Nightlife, partying, clubbing; these are terms cool people throw around around their circle. For those who are alien to these terminologies, they’ve either never participated in it, or they shun it with every molecule in them. The good news is, the former category of people is expanding while the latter is shrinking. This is because a big player has entered the nightlife game and has sent out ripples that have changed the way people see it altogether. Club Deja Vu have been the prime location for night owls and not only do they seem to not get enough of it, but they are dragging in more people with them. The result: a healthy cycle of party goers. So if words like party, fun, excitement, and I’m-gonna-dance-til-I-drop kindle emotions that you’ve felt but not sure where, you can be sure about them at Deja Vu.

HOW DID DEJA VU COME TO LIFE?
We were in the Victory Club team and we decided that it was time for us to move on and start a new club. We gathered friends that we had been knowing for a long time, put together a solid plan, and hence gave birth to Deja Vu.

OPENING A CLUB, THAT TOO IN A HIGH PROFILE PLACE LIKE DURBARMARG; MUST HAVE BEEN A REAL CHALLENGE.
It was. There’s no lying about that. We did want to open a club, and regardless of have a well thought out plan, the location was a hard issue. Initially, scouting for a location took time and getting a fix on it was even harder. Then, when we came to know that the owners of the building, which we are in currently, wanted to put a lease on it. We jumped on it and things just fell into place from there on. It was just a merry stroke of luck in all honesty.

GLAD THAT HAPPENED. WHAT OTHER OBSTACLES DID YOU FACE AND HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM?
To begin with, our main concern was the neighbours. Being in the nightlife industry, disturbing the people around is a thing we need to consider. We were fortunate to be around understanding neighbours and it was pretty much a smooth sailing. We sound proofed our facility so there was no such issue. Then, as a club, we face daily issues any other club faces. It’s not something to be alarmed about, so we have not faced a major setback so far.

GUESS YOU CAN CREDIT IT TO YOUR PRIOR EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY. HOW DO YOU THINK THE PEOPLE ARE SEEING THE WHOLE NOTION OF CLUBBING AND NIGHTLIFE?
Like you said, we’ve been around for a while. Our experiences date back to 2010. Now, it may not seem like much, but it accounts for coming across a lot of party goers. And we do mean a lot. And with that, we have seen a drastic change.

Back then, nightlife was something that was frowned upon. Along with many others, when we used to go out, our parents would be very discouraging, saying that it’s immoral, or that it’s for the rowdy crowd, or something along the lines of that. Now, those parents ask their kids if they can come along. From what we’ve noticed, in the past, the majority of the people who come to the clubs were youngsters with very homogeneous circles. Now, that demography has morphed into something far more diverse, accommodating party people of various age groups. This is definitely something positive. No under 18 of course; we don’t allow that.

AND WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BROUGHT ABOUT THIS SHIFT?
When we opened Victory, there weren’t many clubs around. Now, we might be wrong in saying this, but Victory had a huge hand to bring this shift. It was something new, and after it, places like Ibiza, Karma, and now Deja Vu followed suite. With this, a sort of a trend started to come up and as more people got involved in it, more interest started to take birth. And hence, a diverse crowd started to come in to fancy their intrigue.

Then, another factor is the change in the standard. The pioneers of nightlife like Platinum, they had their standard. But after a some time, that standard became the minimum, and just out dated. When Victory opened, it set a new bar, which was high. Now, people in general like change, and when hat change it good, the like it even more. That’s why they keep coming back, and bring along new people with them.
Also, there’s the music. With western EDM taking up a bulk of the music industry and being the prefered choice of the masses, they gravitate towards such music. And when clubs play such music, it is pretty much attraction for the audience by default.

YOU MENTIONED A FEW CLUBS THAT CAME UP ALONG WITH YOU. WHAT DO YOU SAY SETS YOU APART FROM THEM?
To state the obvious, our main USP would be the space. Our interiors are like no other and even give real competition to the clubs that are oversea at locations like the US. If you want to do a big event, we have you covered. The reason why big names like Diplo, Jay Sean, and soon enough, Steve Aoki came to is because we can accommodate the space for the energy they bring. Other venues can’t do that.

All of the interiors we have done has been made to make the people feel like they’re not in Nepal anymore, but in an international club. And many have reported on feeling so. We have paid attention to the way the place looks and feels just to put together an ambiance that’s special and different. We have an enormous stage screen that can be seen and felt right up from the entrance. And we’ve paired it up with a sound system that will blow the minds away and make any hip sway.

To add to it, we have three bars in the place. We have a top notch selection of drinks and a menu that surpasses just bar foods. See, when people are dancing, they’re bound to get thirsty and hungry. We don’t want them to go away just to grab a bite to eat, because who knows, they may never return after their snack. That’s a missed opportunity for us. We don’t want that, nor do we want our party people to stop just because of hunger. So we have gone out of our way to put together a menu that will satisfy any sort of hunger. And we intend to add and improve on it further.

NOW THAT YOU’VE MENTIONED ABOUT ADDING TO YOUR BAR, WHAT OTHERS DO YOU HAVE IN MIND FOR THE FUTURE OF DEJA VU?
When we started out, we wanted to make a pub, and a sports house. The pub may not see light, but actually, the sports house is being constructed on the side. It is going to have football, table tennis, air hockey, all that fun stuff. And we also have a rooftop restaurant coming up. All of these are expected to be constructed by next month and you can expect them to be in full swing by late 2017.

WORDS:NIRVEEK PPJ SHAH | PHOTO:PRITAM CHHETRI