EASTHAMPTON — Most new businesses use scissors at ribbon cuttings to celebrate opening. When that business is a heavy metal music venue and bar combo, now open in the heart of Easthampton, it’s only fitting to use a sword instead.
That is exactly what happened at The Heavy Culture Cooperative’s (THCC) opening ceremony on Jan. 3, officially marking the long-awaited launch of the member-owned underground music and arts organization.
“When we were initially talking about doing a ribbon cutting there’s always those big scissors,” said THCC Board President Tom Peake. “My thought was ‘We’re a heavy metal bar — we should use a sword.’”
The underground music venue, THCC (pronounced “thick”), has officially opened at 1 Northampton St., the former location of The Massage School across from Pulaski Park.
While THCC is fundamentally a membership-based cooperative owned and operated by workers, artists and heavy metal fans, it also functions as a full-service bar. The bar is now open from 5 p.m. to midnight on Thursday through Saturday, and 2 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Peake said that, as far as THCC knows, it is the only bar in Massachusetts that operates as a cooperative.
Shows will typically be held every weekend, with the first show scheduled for Valentine’s Day, Saturday Feb. 14, at 7 p.m., as a double header with Peake playing with his band as the opener.
“Heavy metal, punk and hard core and everything have been part of the cultural fabric of western Mass. for a long time,” Peake said. “There’s definitely a lot of influential bands that have come out of here.”
THCC is the latest thread in the cultural fabric Peake refers to, which he says is alive and well in the Pioneer Valley.
Peake says the cooperative’s new location is the perfect spot, and he hopes that THCC can be a “bridge” between Cottage, Union and Main streets and the Eastworks Mills — a hope echoed by board member Tim Brault.
“Within Easthampton you’ve got the U-shaped downtown between Cottage and Main Street and then you get to the mills,” Brault said. “It’s really bridging the gap, there’s a lot of other vibrant businesses and arts groups in Easthampton and we slot right into a gap that’ll help make that a bit more of a continuous downtown experience.”
Constructed in 1865 and previously known as “Memorial Hall,” the building at 1 Northampton Street has a long history in Easthampton, having served as the former high school, an annex to the old town hall, a massage school and The Art Bar Cafe.
“It’s a big part of Easthampton’s history and we’re really excited to be stewards of it and keep it in good shape,” Peake said about the building.
When brainstorming ideas for THCC, Peake said Brault floated the idea of making the venue membership-based and cooperative.
“I thought that there would be something really cool about that because it would mean that the thing we are creating is owned by the community,” Peake said.
A share of the cooperative can be bought through a one-time, $150 payment, or $26 over six months, making the purchaser a member. THCC offers different types of membership classes for those employed by THCC or who contribute creatively to the organization, such as performers.
While members are entitled to a share of THCC’s profit each year, they also get a vote to elect future board members. For Peake, the ability to vote is one of the most appealing aspects of membership, effectively giving members a say in the cooperative’s future.
“Because it’s owned by its customers, the goal is not necessarily to make the maximum amount of profit for the owner,” Peake said about cooperatives. “Obviously you want to be sustainable and thrive. But they cater the actions of the business to reflect the values of what the customers want.”
Nichole Galenski, bar manager and vice president of the board, said opening THCC has been a long but rewarding process.
“Opening our doors and getting all of our permits in town was a huge obstacle but with our teamwork and camaraderie we made it happen,” she said.
Venue longtime coming
Peake said starting around 2010 a strong, local heavy metal, punk and hardcore scene was taking shape in the area, partly due to the creation of RPM Fest in 2014. RPM Fest is a heavy metal campout festival in Montague, held every Labor Day weekend.
“I think that RPM Fest was really important for the creation of THCC,” Peake said. “A lot of people from RPM are on the THCC board.”
Galenski and Peake said THCC was a spinoff from RPM Fest in many ways. Peake said that while camping out in the woods, many people asked, “Why can’t we do this more often?”
To accomplish that, though, required a venue.
“There’s a lot of music venues in the area and New England that do punk, metal and hardcore stuff but it can difficult for bands of that nature to find spaces,” Galenksi said, whose partner co-founded RPM Fest.
Peake said heavy metal fans in the Valley lost their “third space” gathering areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many venues closing at the time. THCC formed in the wake of those closings.
“It’s important to understand that for a lot of people, these (metal) shows are their church,” Peake said. “They are coming here as the place where they see their friends or make new friends. COVID was really tough for a lot of these people.”
Once pandemic restrictions subsided, THCC formed in 2022. Community members in and out of City Hall gave support, but more hurdles approached in finding a location and getting necessary permits. Galenski said the group looked through at least 30 different locations.
Peake said after an auction where some 20 bidders left empty handed for the building at 1 Northampton St., fortunately, THCC member Ian Wilson was able to purchase the building and lease it to THCC. Peake said the former owners of The Massage School were very willing to work with the group.
“We repainted everything but most of the heavy, expensive renovation was noise mitigation, which is something we always had intentions to do because we love our community and want to be good neighbors,” Peake said.
Peake said with the help of multiple sound engineers, slate walls that can close were installed over the windows in the building to reduce noise. THCC had to ensure outside noise levels were below a certain threshold.
While renovations were extensive, Peake said most of the work was done on a volunteer basis and the heavy metal community has a way of rallying behind each other.
That is exactly what the ribbon cutting was made to represent, according to Peake. On the newly built ramp up to the THCC entrance, multiple ribbons lined the handles for several people to cut. Peake said the ribbon cutting was the perfect symbolism of THCC’s journey.
“In the ribbon cutting, there is a symbolism that the ramp is supposed to represent our commitment to an inclusive space, each ribbon represented a hurdle and step that it took to get here and the sword represented the power of friendship and heavy metal,” Peake said.
