Club Snafu: A Fourtuitous Birthday

The Skinny has been slowly penetrating the north: first Dundee, and now the Granite City of Aberdeen, where one subterranean nightclub paradoxically stands above the rest - Snafu. Celebrating its fourth birthday this September, club owners Mo and Amanda have decided a four-day beat feast (18-21 Sep) is in order.

Snafu’s paradoxical nature can also be found in its name, it roughly translates to 'situation normal: all f*cked up' which seems more like an antonym of the club's performance. Rather than a messy operation, Snafu's growing reputation comes with due cause: previous guests include Vitalic, Green Velvet, Erol Alkan, Steve Bug, Simian Mobile Disco, Andrew Weatherall, as well as up and coming acts such as Crookers, Streetlife DJs, The Presets, and Deportivo Street Team. With such a plethora of beat connoisseurs, it's no wonder Snafu has become the hub for the electronic northeast.

In between top notch clubs, Snafu also finds the time to promote comedy, live indie and alternative music, as well as a seasonal mag with info on the club and Aberdeen in general.

You might think it mysterious too, how this small club (capacity 350) has found favour and following with so many top DJs, and established such strong local support. Yet there is little mystery. Before Snafu, the city’s young 'uns were crying out for a club with aspirations of bringing quality acts up north. The nightlife, rather haggard, succeeded immensely in catering for the commercial bulks who’ll happily bop along to The Proclaimers for the rest of their days. Due to the reputation Mo and Amanda previously built up running the infamous Pelican club in the late 90's, which hosted the legendary Kia-Aura, they managed to start Snafu from a respected basis.

Last year, Snafu beat off the mighty Arches in winning the much revered SLTN Nightclub Of The Year award. Being genuinely innovative in its bookings and ethos, the club has carved itself a niche, in which others have failed.

But it's not all banging bookings and glittering prizes. Snafu also sports a social responsibility cap: much effort goes into creating its unique sense of intimacy with its clientele. Local support has been the basis for the club's ability to book big name acts, but success hasn’t come overnight. “The first two years were a bit tough,” says Amanda, “Our regulars really saw us through; they saw that we were dedicated in creating something special, something all Aberdonians could be proud of.”

“We always wanted to create a venue that we would feel comfortable to go to and where we would enjoy a night out ourselves,” adds Mo.

Optimo favourites X Vectors are kicking off the birthday bash (18 Sept, £4/£3) - the Edinburgh-based band are coming off the back of their single Now Is The Winter Of Our Discotheque.

Mixtape resident Giles Walker headlines on Friday 19th (£5/£4). A local hero for the up north crew, he likes to stride across the musical spectrum, giving an eclectic blend of all things electronic. More recently he's been pushing dubstep and baile funk sounds to great success.

The third night of the festivities sees The Deep End invite Funky Transport to the mix (£6/£5). Of late, the Invernesian has built himself an impressive selection of original 12" releases, getting remixes from the likes of Phonique, Derrick Carter and 20/20 Vision. One of the north’s leading DJs, expect house of the stripped down variety with just a dash of electro encouragement.

And as a fitting finale, Erol Alkan rolls up don-side for the third time to claim Snafu as his own (£15). The fourth birthday wouldn’t be complete without a belter of a climax. Alkan, no stranger to the big occasion, is sure to please the discernible Snafu regulars. Aye, and if you don’t fancy that; you could walk around the corner and find yourself an orange faced fishwife with a mouth like a trout and experience a different kind of Aberdonian happiness.