Delany was voted 10th Most Influential Person in Australian Hospitality in 2009 and 5th Most Influential Person in Australian Hospitality in 2011 by Bartender Magazine – it’s Delany’s lack of pretension and welcoming door policy that makes his nights so successful. His paramount focus is creating an environment that people feel comfortable in to lose their minds.
Delany the design doyen now gives us a step by step appraisal of his redesign of the garden bar. “We have cleaned it up a lot; put a garden in there; a circular seat that doubles up as a podium, there’s a big LED ball hanging from the roof; and we got rid of the rave decorations and the old messy cables that were there – we painted it and put up in some sexy art. We made it look a bit like a barn,” he pauses to consider the aesthetic further then adds, “a jungle barn.”
While important, the aesthetic of a club only works if it has the right music being pumped out of the speakers. Delany and Power Station music director Kris Baha have brought a refined and very deliberate approach to this club’s music policy, Delany explains. “After Survivor! (Delany’s previous night) which was pretty full-tilt techno raves that could get quite heavy that was quite adrenalin based, with Power Station we wanted to gear it towards something that was a bit more house. A lot of the punters that moved across with us, their tastes have grown so we needed to sophisticate ourselves. The DJs are playing slightly longer sets, like Simon Caldwell who is going to come down and play all night in the main room so we can remind people that there is something special about a great DJ – the journey they take you on. It’s not just about getting a bunch of kids to blast out one hour of high energy adrenalin music,” explains Delany.
Power Station’s residents include Elliot Demarco who starts the night in the main room often along with fellow party starter Josh Collis. Aram Chabdjian, who Delany first booked at Honkytonks, is one of the main room stars who Delany believes is one of the deepest house DJs in Melbourne. Club scene regulars and certified dance legends Sunshine and Spacey Space play at Power Station once a month. However, it’s Power Station music director Baha that Delany saves his greatest praise for. “Kris Baha of course is the best in the biz. I became friends with him when those guys [Baha and other Power Station director Daniel Bahoudian] would come down to Sorry Grandma from Aftrdrk. He’s a bit of a quiet achiever and it’s just got to a point where as a DJ his talent took over and it was time for him to accept that he is a really good DJ and start playing main sets – he understands sonics and moods – he could play 9 o’clock at night or 5 in the morning and read it well.”
Another very special resident at Power Station whose sets are whispered about in hushed tones is Bongmist. Delany talks about this enigmatic selector who has been dominating the Garden Bar. “In the Garden Bar I have been known to rip out a set. Bongmist [Delany’s DJ non de plume] is getting his career back on track,” speaks Delany warmly of himself in the third person. He now discloses how he integrates 25 years of DJing into a set. “I’m playing a lot of stuff that over my 25 years of DJing has meant something to me. Some stuff I may have heard yesterday or it may be something that my mum played me. One of my favourite tracks at the moment would be World Hold On,” Delany begins to chuckle as he mentions the Bob Sinclair classic.
BY DAN WATT
