Q: Does Max think he is king of the Goth scene?

A: No, I do not. I was called that in an interview with Entertaining U newspaper and publicly rejected that title immediately. Despite the reports by my haters incessantly blogging about it, I do not think I own this scene nor do I want to control it. For years now anyone tying to bad mouth me immediately goes that route and attempts to spread this unfounded notion to obfuscate the truth. What I do think, and know for a fact, is that for over 10 years I have tirelessly supported the Jax Goth scene in every way possible. Am I territorial about it? Yes, to a point I am. When it comes to the particular night I am doing a promotion, yes I am territorial over that night. The only possible end to someone starting a night on the same night as I do one is to compete directly against us for our already small and struggling scene and split it up. This is not the indie rock scene where more than one club can get upwards of 700 people a night. This is a small scene that with nothing else going on it town gets at best an upward of 150 people. I am frequently accused of not wanting any other night going on in town despite the fact that I have always publicly supported numerous other nights including Randy's Friday nights, Prima Nocturne's Sunday nights (both practically more than they promoted themselves) and most recently I have supported Cafe 331's first Friday of the month Darkwave night and despite the hatred I have received from him I have sent out e-mail's encouraging people to go to Alex's Thursday nights at Metro. Let my actions speak louder than the accusations of those attempting to profit for themselves by spreading info they know to be false. I have championed this scene since it began in Jax and count on me to continue to do so for as long as I am here.

Q: I keep hearing that there is a VIP area and that it is for elitist people. What's the story behind that?

A: After I took a trip to New York and visited a number of clubs with some friends of mine who are well connected I found myself in the VIP area of every club I attended. They were not like the so called "VIP" areas of just about every club here in Jax that sell entry into them for $100 and up. These were reserved spaces for club kids and their friends who were invited by the club and given free drinks because they brought so many people through their social networking. The whole time I was there I could not help but think of all the people I know back in Jax who go above and beyond to help us out at the club to transport props, decorate, clean and help distribute flyers every week. I though that by bringing a little touch of New York back to Jax and giving those individuals that go the extra distance to make our night better for everyone a place of their own in the club would be the right thing to do. At first I sectioned off the stage with curtains. This quickly lead to wild speculation about what was happening back there so we began opening them so everyone could see in and those patrons would still have their space. This still seemed to not sit well and unfortunately some patrons may have seen it as elitist, so I closed it down. When the club was rearranged with the very small seating area in the front, and the owners used it for themselves and their friends on nights other than Saturdays I felt it entirely appropriate to use that area as a reserved space for those that help out the club. What sickens me is that the critics of this so called "VIP" space are the same ones who used it for themselves nearly exclusively on other nights of the week or more recently I have been criticized for it by people who sat there themselves and are friends with everyone else that sat there. So I do not take the criticism of hypocrites with any seriousness, what I do take seriously is when my intentions and the truth of the matter are so viciously misconstrued by self-serving narcissists.

To set the record straight, there was never a "VIP" area in FACTORY. No sign ever claimed any section was for "Very Important People," though I do feel those people are important, I feel each and every one of our patrons are important. Those sections were clearly marked as simply "RESERVED." Just as I had reserved the stage for birthday parties or bands before, and it made none of those bands or parties elitists, it simply allowed them to reserve that space. This happens in restaurants as well as just about every other entertainment venue right down to Chucky Cheese. Does this make them elitists because they reserve a space? No, because that is an intrinsic part of the entertainment service industry. The only people calling what was a reserved space a "VIP" area are those that either cannot read a sign or are trying to make me and my friends look elitist to serve their own promotion. But the truth is what it is. It was simply a reserved space for a small handful of people who helped out the club in many ways. It was not 100% exclusive, it was in no way elitist and more importantly it is not even a valid issue because FACTORY has not have a reserved area since we left Eclipse.

- Max

Q: Why is cover higher on a 'movie night?'

For movie parties we ad $1 because to be able to bring you these advance screening passes and swag we have to spend a lot of extra work during the week creating separate ads that have to be approved by studios and sometimes we have to spend hours making multiple changes to meet their exacting standards to get that approval. We also have extra set up, decoration or costumed extras we hire that can end up costing extra. Granted you can get some of these passes at some local comic shops for free, usually by entering your name into a drawing and waiting weeks to find out if you've won, but what some of our recent critics have failed to realize because they lack the information to understand the entirety of the situation, is that these shops get those passes from local newspapers who charge that shop an upwards of $500 for the giveaways. Most of these shops do not ever recoup that money because the people who come in to pick up the passes just get them and go, not spending a dime in the store. This loss of income is inevitably passed along to you the customer by higher prices or the shop simply stops buying the movie giveaway packages.

At FACTORY we offer you passes, T-shirts and swag which value far exceeds the one or two extra dollars we charge over normal cover for out efforts. A perfect example of this is a scathing complaint we got from a patron about the $7 cover we had for our Dark Knight party. Sadly this patron, so blinded by his rage over having to fork out $2 extra, overlooked the free set of collector pins and movie posters available to everyone at our front door. Those giveaways are now selling on Ebay for up to $20 each!

A perfect example of how it worked for patrons on that same night is right here ...



DARK KNIGHT movie pass - $12 value, GOTHAM KNIGHT DVD - $20 value, DARK KNIGHT posters and T-shirts - $30 value, complaints for having to pay $2 extra at the door - 0.

Q: Why is the cover different on certain nights?

A: On nights we bring in special performers or guest DJs we have to guarantee them a predetermined amount and possibly bring in extra sound or staffing to make a show run smoothly and be the best possible experience for you. This effects the overall production costs of the night and since we only have the door money to work with an pay out our staff and guest performers we have to raise the door price to cover it.

Q: I'm only 17, can I get in?

A: Our regular nights are 18+ only. We offer 'ALL AGES' nights when we feature live bands. If you are under 18 you should keep an eye on the special events list on the main page of our site for live shows.

Q: I don't have an ID, can I still get in?

A: No. You must bring your proper state issued identification to enter the club.

THANK YOU JACKSONVILLE

I want to thank everyone for coming out to 9th & Main for our opening night. It was great to get back to some normality and see so many familiar faces. It has been a rough time for us all and want to especially thank all of the kind patrons and friends who have sent me such supportive messages. It means a lot to hear from each of you and I cannot thank you enough for your support. Below are a sampling of what people have been saying...

"As long as I've known you... Regardless of the goings on or the drama that may or may not have ensued over the years, I've yet to be disappointed by anything that you've put together. I've seen people come and go from the scene which I graze around and they always come back to what you do because you do it right and you do it for the people. I've always been a supporter of this scene and others based on what's presented. But I've never been as big a supporter than what I have been since you've taken the reigns. So, for all you do... Thanks. It really does mean allot to those of us who are in it for what it is and what it represents. And for those of us "elder goths", it means that much more."

"I just wanted to stop by and commend you on keeping the goth scene alive here in Jacksonville. There is no other place in Jacksonville....like "The Factory". I think there are alot of people who should recognize your hard work and dedication. If it wasn't for you (and everyone behind the scenes) there would be no Factory. Thank you so much MAX!!! WE ALL should sit down with you and buy you a drink!!!"

"I, for one, really appreciate what you are trying to do for Jacksonville's Arts and Entertainment community. You can quote me on that."

"I just wanted to thank you for your time and enthusiasm bringing back a night which I feel is deeply rooted in the entertainment needed in Jacksonville and which patrons have enjoyed for years"