We've looked in on Brooke Humphries before, and we'll probably do it again, but we wanted to check in with her from an angle of local support this time.
Humphries, in addition to owning stakes in both Barcadia locations, Beauty Bar, It'll Do Dance Club and new coffee joint Mudsmith, also owns half of Full Access Entertainment, which does some pretty big EDM shows, and always employs some great local talent in the field. It's a relationship that doesn't hurt our local DJs at all, considering she also needs some good local talent to spin at her clubs here and there. She works tirelessly, has a blast doing what she does, and somehow also manages to nourish a ferocious addiction to all things happening at Texas Motor Speedway.
So, Full Access Dallas alone sounds like a full time job!
It is. Full access that does all the big electronic events like Meltdown, Dayglo....Meltdown is this Saturday in Dallas!
How long have you been at this? Did you stumble into it, or....?
I've been working in nightclubs in Dallas for 25 plus years. It started with going to Sparx, Empire and Starck Club in the late '80s.
Where did the interest start?
Right around the time we were coming off of the disco era. This is when house music basically began. I was super drawn to it!
So you were a fan, and you turned pro.
Yes, all that eventually led to promoting. Really just throwing parties in the early '90s. I had a stint in New York City at Limelight! That's an entirely different story, but it did "teach" me many things about promoting, perception of events, nightlife etiquette, that kind of thing.
But it was here in Dallas, with your partners at Full Access, where you able to first apply yourself in a big way in the entertainment world, correct?
Yes, first with Full Access. Jeremy Word and I created Full Access in late '99, 2000 if I recall correctly. We sold out the Bronco Bowl with our first show! Our first major headliner was THE first rockstar DJ, Paul Oakenfold. 5000-plus seats sold out with just him as a headliner, which was unheard of at the time. That show has led to an additional 14 years of being in the world of electronic music. Dallas is very lucky to have had many amazing nightclubs in its history that housed amazing resident DJs.
Who were some local faves in the talent pool back in that time?
I remember Go-Go Mike at Stack, Redeye at Club One, A-1 at prism. Mostly all of which were in the '90s. Not that good EDM isn't found here these days, but once McDonalds started using "DJs" in their commercials, and the "bottle service" era came in everything started to change. Drastically. Watered it all down. Thats why i opened It'll Do! Old school. No ridiculous light show or flat screens or LED...just a dark room with massive sound and great house music. Refreshing to see people actually still DANCE in this town...like dance dance. Crazy huh?
But there is great DJ talent in Dallas now. Surely you agree. Who do you like, use and support?
DJ Redeye is still great....he does Friday at Beauty Bar and he's the resident of It'll Do as well.
DJ Sober. Thursdays at Beauty Bar and monthly at It'll Do.
Blake Ward is awesome. He does Saturdays at Beauty Bar. And Jeremy and I try to rotate all good locals as openers for touring headliners.
The genre is going strong in Dallas, but has it changes for the better over the years, in your opinion?
The climate is completely different. More commercial. A bit disapointing personally. but in the end you give each generation what they want. That's what we do and do very well.
