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Club395: A home for South Asian artists, queer communities and Bristol’s creatives
On the night he skipped his own graduation after his mother was unable to secure a visa to attend the ceremony, Ridwanul (Ray) Kabir Shakib found himself standing in a battered studio space just off of the Bearpit, where an unexpected handover would shape his future.
He had only come along to Club395 for a night out, invited by a friend two years ago. But the night took an unexpected turn.
Ridwanul’s friend Craig, who ran the venue, was struggling to keep it afloat, and the landlord had reached breaking point.
is needed now More than ever
Ridwanul recalls, “After like 30 minutes of being there, the landlord called him and told him he needs to leave, he doesn’t want Craig to run the place anymore.”
In Craig’s panic, he asked Ridwanul to take the phone and convince the landlord to allow him to keep the space, with Ridwanul taking over the reins.
Ridwanul, aged 28, has helped establish the multipurpose venue and creative space
Ridwanul, in the middle of what he calls “an existential crisis,” suddenly found himself agreeing to take charge of the venue.
“So just like that,” he says, “out of nowhere, there’s a whole venue, someone is offering me to run a venue. On my graduation day.”
Two years on, Club395 has grown far beyond that chance handover.
Now co-founded and co-led by Ridwanul, a queer Bangladeshi creative, the venue has become a cultural bridge: a home for underrepresented artists, a space for queer communities, and a launchpad that has propelled new Bristol talent onto festival stages.
In 2020, the 28-year-old had moved to Bristol from Bangladesh in the hopes of finding a city where he could belong.
Struggling with his queer identity, passions for music and fashion, Ridwanul felt as though he needed to find a home where he felt that he belonged.
After only reading about Bristol online and the city’s music culture, Ridwanul’s mind was made up, and he accepted an offer to study at UWE.
The formerly run-down venue now hosts a range of events
He recalls simply, “I felt like this is a city of misfits, and I’m a misfit.”
Having spent his early days in Bristol in a depression during lockdown, Ridwanul describes finally falling in love with Bristol after seeing groups of people sitting by the harbourside after restrictions had lifted.
He describes his amazement at the different genres of music he experienced after moving to Bristol, “I discovered reggae, and dub, and sound system culture for the first time; it does not exist in South Asia, it’s like.
“It’s like being in paradise for someone like me, because I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hoping to capture this sense of community, energy and musical passion, Ridwanul began his foray into event planning by running house parties during his university days, building the connections that would lead him to Club395.
Conveying his dedication to planning these parties and to building a community around music, Ridwanul explains how he would plan them for months in advance.
The venue encourages budding musicians to perform
“I would take over my housemates’ rooms, and make them different immersive spaces, like with projectors, with live music, with DJs, and I would spend a lot of money, and buy loads of fairy lights and decoration.”
“People would come and tell me, ‘I’ve lived in Bristol all my life, and this is the best house party I’ve been to’”
Harking back to his first day at Club395 and the daunting project that lay ahead of him, Ridwanul described how this early experience was all he had to lean on: “All I knew was how to host a safe space with music and art and have fun.”
Ridwanul had to start from scratch, learning how to apply for an alcohol licence, how to clean flooded toilets with an hour left to spare after the space’s upstairs neighbour’s plumbing failed, and almost faced a £20,000 fine from the police (after allowing an event to run for too long) but quickly learnt from this.
Ridwanul emphasises how, despite these wobbles, it is the element of creating a safe space that has propelled Club395 forward.
“It is one of the core purposes of this space to upskill, transform South Asian creativity and bridge South Asian culture with the UK culture.”
That bridge has already started to stretch far beyond the Bearpit.
From scouting freestylers at house parties to spotting DJs in small Bristol venues, Ridwanul has nurtured emerging artists and helped them onto bigger stages. “They started at 395,” he says, “and they performed at Glastonbury.”
His network now links directly into some of the UK’s most influential festivals. “Now I’m working with Boomtown Festival, Shambala and Glastonbury”, Ridwanul explains.
“With Arcadia in Glastonbury, I’m working on platforming Bristol-based creatives, DJs, musicians, on their stages in two years.”
One of the clearest examples of Ridwanul platforming South Asian creatives is Dameer, a Bangladeshi artist blending traditional Bengali music with UK electronic sounds.
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Ridwanul flew him to Bristol for a debut at Club395, which he calls “one of the major milestones for the South Asian community.”
Dameer’s reputation in Bangladesh is significant, leading underground club nights and pushing new sounds, and his set at 395 connected him to Bristol’s scene.
Ridwanul has since helped him land a slot at Boomtown.
“People will know more about Bangladesh and the beautiful music it brings,” he says.
“And Bangladeshis will know more about the festival culture in the UK and the amazing electronic music that the British developed.”
At the heart of this vision for Club395 and the work beyond the space is Ray’s personal identity.
“This all comes from my own desire and wish to create a space for everyone. But at the core, it’s me, and it’s not just a safe space, it is a queer-centric space”
Yet even as Club395’s profile grows, Ridwanul’s future here is uncertain. His visa status hangs over him, having to possibly leave the country in October of this year, a reminder of how fragile the space remains.
He had no background in licensing or running a venue, yet found himself building a platform that now links house parties in Bristol to stages at Boomtown and Glastonbury.
That progression is only possible in a city like Bristol, where an eclectic culture of music and community gives space for people without formal routes in. Club 395 is the product of that environment, and the reason it now stands as a launchpad for South Asian artists, queer communities and emerging local talent.
Maelo Manning is reporting on the South Asian community as part of Bristol24/7’s Community Reporters programme, aiming to amplify marginalised voices and communities often overlooked by mainstream media.
This initiative is funded by our public, Better Business members and a grant from The Nisbets Trust.
All photos: Club395
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