Celebrating their one year anniversary this July, ANIKA VENTURA talks to the founder of a virtual nightclub on how their existence extends past the party
30-year-old Jorge Juan Wieneke V got the idea for Club Matryoshka during his funeral.
After deciding to stop playing the video game Ark, his friends commemorated his departure through an in-game gathering. They listened to music, made steak, talked about life, then buried his virtual body in a mausoleum.
Wieneke recalls, “that’s when I started to see, the psychological effect… I’m playing a video game, it’s all virtual, but the feeling, the bonds you’re creating in it is real.”
He then moved on to playing Minecraft where he made new friends; a core team which he would work together with to launch Club Matryoshka.
Since it’s soft opening on July 13, 2019, Club Matryoshka, or Club Mat for short, has hosted private birthday celebrations, launch parties for the Philippine music industry, and a global music festival—all within the video game, Minecraft.
Minecraft is one of the world’s top selling video games.
Its basic premise: use blocks to create your own world, then live a virtual life within it.
Settings from Middle Earth, Westeros, to Gotham City have been replicated in-game. In lieu of live graduation ceremonies, students created Quaranteen University earlier this year.
Minecraft can be summarized as part survival (resources are scarce, death is possible), part Hogwarts (there’s magic and potions), part Lego (you can build), and part Sims (life is simulated).
Club Mat isn’t the first event space in Minecraft, yet its uniqueness lies in its community.
Wieneke, who goes by the artist name similarobjects, along with co-founders Cavill, dot.jaime, and Ahju$$i, are all Philippine-based musicians. While JP and Patis Del Mundo, also part of the founding team, are based in New Jersey and own 60 NICE, a record label.
Before the club opened, Wieneke describes how they were part of a group of 50 to 80 people “comprised of writers, fashion designers, illustrators, people that make comics, musicians, hackers, homeschooled kids… people from all over the world,” regularly playing Minecraft.
Now, that community has grown to 600 people; originating from the Philippines, Berlin, to Russia.
Each Club Mat event requires an application form to attend and a one-time purchase of Minecraft for $27.
While Zoom parties have grown in popularity during the pandemic, majority of these simply translate the physical experience of a night out into internet format: check in door, turn on chat, watch DJ, dance in bedroom, then exit meeting.
With Club Mat, Wieneke says: “We’re not trying to mimic club culture. We’re not trying to just do the same thing that we do in real life. We’re trying to do more. Or something different.”
A night out in Club Mat means a night out in a video game.
Their worlds could take you from a rainforest, to outer space, to a haunted house.
Here, music becomes musical scoring to whatever activity you choose.
You could listen to a DJ set while swimming, running, or flying.
During the escalation of Black Lives Matter and Junk Terror Bill, they installed a Mind Palace where club-goers could enter a temple, type their thoughts, and the words would create a hologram. “It was therapeutic to just vomit all your feelings with no filter,” says Wieneke.
Some Zoom events have capitalized on private rooms where guests pay more to party with VIPs, yet Club Mat is conscious to not perpetuate typical club culture.
Wieneke shares: “I get a lot of messages on Club Mat’s registration form saying it’s so intimidating, but when they get past it, when they’re in there, the people are like, ‘wow, it’s like everyone’s so nice.’”
There is no entrance fee to enter Club Mat. Its operations, so far, have been made possible through donations and company collaborations. Wieneke expounds: “If you like the space we’re creating, you’re allowed to donate or subscribe to a monthly fee, but that’s not even forced upon you.”
The benefit: “the focus is really the music and the community.”
As more collaborations have been under way, their policy for booking artists is, “just don’t give us a 100% white lineup.”
Club Mat’s community includes people of varied interests and music tastes.
“I wouldn’t see these types of people together in a real space… they’re people from different scenes,” says Wieneke.
Yet even when there’s no party, Club Mat lives.
After each event, access to the virtual venue remains open for 24 hours; giving you time to further explore the temporary world they have built.
In early June 2020, they launched Eden, a separate space where Club Mat attendees can permanently play Minecraft together.
Wieneke likens Eden to “a village with all of the people that go to our shows. We get to know them, we get to see their personalities, and they also get to know us.”
It’s a way for Minecraft regulars to share their love for the game and for Minecraft newbs to explore it. “It’s a blank world that everyone builds from scratch again.”
While Zoom parties end once the meeting ends, Club Mat’s virtual life goes on.
FURTHER READING:
Why Minecraft Is the Most Popular Game in the World