"It's probably a good thing you're wearing a mask," Guy Godefroy tells me as we walk through the main room of the ambitious new Capitol Hill nightclub, VICE Seattle, which is saturated with construction dust. Four days before VICE's July 19 red carpet grand opening, workers are furiously grinding, sawing, drilling, and hammering. Consequently, we had to conduct the interview in a remote, concrete-walled stairwell.
As the company's managing partner, Godefroy brings more than two decades of Seattle-area nightlife experience as a DJ, booker, and administrator to VICE. We chuckle after recalling that I interviewed him for The Stranger 19 years ago—right before the Pioneer Square megaclub Trinity opened; Godefroy was GM there, too.
VICE owner Noah Garoutte—who also works as managing partner at Bellevue's Forum Social House—chose the 500-capacity venue's location at 1532 Minor Avenue, in the basement of the Melrose Market, between Still Liquor and the new Voodoo Donuts. Once upon a time it was called Melrose Bunker and was the site of a killer 2012 Decibel Festival showcase featuring artists from Germany's Raster-Noton label.
The music that VICE will champion won't sound like the glitched-out, abstract techno of that night. Rather, they plan to cater to a mostly twenty-something crowd looking for the sort of flash-bang, escapist electronic music that also animates other Capitol Hill spots, such as Q Nightclub and Rhino Room.
Toward that end, VICE, which will initially operate only on Fridays and Saturdays, tapped White Rabbit Group to book and promote Fridays. Godefroy says, "They've been doing shows around town for the last few years. The biggest [events] they've done lately have been those hangar shows at the Magnuson Park Hangar. They just did Bear Grillz, and they have SIDEPIECE coming up."
White Rabbit Group's CEO, who goes by Mr. Rabbit, has high hopes for VICE. "Thursdays at Trinity are for Bass, SoundWavs on the Hiyu enjoys a lot of house, Hangar30 and our concert venues have a range of sounds, but Friday nights at VICE… that's the party in the city, the go-to spot for celebrations of all kinds, from just payday to birthdays, and we are booking to reflect that," he said.
"The genres will range within a predominantly EDM selection," he continued, "But it’s always going to be upbeat, danceable, and a soundtrack to celebrate to, while upholding WRG’s high standard for artists. When booking talent for the room, we used a rule of thumb: 'If a confetti and cryo blast would fit the set, book it for VICE.'"
Though Godefroy has more salt than pepper in his beard, he vigilantly keeps up with musical/nightlife trends favored by young clubbers. One of his many responsibilities for VICE is curating Saturday nights. His showcase will be called Shake, and it kicks off on July 20 with über-skillful former Seattle DJ Four Color Zack headlining.
Godefroy envisions Shake as "sort of a Vegas-style open format, trying to fit into that slot with some of those trendy, West Coast open-format parties like R&B and RIBS or Cuffing Season. The [Shake] resident DJs [Berry, Wavy, Nami, and Yo! Adrian] have been getting a lot of play on Capitol Hill. They're playing at Comet, Q, Rhino Room. They were playing at The Woods before it went away. They're talented DJs, and they're in touch with current popular music that the kids like. I've been drilling them on playing a true open format, where they're going to be playing the hits, but also house, bass music, and bootlegs and remixes."
While VICE's goal is for the music to appeal to a younger crowd, people 30 and older are more than welcome to attend, especially if they enjoy, as Godefroy puts it, "bright lights and loud speakers" in a "crowded, chaotic, fun, and messy" environment.
On the docket so far are Breathe Carolina (July 26), Imanbek (July 27), LA's Bella Fiasco headlining Godefroy's annual beach party (August 10), and the Daft Punk tribute, One More Time (August 16).
A longer-range plan of Garoutte's includes adding Thursday night comedy shows, with a tentative launch date in September. "We'll be working with some talented local comedians in the scene, but also booking some touring talent, some of the comedy-club tour stuff that hasn't found a home," Godefroy says.
As for non-musical amenities, attendees can reserve private seating for special service. VIPs can secure couches and order drinks from there instead of at the bar. And Godefroy promises a spectacular visual show that will sync with the music. "At the back of the stage where the DJ booth is, there's a full LED wall. Also, the entire ceiling has been built out as an LED grid that's going to be paired with the wall and synced with the lights. It's going to be a really wild effect. It's similar to what they built out at Hï nightclub in Ibiza. A fireball will hit the LED screen and then explode out across the ceiling, from the front all the way to the back, over the audience's heads."
VICE's sound system will feature the highly regarded Fulcrum Acoustic tops. "Now that we've put them in on the computer model, the imaging of the room is insane. We spread the speakers throughout the room and then we modeled them with a pink noise generator. So, the sound shouldn't be too loud anywhere in the room, but it shouldn't be too quiet, either. And the whole place is designed for no reverb, no crashing waves, no echoes, no sound distortion."
He continued, "All the speakers are designed and built to work together. They have their own custom processing unit. We have these hand-built subwoofers. This is going to be a fantastic-sounding sound system, no matter where you are in the room. It probably won't give you ear fatigue, because of the balance."
After working at Bellevue's Lucky Strike in recent years, Godefroy sees a stark difference between that suburb's and Seattle's nightlife scenes. "The cities have different personalities. Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square are an amazing operation that Kemper [Freeman] is running very professionally. But it's a little sterile compared to Seattle. It feels like the arts are more alive in Seattle, things are a little more wide open. Stuff's older, stuff has more personality."
Does Godefroy think Seattle crowds have more of an appetite for more non-mainstream music? "Yes. I mean, there are positives and negatives about working in a mall. The parking was great. But every place is going to attract a different audience. I think the people [in Bellevue] wanted something that was more mainstream and reliable. Whereas [in Seattle], they're like, let's get weird."
Godefroy's long history in the area's music scene hasn't jaded him about its current state. He admits that the city has had some amazing runs, but people tend to overly romanticize the past, especially the farther back in time you go.
"A lot of people take for granted how good things are right now. Capitol Hill is vibrant. There's a lot of foot traffic and there's a lot to do. Capitol Hill on a Saturday night is crazy. I counted nine hotdog carts between Broadway and 12th [Avenue] on Saturday night. I think that is an all-time record for hotdog carts in any nightlife neighborhood in Seattle history."
That's a serious indicator of nightlife health, isn't it? "Yeah. The hotdog cart meter is underrated."
