Spin Nightclub is under new ownership, led by Brandon Garva and Brandon Colt, who have already begun to revitalize this San Diego nightlife institution.
If you’ve danced in San Diego over the past decade, there’s a good chance you’ve spent some time at Spin Nightclub. This three-level venue just north of Downtown has been a destination for many who want to find their groove deep into the night, especially considering it’s one of the few that can host after hours. Spin’s near-two-decade long run has been remarkable, and this year, the club has opened its doors to a new era with two industry veterans, Brandon Garva and Brandon Colt, at the helm.
A quick history lesson is needed to understand this space’s impact on the San Diego scene over the past three decades. In the early ’90s, the venue began its run as West Coast Production Company (WCPC) before it transitioned into Montage, a gay club that ran for a decade and became renowned as one of the best in the country.
It wasn’t until 2007 that Spin Nightclub came to be. The early years saw success, with promoters like Giant hosting nights while legendary acts such as Armin van Buuren took the stage. Yet when the original ownership began to depart for other ventures, a hole was left at the club that needed to be filled. Enter Brandon Colt.
Brandon Colt already had over a decade of experience in the nightlife scene in San Diego’s Gaslamp District before finding a home at Spin. He worked at Olé Madrid, Belō, The Ivy Hotel, and beloved nightclub Voyeur for four and a half years during the EDM boom. “When I came to Spin, it was completely different because it was kind of run down at that point,” he said. “There wasn’t much love going into the place.”
Seeing the venue in disarray didn’t deter Colt, though. Instead, he wanted to make it better. “I propositioned the owners into just handing over the reins to myself and a handful of other guys who helped me kick it off at the start,” he said. It was off to the races from there as he began to work behind the scenes to make Spin what it is today as the venue’s long-standing General Manager.
“I just knew I wanted to have a space for rad parties,” Colt said. “I grew up going to hip-hop events and raves. San Diego was way more eclectic and started to gentrify a lot. There wasn’t much going on downtown; they didn’t even have EDM then. It was just about the cover charge and drinks; there wasn’t much heart in it.”
When I came to Spin, it was a bit lawless, and there were all these crews coming in doing all this rad stuff. For all intents and purposes, it was just kind of an event space. I saw these events being thrown here, and it felt like it did back in the ’90s when I was going to illegal parties. There was just all this unsanctioned creativity going on, and it felt really cool.
Brandon Colt
It was a night when Colt’s friend’s Burning Man camp threw a fundraiser that sparked his vision for what Spin could become. He began hitting up local crews and recruited others from the scene who were passionate to begin building toward a brighter future and a home for everyone. “Obviously, cover your nipples and wear flip-flops at your own risk,” he joked about the venue’s come-as-you-are dress code, but the ethos runs deeper than that, too. “I’m happiest when I’m in here, and I see people from all walks of life. I’m happy that I could help steward this space.”
[Music] is how we come together as a community, so it’s just grown. We’ve always wanted to be all-inclusive—house music, techno, psytrance, drum and bass, gay nights, goth nights, Burners, hip-hop, Brazilian nights—if somebody’s got heart for what they’re doing and there’s a crowd, come here and let’s do some stuff. Let us be your home.
Brandon Colt
Coincidentally, one of the first promoters that Brandon Colt had reached out to after taking the reins of Spin Nightclub years ago was Brandon Garva. The brand he started with Tyler Rosier, SD Union, has since become San Diego’s longest-running drum and bass night. Garva and Rosier worked tirelessly over the past 15 years to foster a home for the genre in America’s Finest City, with the two continuing to push each other to new heights. Their success is due, in part, to a chance situation that led them to throw a show at Spin.
SD Union had booked a show at a different venue that was shut down abruptly, and the stars aligned for them to find their new home at Spin. Garva recalled it being a rooftop party featuring John B., which also turned into the first time the two met, and he realized that Colt was the one running the venue.
“We came in a couple of weeks later to sit down and recap the event and talk about bringing more shows,” Garva said. “We were initially nervous about bringing SD Union over to Spin because it had a bad reputation then.” Those jitters disappeared once he was chatting with Colt and Branno about the second show, which was set to feature Planet of the Drums (Dieselboy, DJ Dara, and AK1200 with MC Messinian).
“It was a really big booking, and it was Comic-Con weekend, and we were sitting there talking about production,” he said. “I mentioned it would be cool to do a Mad Max, post-apocalyptic wasteland theme, with a Thunderdome inside the club.” Colt and Branno said yes without hesitation, to Garva’s delight, and the show went off without a hitch.
“We packed the house out; it was a killer show, and all the SD Union fans were stoked about it,” he continued. “That was the pivotal point for us going from smaller venues with no real production to a bigger space that gave us creative freedom.” That freedom led to more shows at Spin—Lost Temple of Bass, Stargate, Future Tokyo, Lost City of Atlantis, and more—and a close relationship between Garva and Colt was fostered along the way.
