Hong Kong Nightlife & Music Scene: 宀 Club with Youry
An insight into Hong Kong’s nightlife with Youry, a local and head honcho behind the dance floor and agency, 宀Club. A music venue in the very heart of Hong Kong.
宀 club is a community of people who appreciate electronic music acts and cultural activities, the cosy basement-feel-club, rotates a roster of leading international performers while nurturing local and regional talent.
“Hong Kong offers a unique package. A perfect mix of city and nature, which includes beaches, islands and jungle, all easily accessible. Safety is not an issue here. Taxation is very low, if non-existent. ”
HONG KONG! I exclaimed when I hung up the phone with my manager after being told I was being flown to Hong Kong to open the new Soho House site in Sheung Wan.
Walking into the 28th floor of the building, I can still smell the scent of the freshly carved wood of the stairs and fresh paint on the walls. It smelled like prosperity. It was the best month of my life to date.
It’s an exciting time opening a new Soho House; this house was the first in Asia. I was working with the big dogs, my Australian mates. The dream team. We knew our shit and how to have fun at the same time. Landing into Hong Kong, I delved deep into a 14 hour shift, it was the first day opening this house. My days started late, and every night was a celebration. The excitement in the air and the sense of urgency felt like you were driving a sports car at 210km p/hr. The fast life… lots and lots of highs. After each shift, we’d take ourselves across the road to The Pacific to play darts and drink beers. Somehow, a bottle of Casamigos would be in one of our rooms to drink and kick on; don’t ask how!
One night, after a shift, one of my colleagues, Angus, who was already living in Hong Kong, told me to come to his friends’ club.
宀Club… Hong Kong’s underground electronic music institute
Off we went to 宀 (pronounced as Mihn) Club. My soul connected with the music and the people on the dance floor that night, mingling about how I’d ended up in Hong Kong, living in Amsterdam, and previously living in Berlin. I met the nightclub owner of 宀, Youry, who became one of my friends. He was fascinated by the fact that I used to live in Berlin, and we shared the same musical interests and appreciation for his club and community.
Interview with Youry
Can you tell me about the concept of 宀 and how it came about? What was your inspiration?
“宀Club was a project born out of frustration. Having DJed all around Hong Kong and in Asia, we realised there wasn’t a club that had all the elements we were looking for here in town. A good line-up with a mix of international, regional and local acts. A great sound (and one that would not destroy your ears). A proper dance floor. Some venues ticked some of the boxes, but not all. And so having reached a “ceiling” we decided to take matters into our own hands, not really knowing whether it was feasible or not.
At the time we were very much into the scene in Berlin and drew some inspirations from there. But we also recognised that we could not reproduce the scale, so we also turned to Tokyo, where there are a lot of small, if not tiny, venues. And so, I would say 宀Club is a mix between Berlin and Tokyo in design and concept.”
Tell us a little bit about you, how long you have lived in Hong Kong for, what it is like living there and what is so special about the city?
“I’ve been in Hong Kong for a long time, since the summer of 2004. I only left for college in Montreal, and did a year of work in Mainland China. I didn’t like Hong Kong for the first 4 years, as a teenager I found it too stiff and competitive. But I knew it would be a fun city for a young adult, and China was the hot place back in those days. So after college it made sense to go back to (not to mention family).
Hardest thing to do in Hong Kong is keeping up with the price of real estate, which is the highest in the world. All of us here have learned to live with less space. Other than that, I would say Hong Kong offers a unique package. A perfect mix of city and nature, which includes beaches, islands and jungle, all easily accessible. Safety is not an issue here. Taxation is very low, if non-existent. Hong Kong is often on par with Singapore on the Ease Of Doing Business Index, basically at N1. Food… there is so much to say there. And finally the crowd here is fantastic; very diverse but everyone is ambitious. If you can afford to live here, overall I would say it’s a libertarian’s paradise.”
Tell us about 宀 and what a 宀 party is like
“It’s been over 6 years since we opened 宀, so you can imagine there’s been some wild times in there. We keep the line-up really diverse, and so we have a lot of different highlights. Some of my favourite parties included Cormac for Host, which our LGBT-focused night. The club was really rock n rolling ! Another personal favourite of mine was the night Sei from Bonobo (Tokyo) came over to play. He did not mix any track, but rather faded in and out in a way that I had never seen before; it just worked seamlessly. I was told he learned this from David Mancuso himself. Sei would also jump genres of music, each time playing the extreme version of a genre. There was no kick for 20 minutes at peak time and we lost half the room, but I didn’t care because those who stayed understood the set was outstanding! Finally, I would always recommend Alex From Tokyo for a New Year’s Eve party; guaranteed success. And I love to hear Sister Sledge followed (literacy) by Jeff Mills.”
What does the future of 宀 Club look like?
“宀 is becoming a bit of a brand. We started a Dj Agency under the same name, and we are now looking to consult for other venues as well. For the club itself, there are always upgrades to be made, and we do them steadily. As for the line-up, 2025 will be more focused on regional actors rather than international ones. It’s time for Asian-based DJs to shine!”
Let’s talk about some of Hong Kong hidden gems, where do you go to party?
“One hidden gem is Acadana. It’s a private venue run by a doctor who is passionate about music. It’s located outside the city centre, in the industrial zone. It’s hard to know when something is going on, you need to know the people who go there, but they’re not hard to find if you know where to look.”
Youry’s Favourite Restaurants & Bars in Hong Kong
La Cabane Wine Bistro (Natural wines, yum!)
La Vache Steak Restaurant, it turns into a party.
Godenya for Japanese Food.
Where do you go to escape the party scene?
“I find Lamma Island to be very interesting. It’s an island 20 minutes away by ferry. There are no cars there and people live as if they were on the beach in Thailand. Cute little cafes there too. A great place to go check out.”
Upcoming events
Check out 宀 Club’s upcoming events on Resident Advisor and visit their website to find out more.