Glasgow club boss on 'positive' future for city nightlife

Now, the Jamaica Street venue has a global reputation, often mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Kelvingrove as a cultural asset. It is also one of the reasons Glasgow frequently ends up on ‘best cities’ lists.

“The Sub Club always had a name for being at the pinnacle of the underground dance scene,” says Mike, who is now managing director.

“When I first started, there was an aura about the place. And over the years, that has continued.

“The great and the good of the electronic dance music scene have graced the turntables, and it’s not just been about the DJs, but also the live music we have brought to the city - Afrika Bambaataa, US DJ and rapper, Roy Ayers, Kraftwerk’s Karl Bartos….these are all huge highlights for me.”

Mike Grieve at The Sub Club (Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)

Mike adds: “That has been going under the radar, but it has always been part of the nature of the club. Maybe locally, people don’t quite realise the global standing we have.”

Mike is the fourth guest on The Human First podcast, a series from Murphy Wealth CEO (and former Sub Club regular) Adrian Murphy, in which he discusses life, money, motivation and family with some of the most prominent and recognisable faces in Scottish business and public life. 

Mike with podcast host Adrian Murphy (Image: Wearestoryshop)

On the podcast, Mike discusses some of the challenges the venue has faced, including a devastating fire in a neighbouring building in 1999, and the arrival of the Covid pandemic.

He also talks about the hilarious moment clubbers turned up at the venue post-pandemic "with a McDonald's."

"Young people hadn't been clubbing - so they were appearing not really knowing what to do. We had young people appearing at the door trying to get in with a McDonald’s and when we said no – they couldn’t understand why.

“We experienced this ground zero moment with nightlife. I think that’s what we're still trying to navigate.”

Born in Fife, Mike lived in Glasgow in the 70s, moved to Aberdeen in the 80s and returned to Glasgow in the early 90s.

His passion for music started in childhood, he explains.

Sub Club's 19th birthday celebrations (Image: Newsquest)

“My older brother had a huge record collection, so I never had to buy any,” he laughs. “He worked in Bruce’s Records in Kirkcaldy, which was run by Bruce Findlay [of Simple Minds fame] which was a real hotbed in the 70s, an incubator for bands and DJs.”

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Mike ran Fever in Aberdeen with Jim Rennie, before moving back to Glasgow to work with his friend Harri Harrigan, who, with Domenic Capello, has now been at the helm of the Sub Club’s weekly residency Subculture for 30 years, making it the longest-running residency in clubbing history anywhere in the world.

“Nothing else comes close, and that’s because Harri and Domenic are continually pushing the boundaries,” says Mike.

Mike believes there is a 'positive' future for the city's nightlife scene (Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)

“So much so, that for the 30th anniversary I really had to remind them to bring records from the previous three decades, because they just want to play new stuff.”

He grins: “They’re not interested in revisiting Frankie Knuckles. There’s no room for nostalgia, I’m the nostalgic one.”

Harri and Domenic (Image: Subculture)

There has been a venue on the site since the 60s – the story goes that when it was called Le Cave, Lulu played there – and it was previously a speakeasy, where all the big jazz performers like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald would head to after their shows at the Glasgow Empire or Green’s Playhouse.

“I’d heard stories over the years about the history, or mythology – mainly from taxi drivers,” he says, laughing.

“It was the original Jamaica Inn, the first Reo Stakis steak restaurant, and we found a flyer advertising dinner dances with Dougie Donnell, for just £1.45 a ticket.”

(Image: Sub Club)

In the mid-80s, the venue was known as Lucifer's and the Saturday night was called Sub Club,  which became the club’s new name in 1987.

“I am immensely proud of what the Sub Club stands for,” says Mike.

“As a business model it is always going to be a challenge. There’s an old joke - how do you make a small fortune in the music business? Start with a big fortune and a venue.

“But I feel huge pride in what we have done. There have been tough and challenging times but they have made us what we are and that’s down to huge numbers of people always looking forward.”

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Mike also leads the sub-group on night-time economy for the Glasgow City Centre Task Force.

“What I see under the skin of it all is a group of people working very hard to make improvements,” he says, simply.

“There is a big effort going on to improve the city centre streetscapes and yes, there’s a lot of people saying ‘oh, Glasgow’s a dump, Sauchiehall Street in particular’ - and it is concerning to see it looking the way it does - but that work is ongoing.

“It is part of a process, and a year from now it will look dramatically different.”

He adds: “I am positive, I am hopeful about that, and I am also positive about Glasgow’s nightlife industry, because people will always want nightlife.”