Movers & Shakers is a column where we profile the people making things happen in Shanghai – entrepeneurs, creatives, artists, and whomever else that are influencing industries/spaces and are making things move and shake in this city.

In this inaugural piece of Movers & Shaker's, we're profiling a trio (and by extension, a venue), that literally gets people in Shanghai to move... and shake their money makers.

You can't keep a good former after-hours, mostly-techno-but-always-everything, iconic Shanghai underground dance club down. After an eight-year winding road that has led Celia through four different locations, pop-ups in clubs all over town, sleepless nights and wasted days, the underground club just recently celebrated their anniversary last weekend with lights, lasers, drinks, dancing, and about 9,000 special guests and international DJs.

We heard it was packed. A happy birthday to Celia.

We caught up with the creative force behind the club – Oytun, Lina K., and Tys – to talk about Celia time.

How has Celia changed over the eight years? You guys have had four locations?

Oytun: Yeah, four. Four locations now. Xingfu Road, after that Nanjing Road W., after that Jiaozhou Road, and now, down here (154 Nanyang Road).

CNS: Four venues. That's crazy. Lots of changes then…

Oytun: It's a change in space but it still continues from the beginning… it's still the same spirit, it's the same idea and feeling. Vibes. Well, we concentrate on weekends now – events – but that's an adaptation change with how Shanghai is now.

For those not familiar, can you introduce Celia to someone who's new and has never heard of the club before? What is Celia? Let's say I'm new to Shanghai just off the plane from Vladivostok…

Lina K.: You know, people to come dance. That's it. And without being shy. For me it's about the music…

Oytun: To talk about the history, we started as a after-party club. People ended up at our place coming from everywhere. And then we'd go late, late. The old Shanghai days…

But after that, you know, like the city has changed a lot. Now we decided to be a techno club, but not after-hours. We concentrate on hosting events now on the weekends. And, thank God, now again China opens the borders, it has made a positive difference. So we keep doing what we did before, getting more and more international DJs.

What changes have you all noticed recently in your space?

Oytun: These days we know that there are a lot of newcomers. And they don't know about Celia. So we always have the same feeling without changing too much, but it's always new with new people.

The main thing is always the same: Its not about making money. We invest our money in good DJs. It's still all about the music.

Lina K.: The crowd is definitely changing, of course. Yeah. Like I would say, actually it's changed a lot. Like before we were 75 percent only foreigners. During the COVID, we become 75 percent Chinese. And now the crowds have balanced to be about 50-50 sometimes, it all depends on the line-up.

Have you noticed people's musical tastes changing, people used to define Celia as a techno club? Trends coming and going?

Tys: Of course. I'm a DJ. Like my taste is changing, you know? They say every seven years your taste change. If you are a DJ, even like every festival you go, your taste is changing.

Lina K.: But for me, we are not a techno club. I mean, it's not. I wouldn't say techno now ... Celia is not the mainstream. And techno now is the mainstream… Yeah. More melodic techno is popular now. Anything from Afterlife.

Oytun: That's really booming now.

Tys: We are keeping all alternative. Let's say more or less alternative music styles. I see like a development of Celia from a pure techno club, I would say, before. And now it's like still not mainstream at all. But at the beginning was more focused on techno. So now what we can say is like the home of music lovers.

How would you describe your feelings about life and clubbing in Shanghai these days? Optimistic? Pessimistic?

Oytun: I'm optimistic! For me, not only in Shanghai but all over the world, F&B and nightlife businesses are suffering, but here we can see maybe things are progressing. Now, they remove the visas requirements for a lot of places.

And let me say, yesterday, I sent 4,800 something personal messages to everyone for our anniversary party. Many of the people, of course, not in China. Many of them, they told me that they would like to come to Shanghai again.

And many are planning to come as well.

So, why am I optimistic? Because I think this year, at the end of this year or probably next year, also the students will come, also more expats will come. The people will start coming.

But it takes some time…we have hopes.

Tys: You know I heard the airport was packed today with people coming in … And still there is a cycle, people come, people leave.

