owners like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Can I do some shows here?’
We did that Alex M.O.R.P.H. show for Valentine’s Day two years ago upstairs. That went over really well, it was well-received, everyone was stoked. We were gonna do more stuff upstairs, but they had just locked in a weekly event upstairs, and that’s how the downstairs happened. There was nothing going on down here so I was like okay cool, I’ll take it.”
One of the worst things we see today in the dance music arena is event companies turning their focus from providing great experiences for the crowd, to the monetary gains involved with throwing massive parties, charging out the nose for tickets, pouring expensive drinks, and booking mainstream acts with less artistic value. This plague has affected many brands big and small, from clubs to massives, but Marc has a different motive with Seattle Trance Alliance and with his club, The Underground.
“We try to book quality people. It’s about the artists that the locals are asking us to see. We try to be open to the suggestions of people, as you see I’m always transparent about stuff, almost to a fault where it comes back and gets me in trouble.
I shouldn’t necessarily leak my plans so much, but I like having that repartie with the community, make them feel like I really have their ear and I’m listening to what they have to say.
Overselling? We don’t oversell. If I lose money, I don’t care. Its about the quality experience. If you just cram your club full of people like a sardine can, nobody has fun. People in there don’t have fun, they won’t wanna come back, it doesn’t read for a good experience for the guests.
That’s what I look at, how would I feel about it? Would I feel like this is worth my time? Is this worth the money? And if I feel it, then that’s how I’m going to do it. If I wouldn’t be happy as a patron then I won’t let it happen here.”
What STA has already done for fans of Trance in Seattle is phenomenal. It seems like every artist who has come to The Underground either says that it is the best show they’ve had in a long time, that Seattle is one of their new favorite places to play, or both. Just as a patron of these shows for the past year, I’ve noticed that more and more new faces come out every month, and they become regulars themselves. Marc has unveiled to us that he has some bold ideas to fill this greater demand for more.
“We hope to keep consistent, solid bookings here.
We have a few ideas on how we can expand. I’d really love to do my own Bliss, and do it how I think it should be done. Not cater to the DJ’s playing, but build a lineup that’s intelligently designed from start to finish and create an overall experience for the guests.
That’s something I always did with raves. The next DJ was always one step above where the last guy was. The first guy was progressive house, then the next guy was progressive trance, then mid-tempo trance, then 138, then it would be psy, then tech, so every DJ takes it up a notch from the last one and none of this roller coaster from 128 (BPM), 138, 128, that makes for a horrible experience for the patron.”
I really hope that more event companies in Seattle start with this same vision in mind, and that our existing ones step up to the plate. I myself was a promoter for a Top 50 club in the world according to DJ Mag, and resigned just to be a part of this brand because of how much farther STA is ahead of the game.
“Support is the key thing. If you want to be involved in the scene, then be out there supporting the scene.
If you’re a DJ, and you show up 10 minutes before your set, and leave five minutes after it’s over, sticking your hand in my face for money, and you don’t want to be a part of the night, then I don’t want you involved in it.
I wanna have people who want to be involved, who wanna be here early, who wanna be with the guests and be a part of the community, and that’s what builds for a better experience.”
We have been incredibly spoiled by all of the artists coming through this year for trance and for progressive house. From a sold out show by The Thrillseekers, open-to-close sets from legends like Neptune Project and Max Graham, crazy tech trance beats by Chris Schweizer, Jordan Suckley, and Indecent Noise, to euphoric performances by Alex M.O.R.P.H. and RAM, and every shade of vibes in between, Marc and Seattle Trance Alliance have invigorated what was considered a fringe following and turned it into our healthy underground family. And that’s just 2017 alone!
The year is not over yet, and Marc has a number of surprises left for us all to enjoy. These next three months are the most stacked yet from this incredible venue, and if you were on the fence before about checking out this club, there is no better time than this fall to enjoy the cutting edge of Seattle’s nightlife experience. Click the links below for more information, and tickets!
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