Over the summer, one of Notts’ favourite nightclubs had a makeover. We chat to Stealth’s manager Alex Kirkland about the changes that have been made to the venue and what we can expect now that it has reopened its doors…
What inspired the redesign of Stealth?
Stealth first opened in 2004, and this April, the club celebrated its eighteenth birthday. I’ve been working there since it opened, and have had the pleasure of DJing here pretty much every week for the last fifteen years.
In our early days, the Main Room had a large central bar, which limited the amount of dancefloor space. So, in 2013, we changed things around – moving and expanding the bar, putting it against one of the side walls and re-designing the DJ booth. This freed up so much more of the dancefloor, and really changed the game for us. In the years following, we went on to be featured multiple times in DJ Mag’s ‘Top 100 Clubs In The World’ list, as well as winning 'Best Club' in the most recent ‘Nottingham Best Bar None Awards’.
Lockdown was the first time in the club’s history that we had to close but this gave myself and the Stealth team time to discuss the changes we could make to improve the customer experience even further. We all decided that we wanted to try and give the customers more of a focused visual experience, as well as updating our sound and light offering, while making sure we maintained the club’s underground atmosphere.
How is it different to what we’ve seen at the club before?
We have moved both of the DJ booths and we now have the upstairs DJ setup central, with the main speaker stacks on either side in the corners of the room. The DJ booth has been lowered, enabling customers to get up-close to the DJs, being accessible on three sides. Additionally, we’ve installed video screens on the back wall behind the DJs, and lots of additional lighting which highlight some of the room’s features, as well as new and improved lasers.
We also have a small additional bar on the side of Room 1, with a new photo booth. In Room 2, we have moved the booth to the other side of the room to expand the dancefloor, stripped the walls back to expose some of the building’s features, installed video screens and lasers, redesigned the bar, and also installed more seating.
The new layout welcomes customers straight onto the dancefloor, which helps get the party started
What is your favourite thing about the redesign?
I think my favourite thing is that the new layout welcomes customers straight onto the dancefloor, which helps get the party started and really gets the atmosphere building from the off.
What artists and DJs can we expect to see at the venue this autumn?
We are welcoming guest DJs to the club every Friday and Saturday. On Saturdays, Room 1 is predominantly house and techno, and we are looking forward to welcoming LF System and Interplanetary Criminal, two artists who have recently celebrated chart success after both bagging consecutive UK number ones in the UK Singles Chart. We also have Radio 1’s Danny Howard and Sarah Story, Australian producer Skin On Skin, up-and-coming tech-house artists Biscits, Maur and Sosa, and two of our favourite new producers Anish Kumar and Barry Can’t Swim.
Our Fridays vary musically – covering everything from drum and bass and bassline to house, disco, techno and tech house. On the DnB side we welcome Kanine, Hedex, A.M.C and Tsuki. House music will be showcased by Denis Sulta and Ewan McVicar, techno with KETTAMA, tech house with East End Dubs, and local legends Darkzy and Window Kid will be providing some bassline and UK bass music. Plus lots more we are excited to announce soon!
Stealth is well-established and you’ve had so many amazing DJs in the past, what’s been your most memorable night at the club?
That’s a very difficult question to answer – I think I would have to pick a few. Fatboy Slim was one that stood out for me. He’s an artist who would traditionally headline festivals and arenas all over the world, so to welcome him to our little club in Nottingham was a memorable one.
More recently the atmosphere has been crazy when local legend Bru-C has made a few impromptu appearances at the club, and on a personal level two of my favourite DJ sets have been when I’ve had the opportunity to play before and after Bicep and Peggy Gou.
On a different note, one event that I am reminded of quite regularly is when Stealth hosted a very early Ed Sheeran show. As a venue we pride ourselves on hosting artists before they break through to mainstream success, but unfortunately in this case I think we were a bit early on him, as it only sold two tickets – a fact Ed embarrassingly shared with the whole of Nottingham Arena when he played a sold out show there a few years back!
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