Snoop Dogg, Tequila and card payments: A conversation with TP’s promo manager

David Meylan is the Promotions Manager at Timepiece. We spoke to him to find out what he thinks of Exeter’s nightlife, how he knows so many people from Made in Chelsea, and whether he’s going to accept card payment one day.

These are his friends

What got you into the event and nightclub industry, and how did you end up getting involved in Timepiece?

Passion for the music started me off, which led onto being a hip hop and R&B DJ. I wanted to make it more of a business, so I became a promoter from that. I lived locally, and Timepiece was the best club to be a part of. I’d heard a lot of good things about the club: it sounded more like a family than a big corporate company. The owners, George and Rob, are very fair guys and always willing to try new things, and I kept a good relationship with them. I started doing a lot of nights with people from TOWIE, which was a massive show at the time and I’m now good mates with Jamie Laing. My first night at Timepiece was a Thursday with James Argent from TOWIE, and it was a sellout.

What do you enjoy about working in the nightclub industry?

I like that there’s something new everyday, and seeing the people enjoying themselves – it’s their time to go out and party. I love thinking up ideas that are going to enhance their enjoyment of the night.

What do you find stressful or challenging about running Timepiece?

Lost property…it’s really boring [laughing]. Personally, I’m a bit of a workaholic, and the more advanced social media becomes the less life I have. That’s what I find the most frustrating, that in my personal life my phone is going off a million times a day with WhatsApp, Facebook message and emails about work. You really need to live and breathe this job, otherwise you’ll lose out on things and turn opportunities away, like making a booking late at night. Promoting nights is a 24/7 job.

The well-nourished man in the doorway is Snoop Dogg’s bodyguard

What do you think about Exeter’s nightlife as a city?

I think it could be improved. Up until recently there wasn’t much choice for different music and styles of nights. It’s getting better, but if you go to somewhere like London, obviously it’s a bigger city, but there’s so much to offer. Even Cardiff and Bristol have a huge nightclub scene with loads of different styles – you can dress smartly and book a table in some clubs, or have a chilled night with live music somewhere else. Exeter’s more limited, but everyone’s stepping up their game now – Unit 1’s doing a lot more and they’re becoming more up-market. Of course, we’ve got plans for Timepiece and Hole in the Wall in the near future too.

What can students expect from Timepiece in the future then?

We’ve got big refurbishment plans for the main room upstairs and Top-Top. The plan is to introduce a 1920s-30s style with booths, as we get a lot of requests at the moment from people wanting to book a table or a booth for a birthday. Maybe even table service on certain nights and a classier night. With this revamp we’ll be able to offer a lot more to students, whilst still keeping true to Timepiece’s history with nights like sports social night.

Good pals

Are you going to accept card transactions?

We’re planning to. Before contactless payments, we decided not to accept cards, because of the sheer hassle and speed of doing it on busy nights like Wednesday and Friday. If you’re busy at the bar and everyone’s getting their card out and putting their PIN in, it slows everything down. Contactless has sped things up though, so we’re looking at accepting that form of payment soon.

Who causes more trouble, students or locals?

It’s an even mix, but it’s probably students since we’ve got more of them in the club, the usual problems when they’ve had a few too many to drink. We don’t really get any fights or anything like that, though.

Why are Wednesdays such a huge night at Timepiece, and how did the Sports Social Night tradition start?

It started before my time. It’s part of our arrangement with the AU – we’re their official sponsors. Part of the sponsorship is that they run the Wednesday at Timepiece, so the door proceeds go to the AU. TP Wednesday is like a routine now, and it’s been going on for years. We have students come back in their mid-thirties and say “is it still TP Wednesday?”. For a while Wednesday was in another league to every other night at TP, but now Fridays are catching up as a really good alternative night.

What’s your personal favourite TP night?

Friday or Saturday. Saturday’s a hidden gem, since a lot of students don’t know it’s an option we get a lot of locals but you also get students who want to go out and have a different night and mix with everyone.

How did you get Snoop Dogg at Timepiece? What’s the process of contacting and working with such a big name?

Since running an events company and agency, FridayFlava, I’ve built up a lot of contacts. It’s about who you know in this industry. Snoop Dogg was coming to the South West to do the Boardmasters Festival, and as I had good contacts with his management I asked if he fancied doing a little, more intimate afterparty at Timepiece, and he did. It was the best night I’ve ever done I think.

How much weed did he smoke on the night?

No comment.

Suave

What can you tell us about the elusive Gold Card? Are they real, and how can somebody get hold of one?

They are real. We’ve got a lot tighter on gold cards this year – we were getting too slack with them and giving them out to everyone, which took away their real purpose and appeal. It’s a simple case of, if you’re working with us and looking after us, we’ll look after you. If we see you’re doing regular socials with us or helping promote a night for us, you’ll get a gold card. Predominantly they’re an AU thing – it started off for the AU to distribute to sports captains. We’ve been offered up to £500 for gold cards, and loads of other offers. I’ll let you use your imagination. That was the highest financial offer we’ve been made – you can’t buy them.