NORTHAMPTON — Anja Wood understands the importance of the city having a thriving musical scene downtown.
“Northampton has always been a hub for music and dancing and culture, and a lot of people from different walks of life,” said Wood, 24, in an interview. “Over the years, I’ve seen that spark kind of die a little bit. Northampton and the valley are just full of amazing musicians and music in general, and I feel like a lot of people, including myself, have really felt that hole in our community.”
Since the pandemic, the city has at times struggled to revive some of the cultural lifeblood that draws visitors. While some venues like the Iron Horse Music Hall have once again opened their doors, other venues continue to lay empty and unused.
But Wood hopes to help remedy that situation by opening Haze, a new bar that will feature DJs and live music at the site of the former Majestic bar at 24 Main St. The bar is expected to have a soft opening starting Aug. 13.
Wood recalled walking past the bar while heading to work at other downtown establishments like Cafe Balagan and the Telus Satellite Bar, and frequented Majestic as a patron until its closure in 2024.
“I’ve had this dream and idea to own and open a music space for a long time,” Wood said. “I never really expected to be able to do this so early.”
Inspired by a conversation with a friend, Wood became interested in taking over the Majestic space, and found a business partner and investor in Jonathan Pedigo of the local immersive theater company Quonk. But Wood soon realized some of the realities that came with trying to open a new business in the city, attempting to secure the necessary funding and navigating the city bureaucracy to transfer the liquor license from Majestic.
“It’s kind of a crazy process,” Wood said of obtaining the license, granted by the Northampton License Commission. “There’s a lot of paperwork, there’s a lot of background checks, we had to get the lease and all of this stuff. Everything just moved really fast.”
But Wood managed to persevere through the numerous tribulations, and said she expects Haze to be ready to open in about a month’s time. She credited the community’s desire for more musical and cultural venues as a motivating factor in opening Haze.
“The thing that’s been pushing me through all of this is the amount of people who are excited to have more spaces in Northampton,” Wood said. “To do that and be a part of that is truly an amazing thing, and I really feel quite lucky to be in this position.”
The bar’s predecessor, Majestic, was known for catering to the city’s LGBTQ community. Wood, who identifies as queer, said that while Haze wouldn’t explicitly be a gay bar, she had every intention of maintaining it as a safe space for the LGBTQ community, and it would hold events like drag shows and karaoke nights that had been held at Majestic.
“Northampton definitely needs to have safe spaces for people in this community,” Wood said. “But I don’t want it to feel like it’s just for one type of person. I know it’s big shoes to fill with Majestic, because it was very beloved for that reason.”
Though the venue space itself is quite small, currently with a maximum capacity of 49 people, Wood expressed the hope she would be able to expand the space in the future.
“It’s definitely something to think about later down the line, once we are a little bit more profitable,” Wood said.