“Garva and SD Union is just one of a big bouquet of promoters and groups and communities that have come and used Spin or partnered with Spin in a way that they could get their dreams the way that they wanted to do it out,” Colt chimed in.
We’ve been working together for 10 years now. We do occasional shows outside of Spin, but most of our shows are there. Spin is our home; it has been our home. And so it was a very smooth, natural transition into this next chapter.
Brandon Garva
The roots of Spin’s latest chapter begin a few years after Colt took over as General Manager when the previous owners’ intentions and visions didn’t align with what was being created. “I wasn’t getting the support that I needed to have this venue thrive and grow the way I wanted it to or the community wanted it to,” Colt said. “As much as people loved Spin, it started to wear on the community.”
Spin had seen significant success in 2019, and according to Colt, all of 2020 had been booked as of January 1 that year. But then the pandemic hit, and the venue was shuttered for 15 months. When it returned a year and a half later, shows picked back up, but issues began to surface, culminating in losing their after-hours license in 2023. The owners put it up for sale, and the local community began to buzz about who would take over.
“When I found out about that, at first, I hoped the new owner would be cool and want to do something to improve it,” Colt said. “But then I realized the harsh reality that they could just make it whatever they wanted to, and Spin would be done. I was sad for the community we had built and the community we had yet to support and thrive in the city. If something like Spin isn’t here, what will be the glue to tie everybody together?” He was in the desert with his girlfriend when she pushed him to figure out how to buy the venue, and it was a mission he kept close to his chest… except for telling Garva.
Aside from DJing, producing, and running SD Union and United By Bass, Garva worked in real estate for two decades and was looking for a way out of that industry. “I was looking for a new path, and nothing was working out, which I found kind of odd because I’ve got a pretty strong resume,” he said. “The whole time, I was trusting the universe, trusting the path I was on.” The timing was perfect.
While usual shows continued, Garva took the reins for booking and began throwing an in-house series called Spin Presents at the venue. The lighting and sound got an upgrade, the venue got cleaner. People in the local scene began to take notice. Then, with all that momentum, the ownership change finally occurred in August 2024, and the keys were in their hands.
We’re starting to see the fruits of our labor, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon, which is just so nice. It’s not just Colt and I, for the record, we’ve got all these different people with all these different departments, and everyone’s putting their heart and soul into it. We’re this massive family; it’s been everybody that just loves this place to death and wants to see it succeed and wants to see it be the home for the underground in San Diego. There’s been sacrifice from so many people on all fronts.
Brandon Garva
“I got fatigued doing ‘Iron Man nightclub,’ where I ran all departments, and you can’t do everything and do it well,” Colt said. “I was getting it done, but what this venue calls for, you need a team. And one of the best things about this era is the team we’ve attracted to this rebirth.” He mentioned Chris Regalado, who has helped revamp the venue’s sound, along with Torrey, Christine, and Eduard, their new head of security, along with videographers and more. “It’s cool to work with people passionate about the same vision and goal,” he continued. “We’re really grateful.”
That team is currently crafting the future of Spin, which began earlier this year with the debut of two new in-house show series. Spin Thursdays was launched to highlight different electronic music genres weekly, from house and techno to more mainstream EDM. Meanwhile, Spindustry, a new event every third Sunday, is an amped-up industry night. “The Thursday series, the industry night, and everything moving forward are us taking the opportunity to help showcase and educate people about different types of music,” Colt said.
Yet that’s just the start, as Garva offered more insight into what’s to come. “We’re looking to have the club really opened up every weekend on Fridays and Saturdays,” he shared. “Often, it’s just been the main room open, and people don’t get to experience the side room or rooftop. We want different genres going on there so people can move around the venue and have a complete experience.” Garva went on to tease that there are additional upgrades, immersive aspects, and more in the works, as well as the return of late-night shows that run until 4am.
When you come to Spin, you will have a safe space to dance and have fun, be who you are, bond, create memories, and have this incredible experience. It’s not only getting back to what it used to be but far surpassing that and creating something you can’t get anywhere else in San Diego. That’s what we’re all about right now.
Brandon Garva
“Garva and I are in the community. We’re not sitting here saying we’re going to make a rad venue for dance music people; we are dance music people at our core,” Colt said before joking that he is contemplating shutting the club down for Burning Man to take all the staff out to the Playa.
Since that conversation, a lasting aura of optimism about Spin’s future has permeated my mind. In an era when nightclubs are struggling more than ever, it takes passionate people to keep communities afloat, and who better than the experts on the inside to lead the charge.
Don’t sleep on your chance to experience the magic of Spin Nightclub. Upcoming Spin Presents shows include Township Rebellion and Anthony Attalla on March 15, Hidden Empire on March 22, and Sam Wolfe and Dobé on March 28. Head to their official website for the full event calendar and follow their social channels for the latest updates.
