“I don’t want to say we feel like Dallas is ready for it,” Jonathan Merla, the vice president of marketing for Headington Companies, says as we’re wrapping up a walkthrough of the space that will soon be Shyboy, the city’s first hi-fi bar. He’s right, because no city could be ready for this. It is a singular musical experience. At the same time, this minimalist, even brutalist, space is designed to feel accessible. If there’s nothing to project an aesthetic onto—almost no decor at all save the speakers and hifi equipment—then there’s no way to feel excluded.
To take a step back, let’s start with what a hi-fi bar is. The concept is influenced by Japan’s jazz kissa from the 1950s. Those were created as a quiet space to listen to American jazz records, a relic from World War II. They required complete silence from customers and featured the latest and greatest in high-fidelity sound systems to play a curated selection of records by luminaries such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. The cafes were a moody, often dimly-lit refuge in post-war Japan, and imported jazz records were expensive and rare, so they weren’t an item one had on hand to throw on at home. The culture influenced a generation of Japanese jazz artists, like Sadao Watanabe, Teruo Nakamura, and Fumio Nanri. Contemporary artists, such as Hiromi Uehara and Takuya Kuroda, continue the tradition.
The idea has had a resurgence since about 2018, creating an analog space both musically and socially, with hi-fi bars opening across the world. It’s tied to the spike in vinyl sales and production, and to a longing for community spaces in a post-COVID world. The modern take is less of a cafe and more of a bar, with simple drinks and often a dance floor in addition to spaces to sit. Merla’s vision encompasses everything from a DJ night to a quiet hang to an expert lecture with playback on a musical subgenre.
“We have lots of national bars and restaurants coming to this city, and we love that,” says Merla. “But now there needs to be things that are made for Dallas, that can only be found in Dallas. Not only from an offerings perspective, but from a cultural and design perspective. This doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
He is not exaggerating—the hi-fi bar at Shyboy is nothing like any in existence. First of all, there is the equipment. Speakers from the OJAS sound system hang from the ceiling like futuristic works of art, and the equipment racks serve as eye-catching decoration. In the DJ booth, the rack contains a mix of analog and digital equipment designed to blend records made across decades. Albums pressed in the 1980s and earlier were mixed for analog record players, while vinyl from the CD era and onward was mixed for digital sound. This curation of equipment allows the two to blend, creating a smooth transition. It also allows the DJs the power to slam the floor with house music or play a soft jazz album, without either sounding flawed. There’s a pricy McIntosh preamp (the Beach Boys would know this equipment: it’s been manufactured since the ’50s), a Rupert Neve console (another one the Beach Boys would know, because anyone who was worth a damn was using this in the ’60s), and high-end modern monitors, multiple versions of CDJ playback decks (if you’re a DJ, it matters), and even minimalist strip lighting built into the board that suits the feel of the room.
The main room’s aesthetic is influenced by James Turrell, a major figure in the California Light and Space movement. Light creates and manipulates the feel of the environment. For Shyboy, that means the bare white walls, light grey couches, and black floors are a canvas for light fixtures hidden in the piers that hold up the building, creating the aesthetic. “We asked each DJ what their favorite color is, and we will build a design around it when they play,” Merla says. Go through the bank safe door left from the 1900s, and into the Vault, a blue room that Merla crafted around his favorite color, cerulean (yes, inspired by The Devil Wears Prada). It was designed to look like RCA Studios in Los Angeles from the ’60s and ’70s, where the Rolling Stones recorded “Satisfaction,” Elvis Presley did “Burning Love” along with everything on the Sunset Boulevard compilation, and Harry Nilsson put “Everybody’s Talkin’” on tape. The blue velveteen panels covering the walls create the feeling of being in the most luxurious padded cell imaginable.
There are a few sculptures scattered around the place. The one in the main room by Florentine artist Duccio Mario Gambi looks like it’s made of cement, but when you touch it, it feels soft and spongy. Another, at the entrance to the blue room, is filled with water, creating shimmering responses to the vibrations of a subwoofer buried inside it. The rest of the decor is provided by the crowd’s vibes and the music. “One of the things not represented in modern hi-fi rooms is at the core of kissa culture: it’s literally about the music,” says Merla. While the staff at Shyboy won’t shush you as a kissa would, it is not a place to drink and loudly catch up with friends. Listening to music is at the center of the experience. If you need to express yourself, hit the floor and do it through dance.
The drink menu at Shyboy was created by legendary Dallas barman and current James Beard semifinalist Gabe Sanchez, who also oversees Midnight Rambler at the Joule in addition to his bars, Black Swan and Saint Valentine. The menu is designed to include a hint of Japanese influence, be easy to produce quickly, and to be low-cost—the highballs are all $13. There is “the hi-chew” (toki, strawberry hi-chew, yuzu, ginger, and soda), made with a popular Japanese taffy-like candy that has no artificial flavors and is gluten-free or “the tamarind” (Old Forester rye, tamarind, ginger, kuromitsu, and soda) for those who like something vaguely akin to an Old Fashioned to sip on. There are also cocktails for $13 that tend towards variations on classics, like the “mitch insists” (Ford’s Gin, St. Germain, white cranberry, yuzu, and pink lemongrass foam). Frozen cocktails are $11, and we are most enticed by the “okay, diva” (Daiyame Shochu, Chambéryzette strawberry aperitif, Calpico, strawberry, and yuzu), made with a Japanese sweet potato liquor and an array of strawberry references.
The food menu is short and sweet: just $6 soft serve. For the opening month, the solo flavor will be a swirl of matcha and sesame seed, made with a version of the Spaceman machine used in Japan for Cremia, an ultra-creamy, silky soft serve, which is a more complex and adult take on the cool classic. “We felt like, on a hot summer night, everyone will want it,” Merla says. “And I have a personal obsession with soft serve.”
The March programming features DJs from all over the world. Skeme Richards is a legendary Philly dance DJ who has been spinning since 1981, and he is one of the originators of music for breaking. He’ll drop in to DJ a set but also host a playback in the blue room, sharing his experiences with kissa culture and playing hand-selected records for an audience of 40, max. Detroit DJ and producer Patrice Scott will play a night of house music alongside Brandon Epocha, who hosted the underground Debbie Does Disco series. Mark Farina will bring his Mushroom Jazz series, developed in the ’90s, as a bi-weekly event, and Chorizo Funk from the Austin Boogie Crew will spin a mix of funk, soul, and disco. It’s a something for everyone mindset. Opening night will find Dallas’ own JT Donaldson spinning house records.
“This is here for the people who make us discover things, and DJs are sound-selectors; we want them to feel seen as well,” Merla says. “These are our main evangelists. When they go home, we want them to tell people, ‘You know what’s crazy? The sound system at Shyboy.’” And the people who give these nights, from calm and reflective to wild dance parties, a warm reception.
Shyboy Hi-Fi, 1313 Main St.