Celebrating 40 Years of Connections, Australia's Longest-Running Gay Club

It's over a week since Perth nightclub Connections, the oldest gay club in Australia (in fact, the oldest gay club in the Southern Hemisphere), celebrated its 40th birthday with an all-in party. Tim Brown, club co-owner, is on the phone. "I've just recovered. It's been ten days. It was one hell of a party, but it took me a full week to recover." The week-long recovery, and the party that necessitated it, is well deserved. 40 years is a long time. Even longer when it comes to nightclub life expectancies. New York's legendary Studio 54 lasted four years. In the climate of a rapidly changing Australian nightlife, four decades seems like a miracle.

Tim came on as a manager at Connections in 1991—a 25-years-not-out innings that is impressive in itself. After around five years of working as manager, Tim bought in as co-owner. After the 40th anniversary celebration recovery, he tells us about the history of Connections, the growing societal acceptance of the gay and lesbian community, as well as sharing images from the archives (full gallery at i-D)

Sunday Times,

THUMP: What was the Perth nightlife like back in 91?
Tim Brown (Connections co-owner): I've always thought the nightlife in Perth is pretty good, especially for the size of the city. There might not be as many places as bigger cities, but it's always had an interesting nightlife scene. Really good music. Connections has always had a reputation of having great music, that's what got me involved, that was my background. This job came along that allowed me to continue in music.

How does Connections fit into Perth's art scene?
It's in the middle of that, geographically. It's the middle of Northbridge. Northbridge is interesting. Although it's the nightlife centre, our Kings Cross, it happens to be next to the State Gallery, the State Library, the State Museum. In a nice flow between the pop culture and the high culture because of that. With Connections, although it is a gay club, it's known for being a bit out of the ordinary and doing something that's different. We're involved in the alternative art scene and the alternative music scene. To me, that gives it a lot more dimension than just being a gay bar. We've always been engaged in doing stuff in the music and art scene. There's always been a nice hothouse feel to it, people from the arts would come and hang out after shows because it's close by.

What have been your biggest challenges over the years?
Just doing it every night. Every night for 25 years. It's hard work, doing it for that long. I think the bigger challenge, the most important challenge, is keeping relevant. In those 25 years I have been here, and the 40 years Connections has existed, there have been immense changes in the way people go clubbing, and immense changes in the gay and lesbian community – how they go out, where they go out. There's always a greater acceptance of the gay and lesbian community into the broader community. Things are more immediate. With the internet, it's easier to meet people, but at the same time, people still want to go out. Trying to work out how people go out, how they meet people, who they want to meet, who they want to hang with. In the early days, although Connections wasn't entirely gay, but a large amount of people coming into the room were gay and lesbian identifying, and it was a much more closed shop. There's a broader fanbase these days. The people that might have only gone to Connections will go to another club because they want breaks, whatever of music. We need to work out how we're musically relevant, socially relevant for those people, to work out who our customers are now. We could keep on trotting out the same old thing, but it doesn't work like that. People want you to change with the times.

Is it concerning to look at what's happening in Sydney with lockout laws, or do you feel impervious in Perth?
There's always a risk of that. It's a knee-jerk reaction that I don't believe solves the problems, at all. I'm involved in the nightclub association, the small bar association here. We spend a lot of time talking to politicians and the like about what's going on and the best ways to deal with things. I don't believe closing venues early is a solution to the problem. I'll accept that there are problems, with people getting violent late at night while drinking. But I don't think it's about them being out late at night, at all. WA is a little bit different to the eastern states, in that we have staggered closing here. Not all venues go all night. Some venues close at midnight, some at 1am, some at 2am, some at 3am, some at 5am. It slows down the late night trade. But all it would take is a few bad things to happen and the press to get worked up, and we might be dealing with the same thing. Which as I said, I don't think would fix the problem.

Looking ahead, what does the future—immediate, and I suppose the next 40 years—hold for Connections?
We'll keep doing what we do. It has changed. A lot has changed, a lot has stayed the same. It's about being relevant and working out who your customers are here and now. It's nice to have that history behind you, it gives you a nice place to work from. We'll keep on eye on this great history that we have, and one eye on the future and where we can take it. I like to think we can push the envelope, still, this far on.

Connections is located at 81 James St, Northbridge, Perth WA

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