Hermann’s Upstairs is no more, and in its place will be The Coda.
Earlier this year, Hermann’s Upstairs shut down and the City of Victoria purchased the building that housed the popular live music venue.
The City then began a process of searching for new venue-runners who would help keep the live music scene alive in Victoria.
They found that in the new operators of the venue, Al Smith and Christina Morrison.
Smith and Morrison’s venue will be called The Coda—a music term that makes an appropriate name for Victoria’s soon-to-be newest music venue.
They acquired the space by first reaching out to the City to inquire about the future of Hermann’s Upstairs.
“We’ve both been involved in the arts community in Victoria all our lives as musicians and I run a dance company,” Morrison told Victoria Buzz.
“We both came here all the time when it was Hermann’s Upstairs and when we found out about it shutting down we were both really sad about it.”
The duo knew several musicians that had relied on the space to perform and garner an income, as well as the community members that frequented the space who no longer had the community hub they had relied on for connection.
The City had to keep the venue closed to upgrade some of its infrastructure before new operators could take over the space. While that process was underway, Smith and Morrison leapt at the chance to take over the venue and create a new hub for the music community.
“We go to live music so much and we value it so much—there’s venues dying all over the place and so we decided if no one else is solving this, we should at least try,” Smith explained.
The two are more than capable of running a venue with their respective backgrounds, and decided to use the skills they’ve acquired to keep the space they loved so deeply alive.
That said, both are aware that running a music venue is not necessarily a “money making business.” They simply want to ensure that this venue does not have to close or become a space that is not intended for live music.
“Our hope is that we care so much about this space in particular that we want to at least make sure that it survives,” said Smith.
What The Coda will be
Their vision for the space has already started to take shape, although construction on the upgrades is still ongoing.
The space is comprised of two performance spaces, one smaller and one larger room.
In the smaller room, they have removed the existing stage and are reworking the opposite wall to be a new performance area, where previously there had been seating.
In the larger room, they are converting one of the raised areas to be a secondary bar.
Smith is taking care of most of the renovations himself, while his son is building a ticketing engine and website from the ground up.
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Both Smith and Morrison said their aim is to get The Coda open as fast as they can, get bands playing shows and getting paid in there again and building the space up into a world class venue as they go.
As far as sound quality goes, Smith says they are keen on bringing in the best-of-the-best sound system in order to make The Coda a world-class venue in due time.
“We’re dropping almost $100,000 on sound gear to start and then another $200,000 over the next four years because we want this to be the best sounding room in Victoria,” Smith explained.
Both Morrison and Smith say their biggest priority is to create community in the space. They want to see bands coming in, making money and connecting with other bands to build bonds within Victoria’s, and the international music community.
“We want to be the place where it’s seamless to come here and connect with bands,” said Smith.
“So much so that we want to put as much money into the musicians pockets as we can because we know that’s where it has to go. They’ve been underpaid for so long and we don’t want to be a part of that.”
There is still much work to be done and some hoops The Coda’s owners will have to jump through before they can open, but they are hoping to be open by mid-February 2025.
They are also already booking bands for dates, assuming the venue opens on their tentative timeline.
Bands looking to play at the new venue can email The Coda to get in touch and plan a date for a show.
More information will become available about The Coda as Smith and Morrison continue their efforts to bring live music and community back to the space.
