2012 Nightlife Hall of Fame: Brian Landeche

In the early 1990s, New York’s gay nightlife was in transition—moving up from the West Village to Chelsea, which was starting to gentrify with an influx of art galleries and gay men.

It was in 1991 that Brian Landeche opened Splash with partner Harry Bartel, cementing Chelsea’s place as the new gayborhood—and helping to foster a new kind of gay club. Queens have always flocked to the hottest bars and discos in New York, but this was a place that was gay every night of the year, and one run by gay men for gay men. It waved its rainbow flag proudly. And Landeche always had a gift for picking the hottest go-go boys to get soaked in the infamous showers that gave Splash its name.

In the beginning the club was more modest: it wasn’t until 1995 that Splash got its cabaret license and unveiled its legendary dance floor. Subsequent renovations saw the lower level open and other improvements made.

Over the next two decades, a truly diverse crowd flocked to the 17th Street mainstay: Chelsea boys, international tourists, NYU students and celebrities like Grace Jones, Katy Perry and Kylie Minogue. General manager Greg Jones recalls when Britney Spears came to the club to film an album promo: “I had to sign this confidentiality agreement—I couldn’t even tell Brian because I knew he couldn’t keep it quiet,” he recalls. “So there’s all this equipment coming in, and things being moved around and dismantled. Brian’s really protective of the club so I’m sure he was going nuts. Finally he turns to me and says, ‘Princess, I’m going to do you a favor—I’m going to leave.’ And he went home!”

Eventually, Landeche found out the identity of the special guest, and was tickled Splash had been chosen for such an honor. But he’s always been more concerned with regular customers than A-listers—perhaps that’s the secret to the club’s success. Or maybe it’s how he treats his staff more like a family than employees (“I have bartenders who’ve been here forever—I can’t get rid of them,” he jokes.)

According to Jones, Landeche at one point contemplated retiring to Florida. But his feelings about Splash are crystallized in an anecdote he shared from shortly after the sudden death of Bartel in 1999. “Harry’s family was in town to deal with papers and stuff. I went down to the club for some reason—we were closed for the week, but as I walked in I could hear all these voices and see these eyes in the distance. The staff was still there, talking and sharing,” Landeche recalls, filling with emotion. “I feel so honored to be trusted by the community. Splash will always be a refuge, a haven.”

Did you have a background in nightlife before opening Splash?
Aside from dancing as a go-go boy in Louisiana in ninth or 10th grade? No. I’ve always been a great patron of gay bars, but I had never owned or managed one before.

So what possessed you to start your own club?
After my first partner, Robert, died of AIDS in 1990, I looked around and thought, what am I going to do? Where am I going to meet people? I didn’t see the kind of place that I wanted to go to—where you could stop by any night of the week around 9 or 10pm and still be home at a reasonable hour. So I created it myself.

What’s your favorite memory from the past 20-plus years of Splash?
It was just a few weeks after we had opened and I was finally going home after working like two days straight. I stepped outside and there was this long line of taxis outside. I went up to a cabbie and asked him, “Why are you guys all lined up?” He didn’t know who I was—he just looked at me funny and said, “Don’t you know? This is the hot new place in the city!” That’s always stayed with me. I don’t chase after celebrities but it meant so much to be endorsed by the people of New York City.

Do you think dating sites and hookup apps have changed how people go out and socialize?
I think there’ll always be a need for real nightlife. The Internet is great, but there’s no substitute for the chemistry you get when you meet someone in the real world.

The club is currently getting a makeover. What are we going to see when the renovations are done?
Oh, you’re not going to get me to give away the surprise before it’s done, but I promise you’ll see a bigger, better—and wetter—Splash than ever before.