Chatting with DJ Roden, Co-Founder of Sound Department Club

DJ Roden Wong is the co-founder of Sound Department, a club that opened in late 2019 to a scene of partyers in Hong Kong searching for a new social experience and music.

The Stanley Street club has hosted Hong Kong’s up and coming rap artists, created NFTs, explored the Web 3.0 space with interactive dance floors, and injected a youthfulness into rap, EDM, and hip-hop in the city.

We buzzed the Hong Kong-born clubbing mogul with some fast questions to get to know more behind the brains and creativity of Lan Kwai Fong’s most daring club.

Tell me a bit about yourself Roden, what is your history with LKF and clubbing in Hong Kong?

[I was] able to enter the [clubbing] industry [in Lan Kwai Fong] [that was apart from the] family business.

I began my career as a marketing assistant in Zentral & Magnum Club doing boring stuff such as doing Facebook ads and decorations. My dad was the CEO there and our entire team, including my dad, left in 2019 and built Sound Department (SD).

The same team continued the legacy with SD. When SD first opened, there were protests happening, then COVID-19, but we [were still] able to survive 2021. 2022 seems to be “2020 too.”. I hope we would still be able to make it.

Who is Roden? What do people know you by?

People just called me Roden, and other people who have been in the industry for a while used to refer to me as “Rocky’s Son,” because my dad, Rocky Wong, is the guy who first got clubbing business into an IPO successfully. However, since SD opened, people just refer to me as “Roden from SD.” My official title is co-founder of SD.

How did Sound Department begin? What was the idea/principles/plan behind it?

When SD first opened, there were protests happening; we began in the most chaotic and challenging time.

Our first experimental show, “Trap Juice,” [in September 2020] featuring local artists Jiggie Boy and TXMIYAMA, defined who [we] are. We want every night to be as raw, rowdy, real and local as possible.

Essentially, we want to bring the underground world up to the surface and let people know there are lots of good artists in Hong Kong that are not being recognised. We just want to let their voices [be] heard, including the artists and the communities, such as dancers, skaters, and visual artists.

After the COVID-19 lockdowns, we [began hosting] parties and concerts in bigger venues, such as Ocean Park & the Water World, besides [our regular] club shows.

What is the Sound Department “theme”?

Our theme can be summarised as “raw, rowdy, real.” It only happens when a community with strong connection is involved. It is not just about the performances and parties. I am also talking about the content and the messages we put out. We used to be unique, but now everyone is just trying to copy us and monetise the formula now, the rap performance and posting memes.

Can you tell us a bit about the events that you typically host?

High energy/Long queues.

Are you guys offering something that other places don’t or can’t?

A community.

People may go to other venues because they are doing a similar ad-hoc show/event with similar artists as gimmick, but what they could not replicate is the community and the connection we have.

We don’t have the best service, fanciest cocktails, or hottest models, but when you enter Stanley Street, you would be drawn by the way people interact, the energy level we have, and you will slowly be drawn into another zone. This feeling gets more refreshing every time.

What music do you like to play the most?

It is a mix between hip hop, trap, EDM, and commercial chart music. Building our energy level up is what we do. We are the first one to bring local rap music into the clubbing scene; it’s always fun to connect with our community.

What is your experience deejaying?

It’s a love-hate relationship between me and deejaying. I started learning it when I was 13. I love the energy from the crowd, but I also hate the culture where local clubs are required to play in certain style just to satisfy the people who pop the bottles.

Plus, the fact that everyone claims themselves to be a DJ when they can't even do proper beat matching. I guess this is inevitable. To be able to educate the customers and the dancefloor has always been the goal of every DJ.

I used to DJ a lot more than I do now. My current role in Sound Department is more like a marketing/creative/event organizing/management instead of deejaying. I always wanted to DJ more, however, by 12 AM, my body already shuts down due to the daytime work overload.

Thanks for chatting with us today, Roden.

Thank you.