Doka

When Canvas nights moved to the basement

In the summer of 2013, with the old De Volkskrant building under construction to become a hotel, Canvas nights left the seventh floor and moved to the basement. There, Doka was born, conceived as a temporary club for the duration of the renovation. It opened on August 31, 2013, with a set from 21:00 to 04:00, intended to be repeated from Thursday to Sunday. The property, designed by Kraaijvanger and inaugurated in 1965 as the newspaper's headquarters, had been empty since 2007 and had hosted hundreds of creators before the Volkshotel opened on June 27, 2014. Doka was not dismantled when the construction ended: it remained at Wibautstraat 150, in Amsterdam-Oost, near the Amstel, as the complex's nightclub.

A sound bar tuned like a studio

In October 2019, the club was rebuilt as a sound bar. Julien Chaptal, an engineer, DJ, and producer based at Broedplaats VKG, revised the acoustics after comparing equipment in Berlin: they wanted the clarity of a production studio while having a system capable of handling club nights and live acts. The installed equipment is a four-point Danley Sound Labs system, with four SH50 speakers and two TH118 subwoofers. The room measures 8.1 by 14.5 meters (118 m²) and includes a stage, projector, and a maximum amplified volume of 85 dB. The hydraulic wooden booth, designed by Lucas Vlamings in the style of studio furniture, incorporates an Alpha Recordings 9900 six-channel rotary mixer, a Roland Space Echo, an Avalon VT-747 tube compressor, and two ATC SCM45A monitors.

Those who listen also dance

Kamma and Masalo helped shape Doka Studio: Fridays and Saturdays with long sets, featuring selectors who can open and close without obeying the pulse of a macro-nightclub. The idea was for the listener to end up dancing. The repertoire was described as warm, organic, contemporary, and unruly, in the vein of the listening bars of Japan, London, and New York. The current agenda maintains that foundation and expands it: alongside Doka Studio, there are Doka Live concerts—some with Paradiso—daytime appointments, and the Doka Culture axis. The schedule is not set in stone; each date marks its own door.

A narrow door

Entry is for those 18 and older, with ID, and a purchased ticket does not guarantee access. Gala attire, suits, and uniforms are rejected: the house asks for self-expression and bans flip-flops and hate speech. Coats and bags go to the lockers on the ground floor, groups are capped at four people, and cash is not accepted. Doka subscribes to the Club Ethics Manifest and the Code of Safer Clubbing: consent, trained staff to intervene, and a channel to report what happens inside. The basement continues to promise the same thing as in 2013, only now with much more demanding listening: that the night can overflow and, even so, remain almost invisible.