The extraordinary rise of The House Rooms in the heart of Leeds was built single-handedly by one house music obsessed businessman. In October 2002, Steve Carter purchased a dilapidated city centre building, and set about creating the space into a unique, high-end club that would be the number one destination for any discerning clubber.
Self-made Steve built his wealth on the property ladder, re-developing the skyline of Leeds city centre and riding the rise of property values. Make no mistake, he’s a major player in how you see the city today, and if the Bentley he’s driving and gold Rolex on his wrist is anything to go by, he’s been a huge success.
Its LS1 address gave the perfect location on which to attract the hordes of clubbers that transcend on the city centre on every single weekend of the year. Fast forward nine months to June 2003 and the club opened its doors for the very first time. Specialising in out-and-out house music, the clientele proved very much to be a knowledgeable crowd, keen on rekindling the golden era of the genre.
Where new club nights were springing up and growing, and in many cases ceasing every bit as quick as their initial growth, Steve’s project was consistently drawing in capacity crowds. The uniqueness of the space was a huge draw; the name’s derived from the genre of music of course, but the building’s many large rooms were its USP. After the first refurbishment, the two floors had three rooms on each level, all capable of holding 100 people in each, equating to a capacity of around 600 people.
Keeping the golden era of house alive was a single-handed feat. Other clubs were drawn to the newly-rising electro sub-genre and so forgot about the period from the mid-nineties which saw the likes of Pete Tong, Danny Rampling, Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson, and many more house DJs bringing the US-derived scene to the UK.
When the electro revolution started, old-fashioned Steve Carter was having none of it. ‘I actually attended many new nights at clubs around the Yorkshire area, just to see what was happening music wise and see if it’d be worth bringing the sound into my club. I wasn’t impressed with it. I cut my clubbing teeth on brands such as Back to Basics, Hard Times, and at The Hacienda – iconic nights such as those. I think there’s snobbery to quality, true house music in a way and after witnessing the electro rise I didn’t think it had a patch on a good house track from say the Masters at Work. I think that’s why we had success back then; people of a certain age just didn’t get the way the scene was turning, and so we tapped into that knowledgeable crowd and attracted big house DJs.’
And attract big names it did. Frankie Knuckles, Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez… These are just a few of the international heavyweights that The House Rooms attracted. Drawn to this old-school ethos, Danny Rampling championed Steve’s mentality towards the scene and it brought yet more big names to the decks. CJ Mackintosh, Tuff Jam, and Terry Farley were mainstays in the early days of THR.
In 2006, the biggest changes to the décor and overall design came to fruition. A £1m re-development commenced, and saw a more open-plan club take shape. Quality was high on the agenda, and state-of-the-art equipment was installed. It was a new era for THR, and Steve welcomed newer club nights through his strict doors.
‘In the early days, I was very keen to preserve the venue as a house-only club. The scene changes yearly though, so specialised nights were incorporated. Classic house was still the main aspect, but that was moved to centre stage on a Saturday night so it was still at the epicentre of the experience. The other nights we’re open were given a tailor-made feel, and that saw trance, electro, jackin’, and all sorts of new sub-genres of house enter the club. Regrettable? I’m not so sure. For sure it was more lucrative financially, but I can’t help but feel that some of the club’s original values were lost in the transition.’
Another dramatic change was made in 2009, when the open-to-everyone aspect was ditched and THR turned into a members-only venue. The main reasons were down to trouble-makers out to ruin the nights of others. ‘I’d grown sick of the amounts of kids breaching security with their fake IDs and attitudes to the place I’d built. It’s hard to explain, but nobody wants to have their night wrecked by some young teenager that can’t handle their drink. Seeing the likes of CJ Mackintosh DJ here a few years ago and watching the youths destroy the club’s reputation was hard to take. Changes had to be made, so it’s now members and invite only. Profits are up, trouble’s virtually non-existent, and so the risky policy change has been great.’
The clientele’s changed, as one would expect. Gone are the days of fake IDs and drop-crotch jeans, and in its replacement are nice watches and immaculately dressed city high-flyers. It’s a favourite haunt for footballers and soapstars too, and because of the protected-feel of the place, it’s free from prying eyes and so there’s an air of coolness to it. People are relaxed, happy to soak up the house beats and revel in the opulence of the décor.
Inside, it’s very different to how it used to be. The three rooms per floor have been knocked through; there’s a vast room on the first floor, and a carbon-copy on the second. There are VIP rooms, but the feel is of a high-end, but quite normal club. People pay £1000 per annum to reside here, and they’re there to get full use of their money. Picture-perfect models, blinged-up footballers, millionaire businessmen. It’s where the rich and famous come to let their hair down, away from the paparazzi.
One thing’s still here though, and that’s the ever-present house music. Tonight’s a Friday so there’s a more club-orientated soundtrack coming from upstairs. In the main room here though, the DJ’s playing the likes of Soul Clap, Julio Bashmore, Jamie Jones, and Groove Armada – really sophisticated tracks that are unique to the place. There’s still nothing quite like it in Leeds.
Asked on his thoughts of his club in 2011, Steve Carter still loves the place just as much as when he first renovated it in late 2002. ‘It’s gone through loads of changes, but it’s still here continuing its success. As long as the music continues to play, people will renew and keep flooding through those doors. If anything, I love it just as much now as I did when the premier American DJs played here. The only thing that’s changed is we’ve swapped blue WKDs and Budweiser for bottles of Grey Goose and champagne. Pretentious? Snooty? Maybe so. Other clubs chase the student money by flogging cheap alcopops and play out tunes you hear day in day out on the radio; that scene’s just not for me. Many people still don’t know about us, which many would see as a bad thing. I on the other hand think it’s great; we’ve gone on for so long being a niche establishment, and that’s exactly what classic house was and is – niche.’
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