Its not often that so many scenes are housed under one roof, as they are at the Lotus Hotel on Abbott Street, which has undergone a facelift from the tired looking Heritage Hotel to the plush, modern complex of rooms its recently become. On the main level at the Honey Lounge Saturday night the crowd is mostly young women dancing to a remix of Stings Desert Rose. Downstairs, in the Lotus Sound Lounge, the DJ in his booth, wearing headphones and surrounded by crates of records, occupies about a quarter of the dance floor. This is where all the men are, it turns out. Its a familiar scene by now. Well-cut men and women in tank tops, averaging about 19 years of age, crowd into dark booths and dance around a decor comprised of an arched scrim on which video images are projected. Back upstairs, in the austere black-and-white Milk Bar, DJ Michael Shea is responsible for the retro-groove sound that is the focus for Flygirl, a long-established ladies night that once roamed from venue to venue. In that sparse room, the DJs booth is front and centre.



The new multiplex of DJ clubs at the Lotus Hotel, which opens officially next Thursday, is the latest addition to the DJ scene. While the citys live-music scene limps along in the handful of remaining venues, in the last year DJ-driven newcomers such as Lotus, Milk and Honey, Shine, Element Sound Lounge, 7 Alexander, Twenty-three and the Plaza have arrived. And on weekends theres Zwack and the Re:publik at the Army Navy Air Force Veterans Unit 20 at Hamilton and Pender. They join older clubs like the World, the Wett Bar and Sonar.



Vancouvers live-music scene may be feeling the pinch, but DJ clubs, and the scene in general, is clearly gaining momentum, helped along by a dance culture that shows no sign of dragging its feet. To the relief of many, the scene is becoming increasingly diverse and fragmented, no longer the house-focused dub scene it once was.



"There are a lot of places opening up," says Lotus manager Julian Manyoni. "And one of the things were trying to do is get away from monolithic house culture in Vancouver." Garth Kuchinski, who, along with Leandro Silva, is responsible for Zwack and Re:publik nights, agrees that theres expansion. "Its growing, theres no doubt about it," he says. "Back in 94 or 95 it was everybody coming to the same thing because there were only those parties or club nights happening. There was a core. Now, theres been a real segregation in genres."



Luke McKeehan, whose Sonar club in Gastown was the first to devote itself exclusively to electronic music, also agrees that the scene has grown enough to develop factions. McKeehan garners a certain level of respectability within the scene not only because of his Nordic Trax label and the international acts hes brought to Vancouver, but because hes been involved in the industry for 15 years and is a touring DJ.



"Theres still a scene, but now there are tons of scenes," he says. "Theres drum-and-bass kids going to different clubs, and hip-hop kids going to... you know what I mean? I think its always had its little theme groups, but now theres more choice."



No wonder that newcomers are arriving to grab a piece of the action. Even veteran industry types like Sam Feldman, who opened the Element Sound Lounge last spring, are realizing the long-term potential of the industry thats gone from the elitism of an underground movement to the established light of day. The Mark James Group is behind the Lotus. And major labels, such as Universal and Virgin Records, with its Astralwerks division, are picking up on the profusion of international DJs and the demand that follows them.



Vancouver-based Caroline Hosts Music2 Productions represents about 40 such international artists, 21 from North America. Among her clientele are Vancouver DJs Todd Omontani, Sean Dimitrie and Craig Mullin.



"I dont think too many people would argue that there arent some really good DJs here on a worldwide scale," McKeehan says on behalf of the touring talent.



The majority of her artists are based in New York and San Francisco and almost all are producers as well. In 2l/2 years, Host has established her company with worldwide affiliates who enable her to mount tours and find overseas representation for her artists. Quite often, she says, people are surprised when they learn that shes based in Vancouver.



"Im proud to be based out of here," she says. "Vancouvers a new city, and the scene is starting to establish little roots." Host got her start with the Feldman agency working with Irish artists the Chieftains. Realizing the potential of the DJ scene, she worked briefly with Robert Sheas electronic Map Records before branching out on her own. Today shes working with a staff of five and travels once a month.



"Everything is going to the next level now," She says of the emerging wider reaching scene.



"Its the crossover. Its not so underground that you have to be a DJ to listen to it. Its the vocals, its sexy, its fun. People from all walks of life are getting into it. A lot of the major labels are giving the smaller labels distribution deals ... because they are recognizing that this is going to be around for a long time."



Celebrity electronic artists such as Fat Boy Slim and Moby, who mounted the Area:One electronic music festival this summer, are largely responsible for introducing mainstream audiences to the genre. Moby in particular introduced North America-wide audiences to artists whose names were known mostly to England or only among disciples of the scene itself, including Paul Oakenfold, Timo Maas and Juan Atkins. Area:0ne was not only successful, it proved a benchmark for the arrival of electronic music as an established, credible genre that had either been unappreciated or misunderstood. In terms of mainstream stream credibility, the touring summer festival was a breakthrough.



The message that Moby drove home was that electronic or DJ-based music neednt be an insular; elitist exercise, but a rich, diverse and often infectious sound that anyone who loves music could appreciate.



"Obviously, a part [of the scene] stays under- ground," says Host "But you need pillars in any kind of scene. You need standards within a scene, and as an agent and manager, we have to protect the artist and the promoters, to make sure things are handled professionally."



Like any music that merges with the main-stream, however, the downside is that it becomes diluted to suit the tastes of the majority. Suddenly everybody is a DJ or a promoter.



"For as long as its been around, there are not enough people as critical of it as they should be," says McKeehan. "The tracks that people want to buy and play are all the new DJs, not the old-school guys, the people whove been doing it awhile and have integrity.



"There are people who get into it and they have a perception of a DJ as being really cool, as opposed to somebody who is just into music and playing it. Theyve always wanted to be the centre of the party and theyre going to go out and play records. They are the most obvious people - theyre the ones with the hands in the air. Its a whole symptom, really.



"Whether or not they got signed to Astralwerks or Virgin or not is irrelevant to me, as to whether its good music. Whats happening is theres been an underground scene going on for 20 years since disco died and the mainstream jumping into it in the last five years has made it worse, not better.



"Yeah, its more popular; but to the detriment of music."



Then again, the old-schoolers were pretty exclusively-guys, whereas there are a few women among the newcomers. DJ Lauren Burrows, who plays hip-hop, funk and soul Fridays at the Honey Lounge, is a recent inductee who got her training for three years as a radio DJ Thursday nights on 96.1 FM.



"There used to be no female DJs at all," says Burrows. "Nowadays, you-see a few women headlining raves. Youve got DJ Leanne and Ms. Understood and me. There might be more that I havent come across yet. But theres a handful, for sure."



Most agree its the grassroots, small-potatoes types, promoters like Kuchinski and Silva, who, in the long run will keep the diversity in the mix. Zwack night, which started a year ago, draws about 150 people, and the Re:publik pulls in anywhere from 50 to 125. They are small but vital ingredients to the scene and because overhead is low, they can survive such fluctuations as market saturation - which, according to some, is perilously close to happening. The current boom might be all this market can handle. Kuchinski, Manyoni and McKeehan all agree that, as far as the club scene goes, we may be looking at its zenith.



"Were hitting the level that if there were any more it would be difficult to stay in business," says Manyoni.



"I dont think a lot of people ever thought it would get this big," considers McKeehan. "I think its kind of peaked."