Curates: De School

Curates is a new series that takes an in-depth look at the best clubs in the world. We speak to the people behind the scenes and get a playlist of tracks that they feel defines their venue. First up: De School in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has long been a hotspot for dance music culture and nightlife. The city has one of a liberal approach to clubbing, with a fair few of its venues holding 24-hour licenses. Not only that, personal etiquette in the rave is something that everyone can learn a lot from. We regularly visit Amsterdam on party excursions and it's one of the best spots on earth to get down all-night-long.

Clubs like Melkweg, Radion and Canvas book incredible line-ups and a wealth of larger venues and warehouse spaces like Gashouder, Elementenstraat and Mediahaven play home to bigger events like Awakenings, HYTE and Loveland. They boast a who's who of DJ talent but, among the exceptional parties, a few key venues have closed along the way.

The infamous Studio 80 shut its doors last year and Trouw took a final bow at the end of 2014. Both were magical clubs and Trouw in particular left a hole in Amsterdam's clubbing landscape, perhaps due to rising international fame and watertight rep. But it wasn't long before the minds behind the hallowed venue went to work on a new project that would take things a step forward.

Enter De School.

Located in the West of Amsterdam, the multi-purpose space used to be an old technical school before the team started work. The beauty of the new venue is that it's been left pretty much untouched and it acts as not only a club, which is located in the basement, but as a restaurant, gym and garden too. While there are touches of Trouw, the people behind De School wanted to create something new and that's exactly what they've done. The programming is still as on-point as ever with line-ups as tantalising as its predecessor. Artists like Ben UFO, Deniro and Job Jobse have all played and the Pender Street Steppers, DJ Sprinkles, Joy Orbison, Makam and Midland have all been announced for upcoming events.

We caught up with Luc Mastenbroek, De School's booker, to see what went into transforming the space into the hyped venue it is today. We also spoke to the residents and asked them to curate a playlist of tracks that defined De School's short but prosperous jump onto Amsterdam's cultural map. Check out the interview and playlist below.

First of all can you tell us a little bit about the club?

The special thing about the club is that it is an old technical school built at the end of the sixties. It’s very industrial so when we found this place we realised it actually functioned really well as a club space because the whole building is so solid. It’s meant for a lot of people and a lot of energy because the guys doing a job back in the day is similar to a dancing crowd where you have a lot of people moving.

It’s based in a place they call the old West of Amsterdam and a variety of young, nice, cool people are situated there.The building is quite a big space and we instantly had the idea of doing different stuff in there. There’s a restaurant where people can eat and there’s also a surprise menu with fresh fruit and vegetables.There’s a café, a gym, a concert venue, gallery space. There’s a terrace and there’s a garden. We have this DIY approach to it all. We didn’t change a lot [of the building], we just tried to give it life.

The club is in the basement, which used to be a bike garage, so there’s a low ceiling with a solid space that’s quite dark. Also we put minimalist lights in there, we sorted out the acoustics, we put a bar in there and I think we did most of the painting in about two months. We gave the whole thing these new functions and people have just helped by volunteering. We just had party people coming in on their bikes asking “Can I help?” and they stayed for a week, even during Christmas and New Year. People just wanted to see the space and they wanted to contribute and participate. It was a nice project.

You mentioned a lot of people contributed to the help of setting up De School, do you think that’s because Trouw was such a popular club? How does it compare to Trouw?

Of course there is a reputation that contributes, but with Trouw the point to why it started was a lot different. Now there is a lot more happening in Amsterdam and many more clubs. I think that the main difference with De School is that it has way more functions than Trouw, because it was really only open at night. I think as a club, Trouw managed to create an identity around the locals. The DJs knew the club, they would come on their bikes with their records and I think that’s something that we are trying to continue here. Also, our spaces are different: Trouw’s main room had the high ceiling, beautiful lighting and also the sound is different because of the identity of the space. It was very much another experience whereas at De School, there’s a low ceiling, it’s dark and you can get lost. You have to walk and find your way through the darkness. I think because of Trouw’s success we were a bit scared but we wanted to offer something new.

You were a resident at Trouw. Do you think that experience has helped you become a better booker?

Yes, being a DJ really helped me with the job and it made me think about everything in a different way. I’d see and hear other DJs and think, “Wow I could never do this because it has a different personality from mine.” But I think if you just go out and you listen to the music, you’re really just judging things from your own taste but as a DJ you start to see the difference and appreciate it even more. It’s happened with a few residents; I look at them in a different light now.

There are a lot of Dutch DJs playing at the moment, you’ve got Deniro, you’ve got Job Jobse. Are you going to try and bring focus towards Dutch artists?

Yeah, I mean when there are two DJs playing, one could be from Germany or the USA but it’s always nice if there’s a solid base of DJs that know the club. Most of the DJs, even when they’re not playing, come to see me in the week, have a cup of coffee and talk about the nights they can host because they know the sound of the club. I think at every night there should be at least one local DJ playing, one who knows the club and then we can have the guest also from the Netherlands or elsewhere. We have so many great DJs here based in Amsterdam, it’s great.

So who are the residents that are steering the club within its opening year?

We didn’t want to have a fixed group because it's weird if you open and you say, “Hey these are the guys, that’s it”. I hope that in three years the residents are the new generation, the people who came for the first time and heard a great record and got inspired themselves.

Also, from a resident I expect to hear what they think. What the lighting, soundsystem and crowd is like, especially at the beginning. I wanted to hear everything. How did they feel walking up the stairs?!

What is the capacity of the club on a weekend night? What's it like when it's in full flow?

The capacity of the club is around 700 and the dancefloor is intimate, although it feels like a big space when it’s empty. I feel like people are normally centred around the DJ but people will go behind and to the side as well. The ceiling is low and the DJ is on ground level so it doesn’t feel like a big room. There’s also a lot of space if you go upstairs, there’s a garden that people can hang out in and there’s a big smoking space. There are five other spaces that we can open and it’s not only a DJ playing, there could be someone playing the saxophone or something. Then there’s music, weird paintings and performances when we open those spaces to the night.

It’s different to see a club with so many different functions, is that more of a Dutch thing or is that specifically De School?

There was this club called Club 11, it closed around seven years ago, but it was exactly the same thing. We started this as something that had more functions so that we could also invite a more diverse crowd. If it was just an outright club in the middle of the neighbourhood then it would just be loud music and kids wandering through the streets in the morning. Now with all the other things included we have something for everyone. We have young mums coming in with their babies and people in their seventies and eighties passing through because it’s such a big building. It would be a bit weird to make it just a club – now I think we give something back to the city.

Can you talk us a through the playlist you've curated for us?

I asked a few of the residents about which tracks they like to play, a few things that they’ve already played here. The thing with tracks is they are just documents, they are memories of the moment. When Interstellar Funk played here he dropped some tracks from the eighties and the seventies, so I wanted the playlist to be different and a small entry of De School so far. I didn’t even ask them for the craziest records, I just asked them for the playlist. I looked at the list and it's like, "Wow".

Check De School on Facebook here

Funster is Mixmag's Digital Music Editor, follow him on Twitter