مقابلة مع الرجل الذي يوقظ ليالي بروكسل

carl de moncharline Interview with the man who wakes up Brussels nightlife By Dr Feelgood OUT SOON: After being behind the "Who's Who's Follies" nights that set the nights of Brussels and Paris alight, and after working as PR and party designer at the Mirano Continental, you finally took the big leap: opening your own club, Who's Who's Land. When and how did it all start for you? Carl de Moncharline: Diving into the world of the night happened very gradually for me. After working in advertising, I joined the Mirano Continental first as PR and then very quickly as artistic director. While producing the Mirano's nights, I started organising my own, the "Who's Who's Follies" at the Mirano and in Paris. That "Who's Who's Follies" concept moved from the Mirano to Fuse, where it developed in a distinctly better atmosphere. I was not planning to stay in Brussels but to move to Paris, where I have many contacts. Who's Who's Land came out of a huge flash I had while visiting the building, a former theatre from the beginning of the century. Derelict for 25 years, it struck me as having exceptional character and I took the whole thing on as an enormous bet. The W.W.L. concept took shape as soon as I left the Mirano, but it took me two years to build it. The journey was strewn with gags and epic moments, such as my partners' trips to Marrakech and Tangier, the building then belonging to Moroccan owners. OUT SOON: You have to admit the project is grandiose, both in the space, which is resolutely seventies, and in its futuristic look. The whole thing makes me think of a fantastic submarine that could feature, for example, in films by Caro and Jeunet ("La Cité Des Enfants Perdus"), by Kubrick ("A Clockwork Orange" for the milk bar, or "2001: A Space Odyssey"), or in the interior of the Star Trek ship, or for connoisseurs the legendary sixties series "The Prisoner". The idea of two separate dance floors and an area reserved for games with the original Pac Man, Invaders and Sony Playstation consoles is all very creative, but the most surprising thing is the concept offering clubbers different themed nights four times a week. Now that the club is running smoothly, tell us what happens here from Thursday to Sunday. Carl de Moncharline: Well, every Thursday we run the CASINO ULTRAVEGAS nights, sponsored by Prive Joke, with two exceptional DJs, members of the Mambo Kings, Juan Infinito and Felipe de Corte, who performs a live show on drums, plus DJ Cozmix, who comes to us from the Ranx, a funk club in Antwerp. That evening we offer different, very mixed music, moving between Latino House, Funk and sixties-seventies, even eighties, funk classics. Money plays no part on those nights: customers get tokens and can win drinks. In any case we intend to make a trip to Las Vegas to find other, more fun ideas for the Casino nights. On Fridays, for the time being, my two residents are Eric B. and Marko de La Rocca; the sound is inevitably more "Trance". Saturdays, by definition the liveliest nights, are the domain of Jos and Olivier Gosseries, the two DJs behind the golden days of the "Who's Who's Follies". The back room runs with DJs Danny V. (ex Mirano) and Peter Bonen. Saturday is also the home of the GROOVE AMERICA nights, where prestigious guest DJs such as Tony Humphries, Tedd Patterson, Nelson Rosado and Kenny Carpenter have already performed. Other equally prestigious DJs will come in '97 and, beyond that slightly static Saturday-night programming, we are thinking of putting on a themed night from time to time. Sundays, finally, are reserved for the Sundays/Sun-Gays parties, coached by Jan Bizar with a new DJ, Stéphane VB. OUT SOON: Today, a few months after opening, do you think you have won your bet, and what about the rumours that you will open a second space on the first floor in 1997? Do you have other projects up your sleeve? Carl de Moncharline: Well, of course, nothing is ever won and, since I am a manic, perfectionist Scorpio, I certainly want to improve things constantly. As soon as I become aware of a wrong note, I try to put it right. That said, after two months of opening I am happy: we are reaching a professional level when others have taken years to get there. In any case, our aim is to be in perpetual evolution. If all goes well, I plan to open the first floor around March/April 97, with the possibility of concerts, fashion shows or other cultural events, theatre and more, who knows, we shall see. But above all the first floor gives us a third dance floor, which means an even broader musical programme. We are doubling our working area, which makes W.W.L. one of the largest clubs in the capital. The reason the first floor is opening later is our concern to renovate everything properly from an architectural point of view. Around 1998 we also intend to open a restaurant at the front of the first floor. And then, alongside all that, we will continue producing compilations (the "DECODE" label). Having a recording studio here and producing music is one of my priority goals; we also want to open a record shop on the first floor. In the same vein, we will go on developing spin-off products as we did with the W.W.L.'s vodka and gin distributed by the White Night shops. The great challenge of the future will be to open other W.W.L.s in major capitals such as Paris and why not New York. If one day I leave the world of the night, it will be to stay in the audiovisual world (TV programmes and broadcasts, etc.), but there you go, time will tell! OUT SOON: A nasty little question now: who is not allowed into W.W.L., and on what selection criteria? Carl de Moncharline: My selection policy at the door is very variable; above all we want people who want to enjoy themselves and, believe me, we know how to recognise them - certainly not aggressive people. OUT SOON: A wish for the 2000s? Carl de Moncharline: Personally, I would like to have children with my wife.