20 Years In The Making

To the postie it may be just the basement under 22 Jamaica Street in Glasgow, but to a whole generation of Scottish clubbers it's the ultimate clubbing playground.

The Sub Club celebrates its 20th anniversary in April, a milestone for any music brand, let alone an electronic music nightclub that prides itself on pushing quality cutting-edge DJs and artists.

How did the owners manage to stay at the forefront of dance music for so long?
"I think staying cutting-edge is just about staying true to your musical beliefs and not compromising on standards," said Mike Grieve, one of the directors of Sub.

"The tricky bit is maintaining enough of a commercial sensibility to keep the place financially viable. It would have been easy to have had a magic party for a couple of years which then went tits up!"

Promoters could learn a thing or two off the chaps that run the Sub Club, and DJs should pay their respects to the club's residents Harri and Domenic who have held their weekly Saturday night residency for 13 years straight.

"The Sub has always been fortunate to have a depth of talent to call upon with guys like Harri and Domenic," commented Mike.

"Johnny and Keith have run their Optimo club night every Sunday for the last nine years. We obviously have some real DJ talent at the club."

"It's one of the first clubs we went to in Glasgow," said Stu from Slam. "We first DJed at Sub way back in 1989 and it's still one of our favourite places to play in now. It's got the same old basement, but the sound has improved enormously and it doesn't get as sticky and hot as it used to."

Slam's Orde continued: "It's a simple layout with the DJ box on the dancefloor, but it has great sound, management, cool bar staff and door staff. As soon as you walk down those stairs you know it's going to be a good night!"