A mainstay of Cornerstone for over ten years now has been the dance tent. Actually, it is a barn, but I have been told that at one point it was a tent. Regardless of the actual facilities, the Cornerstone Club Nights have become the national meeting grounds for the Christian dance scene. Each year hundreds of Christian club goers, ravers, rockers who just think dancing is cool and whoever else stumbles into the barn gather for at least four nights of dance music. Each night there is a mixture of live PA’s and DJs from all over the US and Europe. Most of the performers are fairly well known within the scene while others are just breaking out.

In the past, both N*Soul Records and MYX Records have run the Dance Club. This year, the club is under new management by a group of veterans from Cincinnati, Ohio. For the past three years the crew of The Underground have hosted monthly club events and two years ago they provided the lights for the Dance Barn. We recently had a chance to sit down with both Chris Human and Cindy Tucker to talk about both the Underground and the changes at the Dance Barn and it looks like the changes being made will be worth it.

Tell us about the Underground? Where are you located? What happens there?

Chris: We are located on the north side of Cincinnati, Ohio. Lots o' fun happens! But seriously, concerts, club nights with DJs, plus we have pool tables, ping pong, shuffleboard, fooseball, internet café, DDR, Sony Play Stations, a smoothie bar, and a ton more!

How long have you been doing club nights?

Chris: We started out doing club nights about 5 years ago. We stopped for about a year and then we met Cindy Tucker who had a real passion for dance music and a dance club type of scene. Immediately she convinced us to let her run with a club night at The Underground.

Who have been some of the more popular acts to perform on the club nights?

Cindy: Well for the club Underground nights we have a resident DJ, DJ Love. He has shared the tables with Apoq79, Sheltershed, HeldByWill, Matt Harder, Prophetica, DJ Karnage, DJ Glow, DJ Yo-Yo, Davo and others.

How was the Underground selected to run the dance club this year at Cornerstone?

Chris: I ran the lighting at the dance tent 2 years ago. I was contacting the fest director this year on a totally unrelated issue, and we started talking. I asked how things were going for the dance tent this year and he informed me that Myx would not be handling the dance tent this year and that he was cutting back on it and bringing the booking in-house. However, he said he really didn’t know any djs or how to go about getting a hold of any. I was quickly realizing that things didn’t look so hot for the dance club at Cornerstone 05. I told John to let me take it off his hands and I would do my best to make sure it was a success and that he wouldn’t have to worry about it. John said he would kick it around and call me back. The next day he called and we spoke some more about the Dance Club. I told him of my thoughts of expanding the Dance Club and making it a draw at Cornerstone with adding a DJ (Andy Hunter) to main stage, possibly moving the Dance Club into a more accessible location, etc, etc. By the end of that conversation the fest director had authorized me to contact Andy on behalf of Cornerstone and negotiate a deal for him to play. Needless to say I was totally blown away!

How is it going to be different from what MYX Records and N*Soul Records did with it in the past?

Chris: To be honest I didn’t have enough experience with the tent in the past to compare it. All I can say is that I believe if done right the Dance Club can be something that not only supports itself, but also will draw enough people to Cornerstone that it becomes a moneymaker for them. When it does, then hopefully we will get some latitude to make changes, expand hours, move the Club onto the main drag, add more DJs to main stage, etc.

The demo process was pretty intense from what we’ve seen on the boards. About how many demos did you receive? Was the competition very tight?

Chris: We received about 30 demos. The competition was very tight. There is a lot of great talent out there. In the end we really tried to listen for something different in the music, maybe a track we hadn’t heard before, something that drew attention or was a bit more exciting.

There were certain DJs that you KNEW you wanted to book right off the bat. Who were they and why them?

Chris: To be honest the only DJ that I knew I wanted to book right off the bat other than Andy Hunter was Davo. I really though that Davo’s style would compliment Andy’s. They are both very worshipful and over the years of listening to Davo’s mixes I have had some of my most intense times of worship while listening to Davo’s mixes.

Cindy: Andy Hunter. Not only is he the main man when it comes to the Christian market, but he is an anointed worship leader behind the tables. Anyone who has ever seen the Flevo video knows that I am talking about.

Were there any DJs you wanted to book, but simply could not?

Chris: We did make offers to Lorraine and Apoq. After what happened to Lorraine a couple of years ago with the technical difficulties I really wanted to give her another shot at it, she is very talented. And Apoq for the last couple of years has spun, amazing sets. Both had to decline due to personal situations.

Friday night will be the first ambient night at the dance club. How is this night going to be different from the other dance club nights?

Chris: I will leave this to Cindy to answer, as I have put her in charge of this night.

Cindy: Friday night will be a time to refocus, reconnect, and renew relationships not only with each other but also with God. I have had a vision for months now of a night that would bring the dance community together through prayer and help us refocus on who really matters. The night will be set up to allow not only fellowship and a chance to just relax, but also to worship. In addition there will be various stations for prayer and reflection. Think the Stations of the Cross meets the 24-7 prayer movement in a dusty barn.

Can we expect the Underground to run next year’s show as well?

Chris: Only God knows. I hope so. I would like to continue to develop it over the next few years. We will see.