Max HeyraudWe spoke to Tengu ahead of our debut FUTURE ÉIRE event, where the club is changing its door policy for one night only to allow 18+ to experience the space.
As Tengu puts it, “You never know, the punters at this night could be the next Night-Time Monitors, club supervisors, party organisers, or bookers at the club in the future, so it’s really important to us to make an exception for this night and do it again in the near future.”
We kick off the year with four of Ireland’s most promising emerging talents, taking over our favourite booth in Dublin city. Soundtracking the night, we welcome DIEBYVEG, Benson, RKM333 & Ali PJ to Tengu’s prestigious booth.
This night is about the future heroes of Irish electronic music: new sounds, new approaches, and new faces shaping what comes next.
FUTURE ÉIRE is a community-driven event, with most tickets free and the rest affordable and accessible, because everyone deserves to experience what’s ahead. Join us as the future of Irish club culture is soundtracked by the next generation of selectors.
Tengu generally operates as an over-20s nightclub, but for our debut Future Éire event, the doors will be opened to over-18s. What influenced the decision to welcome a younger audience for this night?
Tengu was historically 21s on the door, but in the last two years, we dropped the door age to 20s. However, on Thursday nights we operate as an over-19s club. We hosted some really brilliant Thursday night shows last year, specifically toward the end of last year, with student societies IADT & DUDJ, as well as with the Starlight Project crew.
A lot of punters at these shows were coming to the space for the very first time, some even going to a club for the very first time, and at each of these parties, we had no issues. Everyone was super respectful, and the energy was really great. We really love the idea of someone coming to Tengu for their first club experience, as it’s a totally different experience in comparison to a bigger venue with crazy production/lights.
We have a Night-Time Monitor Team who will look after you if you have any issues, and sadly, this is not the case in other clubs, which can lead to a really horrible first experience in a club.
You never know, the punters at this night could be the next Night-Time Monitors, club supervisors, party organisers, or bookers at the club in the future, so it’s really important to us to make an exception for this night and do it again in the near future.
Tengu has become something of a bastion for the future of Dublin’s club culture. How do you feel about the current state of Irish club culture, and where do you see it heading?
Thank you! We have been working hard since we opened up after lockdown with the goal of making Tengu a safe space with solid bookings that are both inclusive and diverse. The goal has always been to make it somewhere where we can see big names in a small capacity space one night and see local talent headline the next.
It’s hostile here in Ireland to be running parties or a venue, as we are working with the country’s strict licensing laws, 3 am closure, special exemption orders and so on. We have a huge amount of talent in this country and a huge number of people who are hungry to make it work even in these difficult circumstances.
Post lockdown, we have seen more DJ sets accompanied by huge level of production, we see all the shows and sets being filmed for social media, we see everyone on their phones on the dancefloor and a lot of hype DJ sets, but slowly, we are reverting to people wanting and appreciating a more underground, stripped back, DIY experience on the dancefloor.
Promoters are looking to transform spaces and create more interactive experiences in a space, which is something you see elsewhere in Europe a lot, but not really in Ireland. SCARLET, Reasons to Dance, and Dublin Modular do this really well.
Promoters and venues are encouraging dancers to chat off the dancefloor and leave their phones off the dancefloor. We are seeing more all-night-long programming where we can experience more ‘journey’ type sets. It feels like we are moving in the right direction with the facilities and tools we have available to us.
For this event, we’ve selected four rising selectors on the Irish circuit. How important is it to nurture and streamline the next generation of talent?
We need to constantly keep our ears to the ground, and eyes peeled for new artists in our scene and look to platform them and give them opportunities when we can, as it can be really hard to break into any scene, be it DJing, film or whatever it is you want to pursue. It’s a shame to see lineups with the same acts on them over and over again when we have so much talent here.
Promoters and venues need to strive to book more of these newer artists, so we are delighted to be hosting Four Four for this new initiative. Shout out to collectives like Echo Exchange and Stretch who are always platforming next generation locals!
For those who haven’t experienced Tengu before, what can they expect from Ireland’s soundest venue?
Tengu is somewhere you can come to party and be totally yourself, you’ll be looked after and cared for by our amazing floor team if there is anything you need, the soundsystem is great, the red lights are low, there is loads of haze, it’s a perfect place to lock into the tunes for a night with your mates…See you in the dance <3