Magazine disruption

HERCANBERRA.COM.AU
stood impatiently for clubs like Meche,
Northbar and ICBM. But there are two
lone survivors—Treehouse, which has
diversified the usual bar offerings with
casual daytime food downstairs and high
concept cocktails upstairs, and their more
colourful neighbour, Reload.
A bar that would have seemed
perennially ‘uncool’ 10 years ago,
Reload now stands proudly with its
gaming nights and drinks named after
comic book characters. Where there are
only ghosts of jägerbombs past, Reload’s
continued popularity is testament to
the fact that it’s now cool to stray off
the beaten path of Top 40 hits and
dress codes.
OVER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN,
new large-scale venue kyte has brought
a taste of European nightlife to Canberra,
served with a side of history and
technical expertise.
With a history of working in internationally
renowned venues such as Ministry of
Sound in London, co-owner Jerry Francis
knows a thing or two about what gives a
venue longevity.
“When we set the space up, we weren’t
going for a club vibe,” explains Jerry.
“The priority is the music…because the
whole idea was that [kyte] wouldn’t be a
stereotypical club. When we set kyte up
we wanted a community.”
That community will endure, thanks to the
work kyte are doing to ready Canberra’s
next generation of music producers and
deejays by offering master classes.
“We have music production, event
management, introduction to production,
introduction to deejaying and
introduction to copyright,” explains Jerry,
who previously spent six years lecturing
on music business at Canberra Institute of
Technology (CIT).
For Jerry, it’s about creating a culture—
and that starts with an awareness of
industry roots. This is reflected in his
choice to hero artwork by scene legends
such as Keith Herring, who “in the late
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