Melbourne’s thriving electronic music scene has seen many exciting developments in recent times with the rise of festival Juggernauts like Pitch & Beyond The Valley, and now it’s time for it’s club scene to receive a fresh injection in XE54.
Housed in an underground basement on the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD, XE54 is a raw and vital take on the typical dance music venue, with emphasis being placed on the highest calibre of sound and production first and foremost.
Roar Projects, the team behind XE54 boasts over 60 years’ of hospitality scene experience between notable partners Simon Digby, Tony Perna and Nick Vas. Together they have enlisted help from some of the best in the industry partnering in XE54 with the booking/promotional team behind Beyond The Valley and a Pitch Music & Arts who will head up the clubs flagship Saturday night offering, as well as collaborating with renowned interior designers International Worldwide.
A prime instigator of Melbourne’s laneway revolution, International Worldwide’s keen eye for easy style evident in the iconic venue Honkytonks and later Sorry Grandma, Third Class and The Bottom End/Survivor/Poof Doof. “I’ve known those guys for a long time and always resonated with what they have done in the past; I was a part of the whole Honkytonk movement and I loved what that was all about. They think outside the box and we wanted to think outside the box with this space.” explains owner Simon Digby, commenting on XE54’s unique industrial meets future technological aesthetic.
This forward-thinking attitude is reflected in every aspect of the venue – from the physical spaces, the staff uniforms, through to the actual vessels in which drinks are delivered. Original, raw, streetwise art pieces in the venue have been created to give extra weight the feeling of realness encountered when walking through the doors.
Minimal and futuristic, XE54 removes all pretence and gets back to the important matter at hand, the music! Roar’s Simon Digby explains the concept further, “what we are about is to be now, be in the moment, don’t worry about later; be present. We respect the past and what has worked in the past, but we don’t live there.”
XE54’s frontier musical program kicks off Saturday August 12th with the launch of their weekly Saturday night offering. “We aim to create something that regardless of the time of year, or which specific week you attend there will be a Saturday nightspot for electronic music lovers with the right attitude to come together and enjoy good music” explains head booker and promoter Mike Christidis (Beyond The Valley/Pitch).
“While it’s easy to maintain a quality consistent offering through our experienced resident DJ’s, what’s most impressive is our eclectic mix of international and national headliners. Electronic music is so diverse there can be something for everyone, as we learnt with how well the debut Pitch line-up was received. So whether you’re a lover of house, techno, disco or so on… we’re sure it will turn some heads.”
Excited to have snagged the perfect booking and promotional team to compliment the world class venue, Simon comments “they’ve shown us as event organisers that they have a community around them that will resonate with what our product is.”
To conclude Digby offers, “we love creating memories for people and hopefully we can do that with XE54. It’s going to be a moment in time that you look back on and feel some strong emotion about.”
XE54 launches on August 12th, 2017 at 334 City Rd, Southbank. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for their debut artist announcement.
