Behind the Belmont: An Interview with CODA Nightlife Boss Brooke Walsh

If you’ve hung around Montreal’s underground music circuit, chances are you’ve encountered Brooke Walsh. An impressive physical stature to match his lofty presence in Montreal nightlife, one could easily mistake him for a bouncer were it not for his mellowed-out composure. I can’t recall how we came to meet, but it was likely during one of my many nights grooving at the Belmont’s legendary ‘Bassdrive Wednesdays’.

Brooke has been the driving force behind the Belmont’s transformation from a second-tier Top 40 bar into one of Montreal’s most prolific venues. He’s worked with some of Quebec’s leading promotional companies to bring in countless big names, from Drake to Baauer to Mos Def – all with a less than 500-person capacity and a few years’ time. I sat down with him to find out the secrets behind the club’s evolution and to see where he thinks Montreal nightlife is at today.

MH: First of all, thank you for doing this. Why don’t we start off with an introduction: Who are you and what do you do?

BW: My name is Brooke Walsh and I own the CODA Nightlife Group. The CODA Nightlife Group has been behind the scenes at the Belmont for the last four years, kind of acting as the offense in terms of its direction. The majority of the bookings you’ll see here, the programming as far as lights, sound, whatever, the managing of the floor upstairs – it’s all CODA. Most of the third-party events also come through us.

MH: Right on. How did you end up doing what you do today?

BW: I got in the business because when I was a kid growing up in Montreal, rave culture was enormous. A company called 514 productions was doing huge events, like throwing 20,000 person parties at the Bell Center every three months. That was my very first introduction to the superstar DJ era. So I was going to those kinds of parties as a kid, and I starting working for a company called Erikson Music, which was basically a big warehouse that supplied sound equipment. We supplied a legendary club called Sona, Canada’s first afterhours venue. That’s where I got my first taste of the industry and right away I was fascinated. I moved to Arizona to go to college, but ended up landing a job at an afterhours club called Crowbar. That was my first industry job, and I just took it and ran with it.

MH: So now you’re here pretty much managing the artistic side of the Belmont. Relatively speaking, the Belmont is a pretty small club, yet it’s still one of the city’s most important venues. How do you guys compete with the bigger players?

BW: Well, over the last four years we’ve been doing it from the heart. When I first came into Belmont, I saw an opportunity. There was a lack of underground venues of the time, and when I was introduced to the room I thought, “Wow, this is amazing.” We compete because we’re passionate and want to give underground music and art a home, whereas other venues might just exploit it. And we complete because we’ll outwork you – that’s honestly the no-bullshit answer.

MH: You mentioned Belmont’s been this way for the past four years. What was going on here before that?

BW: This used to be a Top 40 French club. It’s actually one of the oldest clubs in Montreal, I believe it’s the third oldest. The average lifespan for a club is 2 to 7 years; we turn 30 next year. Belmont’s location is incredible. The room is a bit older and a bit beat up, but it gives it a certain charm.

MH: Would you say underground music is the main thing that drives the Belmont? Or is there some kind of larger philosophy behind it all?

BW: Well, a little bit of both. We’re basically like the first line of defense—not the first line of defense, how do I put this…

MH: The testing grounds?

BW: Right! Sam Smith just won Grammies, he was booked to play here but then canceled because he got booked to play Saturday Night Live at the last minute, and went on to become a superstar. Or people like PartyNextDoor…if a new artist or a new genre of music is taking off, we’re a mid-sized venue, so that means when it’s just starting to catch fire it comes through us first.

Alex Geoffrion “Tron” - Photography

MH: So would it be fair to say you guys are prizing the experimental, the avant-garde, the music that pushes the limit?

BW: Yeah, there’s a constant quest for me to try and create a moment for you. What’s new, what’s interesting, what’s shocking. How can I surprise you? How can we put on a great fucking party, take what other promoters have in mind, and maximize it? For example, during Ile Sonique, BOTNEK showed up and they brought Kill the Noise, Zed’s Dead, and Toro Toro…just for fun, for free. I’m constantly searching for those little moments to give you.

MH: So how have you seen the promotion game change over the past few years? Have you guys had to change up your strategy at all?

BW: Unfortunately, now it’s all Facebook. There used to be zines here and there, boutique clothing shops, you had to go there to find out the information and get the flyer. Everything is social networking now. You need a constant output from your social network. The way Facebook is set up is that you need to constantly be getting people to click this, check that.

MH: A necessary evil.

BW: Exactly, but the best way to do that is by creating and nurturing communities. That creates word on the street, it creates buzz. That’s where it’s really at, and that’s how it’s always been. Just the tools that help us do that have changed.

MH: One community for which the Belmont is central is the electronic music community. What kinds of trends are you seeing right now in Montreal EDM?

BW: What’s definitely made really awesome comeback right now is House music. It’s interesting to see the cycle come back in a loop. Something that’s also coming back is the beats scene, people like Kaytranada, High Klassified, Ryan Playground. There are all kinds of amazing things happening right now and once again Montreal is on the global stage. I find that people who are involved in the machine of big room EDM, like some of those superstar DJs, are starting to take a bit more risks with their music. They’re trying to break out of that pop music formula a little bit, and I’m really excited for that. It just opens up more doors and avenues for guys who are doing even more interesting things on a smaller level, which can grow organically into something original.

A. Rad Photo

MH: So you think electronic music is heading in the right direction?

BW: It’s an exciting time on one hand, and it’s tricky for people like me on the other. Social media and the internet and everything have made it way easier for smaller labels and artists to thrive, so now we don’t have to settle with what companies like ClearChannel are forcing down our throats. But there’s not nearly as much longevity anymore – what’s hot today is not tomorrow. So people like me have to be constantly adjusting.

MH: Interesting. So on a final, more personal note, what’s next for the CODA Nightlife Group? Got any big plans or projects?

BW: We do have something big in the works, we do have something new, and no I can’t talk about it. But stay tuned, because it’s coming.

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