“That is the combination of an awful lot of people pulling in the same direction,” he says. “That’s the evolution from the Punters Club to the Corner, from the Corner to the Social Club. Applying the same sort of artist liaison relationship at a Corner level, saying, ‘You know what? We’re just going to do it apples for apples’, not making any artist judgement regardless of if it’s a Monday Night Mass band or a touring international band. The relationship between booking to logistics, marketing – when it gets to show night, it doesn’t change. Art is art. My job isn’t to judge the validity of the art; my job is to promote art’s ability to connect to people.
“Without banging on about it, I think that ideology or philosophy is something that filters out. If you’re on a national tour and you’re playing in 300 [capacity] band rooms across Australia, whether you start at Northcote Social Club or end at Northcote Social Club, you want to remember Northcote Social Club.”
Mansfield has spent ten years operating the Northcote Social Club, after previously managing fellow immortal pub venue The Corner Hotel. It’s no coincidence the two locations are among Melbourne’s most loved live music venues. However, despite owning the two pubs, Mansfield’s focus hasn’t been on the music side of things.
“The booking isn’t handled by me. I know beer. I know beer and people,” he says. “That’s my job, I’m the hospitality side of it. I enjoy the logistics of doing what we do, and the human element of what we do.
“The ability to either interpret art, pick what art has the most traction at any given time, or be able to put together weeks and months of programming where you’re being mindful of offering the difference of things we do – that’s one of the great parts of what we do, the lack of sameness. For example, as much as I love heavy music, I don’t know if I’d ever want to keep playing heavy music.”
Over time, Mansfield’s business has subtly but surely benefitted from the brand image stations such as triple j indirectly promote on a regular basis. Recordings for their Live At The Wireless shows, as well as tour announcements, often come with the Club’s name appended, which has helped establish the venue’s name on a national level.
“Any ability to connect to the market place is critical,” he says. “For us, things such as triple j nationally and Triple R/PBS locally, the support we’ve had through those music-committed stations have been huge for us. When you are the ‘corner pub in the suburbs’ in Northcote, if you’ve got people in Canberra or in Perth streaming on the net hearing the Club’s name and being name-checked and having the booking guys leverage the space, it can be very self-fulfilling.”
With the Northcote Social Club’s ten year anniversary just around the corner and the pub refurbishments in full swing, Mansfield has teed up a cracking series of shows to celebrate. Jebediah, Regurgitator and Adalita are just some of the artists taking to the stage during the month. “There’s a full ten year anniversary sequence of shows strung out over the better part of a month,” he says. “It’s a big group of iconic artists we’ve had relationships with over the years. It gives us the opportunity to host a bunch of big parties really. It’ll be fun and [the anniversary] just feels worth marking, really.”
Despite a full-scale re-development temporarily closing the pub’s doors, the Social Club’s friendly atmosphere will be maintained. In fact, the community vibe will be enhanced – the ceilings have been raised to show off the bare brickwork, which proudly displays the suburb’s name etched in mortar. The Social Club has become an integral fixture of High Street, Northcote, and Mansfield has no intention of risking its reputation.
“There’s a few ways you can approach the renovations,” he says. “You’re either doing it to build it up and create a commercial place that has a broader appeal, or [you’re] doing what I’m choosing: reinventing for the future. Doing the thing that we love. For me there’s an obligation to show and take people on the journey with the venue – and you have to re-invent. It’s great to not be starting at point one again. You’re working with an existing brand again. The place sells itself really.”
BY THOMAS BRAND
