Adam Wool Interview

by Rob Wojtasiewicz
Just about everybody who dreams has dreamed of being a club owner. You know how it goes: "Some day, I'd like to have my own place...I'd have music, dancing, and all my friends could come and feel at home..." Yeah, we've all had that dream. It's kind of like that dream that Matt and I had a couple years ago: "You know, I've always wanted to start up a newspaper..."
Dreams are dangerous things, because sometimes, dreams become reality. It's like David Byrne says: "Watch out, you might get what you†re after..." Watch out, indeed. You might find yourself holding the reins of a runaway dogsled, with no idea whatsoever how to make the thing stop.
What kind of person does it take to run a successful bar in a place like Fairbanks? We're on a mission to find out. Stay tuned for a few of these Club-Owner spotlights this year, as the New Lemming presents The Entertainers.
Adam Wool owns two bars in town, the Loon, and the Marlin. He can be seen a lot of nights, playing drums in his house band. I spoke with him over a glass of Raven's Ridge Yuletide Ale at the Marlin. Here†s what he had to say:

NL: First question: How the hell did you end up in Fairbanks?

Adam: God knows.... I originally came here to visit my brother. He'd been living here for a while... I liked it, I stayed.

NL: Why does that story sound familiar?

Adam: Sure, Fairbanks has a way of doing that to people.

NL: So then what?

Adam: I attended the University and got a degree in physics.

NL: You have a degree in physics!?

Adam: Hey, it's only a degree...

NL: Right. So how did you get from quantum theory to the Marlin?

Adam: I didn't do much quantum physics. My brother and I started an ice-cream store; Hot Licks. Eventually he took sole ownership of that business, and I needed something to do. I've been playing music for years. I thought it might be fun to start a club of my own. When the Marlin came available, I went for it.

NL: So how was it?

Adam: Kind of fun, really. But it was to small to do some of the things I wanted to do, so I got involved with the Crazy Loon. That partnership went bankrupt, and I was owed a lot of money. When all was said and done, I ended up with the building.

NL: What's it like, having two bars?

Adam: It takes a lot of work to keep both places running.

NL: It seems like there'd be advantages. You can coordinate the two places so they don't compete, yet you can offer a pretty good spectrum of entertainment.

Adam: Yeah, that's how it should work, and it does some of the time.

NL: But then there's the rest of the time...

Adam: A lot of nights one place will be packed and the other will be real quiet. That's okay. It's when nobody is in either place at all that I get concerned. That's rough.

NL: On the other hand, if nobody's in the bar, then you can send most of the help home, and it doesn't cost you that much.

Adam: It doesn't work that way. People don't realize the hidden expenses it takes to keep a place like this going..

NL: Yeah? Like what kind of hidden expenses?

Adam: Well, like ASCAP, for instance.

NL: You're not going to tell me you have to pay ASCAP...

Adam: That's exactly what I'm telling you. Just like radio stations. They have to pay a certain amount every month, it's like a blanket licensing fee for all the copyrighted material they play. I have to pay it too, to cover the licensing for all the cover tunes my live bands play.

NL: That's nuts. I'd think the bars would all claim that all their bands play only original material.

Adam: Oh, that might work, just because we're so far away from anything else, but ASCAP has a really strong presence in the cities. They have people who spend all their time going into bars and making sure people are in compliance. I pay the fees. It's not all that much. But all the little things like that add up.

NL: What kind of things have you tried to increase your business in the off-season?

Adam: Well, we have the usual things, DJ night on thursday, disco night on Saturdays... we tried something new this winter. We†ve been showing movies twice a week.

NL: Like...videos?

Adam: Yeah, we had 2001, Dazed and Confused, movies like that. Fairbanks only has one movie theater. If you don't feel like seeing what they're showing, you're out of luck. I figure people can come and have a few drinks and get into the movie...

NL: Is it working out? Are you getting a good turnout?

Adam: It hasn't really taken off yet. I don't think people really appreciate or understand what I'm offering.. Once they realize that it's a really good thing, people will come.

NL: What keeps you in Fairbanks?

Adam: Probably the same thing that keeps a lot of other people up here. There's not a lot of restrictions in Fairbanks, not a lot of reduction of personal independence. A person who doesn't get in other people's way can pretty much do whatever he wants. Then there's the community itself. Because we're so far from anywhere else, we're like a big family. I like that.

NL: Are you happy with the local musical talent that's available?

Adam: We get some really talented musicians. The problem is that they get so good they end up leaving town and going south. You pretty much have to do that if you want to pursue a professional career.

NL: Got any plans for the future?

Adam: I'd like to do some renovation at the Marlin. I'm pretty happy with the Loon, other than a few smaller repairs.

NL: How about you yourself? Do you think you'll be doing this until you die?

Adam: Hmmm, now that is a question. I don't know that I'll be doing this until I die, no. Sometimes I think about going to Grad School.

NL: What makes you happiest in life?

Adam: I like to see people having a good time. I like it when things go right. I don't know... sometimes I'm there, and things are going okay, and people are happy... I can't really say, I just feel good sometimes.

NL: And what makes you unhappiest.

Adam: I get frustrated when people complain, and take for granted what they have, and don't appreciate it until it's gone.

Originally printed in The New Lemming Vol 3 Issue 28