How about the promotional side of it. As someone maybe one or two steps removed from it, it seems cut-throat out there. Is it really competitive?

Lina K.: Oh yeah, like before we could only put a flyer, one flyer somewhere there on the corner of the Internet and it's going to be packed. Now, you need to be ...

Oytun: Yeah, every week is like a battle.

Tys: Yeah, yeah. You need to win a battle. That's the best explanation I think.

Oytun: When Saturday's event is done, Sunday, you wake up and do it again!

How is it for booking international DJs these days?

Oytun: It's doable but it's not easy. You have to be smart with your bookings. We are not in Europe. And DJs also think that, you know, like in Europe I can get US$10,000, here I want US$10,000. Oh, right, right, right. And we have to pay the visa, flight, hotel, meals, taxi, everything…

But the memories! Priceless! Can we go around and you guys tell me your favorite memories from 8 years of Celia madness? PG-13 ones…

Oytun: Now, this is difficult. One of them was the Techno Train party we did when the club flooded with water. It was raining so hard that night, the water came right down the stairs. Things were floating in like two feet of water on the floor of the entire club!

The place was packed. PACKED. And no one cared. Everyone just kept dancing and jumping in that water. It was amazing.

Lina K.: Yeah, but for me it was the... because... I was thinking about this. For me it's all the Halloween parties we've done, but also the first year when we open up the Celia at Xingfu Road.

It was intro festival at the same day and we hosted the after-party. I arrived at Celia at 5am. And I left at 11 am. It was still packed. We closed at 2pm that… day? Night? Afternoon?

The vibe is crazy, you know. Yeah, I love it. Also, one of the best nights was, for me, still the Bloody Mary – guest DJ party. Because for me that was the night when people came and just danced, you know. There was not much talking. Straight to the dance floor.

Oytun: M.A.N.D.Y. was also super amazing. For guest DJs who get the crowd going. It was super packed, like the whole city, from DJ booth to toilet. Everybody was jumping at the same time.

Normally, in front of the bar, the people are just chilling and talking. Yeah, right, right, right. But that night every single person was jumping at the same time.

Tys: It's hard to take just one or two memories. For me it was the Halloween before the last year. Both the DJ before me and after me got sick and, actually, I played for, like, ten hours straight. It was like a marathon. The Squid Game…

Lina K.: Oh, yeah, right. Oh, yeah, the Squid Game. What about the Nanjing Road? Halloween night was very good. It was Money Heist.

Oytun: La Casa de Papel Money Heist. That one was cool. With all the mannequins. That was pretty nice. 2,000 people came, yeah. That one was very, very big.

What would you say has been part of Celia's recipe for success? In the clubbing world, 8 years is a respectable history...

Oytun: Everyone is welcome here. We don't judge anyone. It's focused on community. That's very important to us. We have so many people from different nationalities, backgrounds, lifestyles, ages, everyone, every single person is welcome, and they feel that. And like what we share inside here is a good experience. Enjoying good music together. Having a good atmosphere.

Tys: And we create our community in that. There is something special. That's why we believe so much in Celia.

Oytun: Yeah, yeah. So, there is a soul.

Lina K: We have a really nice sound system compared to a lot of clubs in Shanghai. It's a d&b sound system which is perfect for a low ceiling club like Celia. It's powerful enough to give people goosebumps but at the same time not destroying their ears, not to mention we spent a lot of time making sure its very well calibrated. Also, the whole ceiling [is] covered with acoustic panels which keeps all the sound inside without creating unwanted echos. Also, good alcohol. Real alcohol, of course. And very good music.

Tys: It's important. So we try to keep high standards as much as we can.

Infinity. What's next for Celia. I see you're renovating here and putting in a new bar?

Oytun: Yes, the plan is to open for week day business as well, but in a more chill environment. We'll have another beautiful speakeasy bar here, with 12 signature cocktails, starting at 5pm and then it turns into a club at 11pm.

Director's Note: Celia has been around for a long time in Shanghai, and many expats have passed through its doors over the years. Have you been to Celia? What are your favorite things about it, or have an idea for our next Movers and Shakers column? Leave a comment below.