There’s no shortage of music in the Mile High City and there’s certainly no shortage of venues. While AEG and Live Nation hold a firm grip on the bigger, more recognized venues across the city and state, there’s a wave of independent venues carving their own path as well.

Kulture Music Hall is one venue making a name for itself, with a strong focus on community and high quality production. Nestled right behind Mile High Stadium on Federal Blvd, Kulture Music Hall is all about true creative expression and creating a safe environment for everyone.


A few years ago, Ryan Simonds and Jon Trahan had an idea to open a permanent music festival campground in the mountains. But when COVID hit, the two local DJs headed back to the drawing board. The first iteration of Kulture Music Hall opened in 2022 in The Boiler Room, a speakeasy and events venue located in the basement of the Ice House Condos. Kulture Music Hall has since relocated to 1600 Federal Blvd where it overlooks Mile High Stadium and downtown Denver.

Kulture Music Hall’s unique team consists of social workers, addiction counselors, and therapists. They’ve come together to build a program that ensures all members of staff approach every guest encounter through a trauma informed lens. Safety and non-violent resolution is the name of the game and it’s something Kulture is very proud of.

Moving over to the production side of things is another strength of Kulture. They’ve enlisted help from professionals over at Bass Boss to design a sound system that demands to be taken seriously. Custom built from top to bottom using advanced 3D modeling and audio engineering software, the sound experience is unparalleled.


The calendar at Kulture is as diverse as any other venues, ranging from label takeovers, official pre and after parties, yoga and holistic events, family and friends nights, and more. Some notable upcoming events include Dr. Ushuuu, Felmax, and KJ SAWKA. We had a chance to speak with owners Ryan and Jon about their vision for Kulture, the early struggles, and what sets them apart. Check out our conversation below!

[Rooster]: What inspired you to create Kulture Music Hall?

[Ryan & Jon]: We’re all long time music nerds here. Ryan started going to raves in the mid 90’s, and from his first show, he was hooked on the culture. We realized after COVID, and some of the big changes that happened in the Denver music scene around that time, that it was time to create something new in Denver that was fan-focused, sound-focused, and most importantly, focused on keeping the culture alive.

How has the idea evolved over the last few years?

We spent a few years incubating the concept while we searched for the right venue space. In the beginning, we had a much larger capacity in mind, but realized over time that Denver didn’t really need another large venue. The real heart of the music scene here lies in the independent, small venues. Our size allows us to support local and up and coming talent, while still being able to bring out bigger artists. 

What is your vision for Kulture Music Hall in the next five years?

Ryan has a background in Process Engineering, so the concept of Kaizen (continuous improvement), is one of our core values. Every day, we are looking for ways to improve every aspect of the venue, and as many people would say, every time they come into Kulture, there is something new, or different. Long term, we have some big plans for the building! Our East wall is begging for a patio that will overlook the whole city, and we’ll be increasing the bathroom fixtures, and taking them more upscale. When we started the project, each of us had visions of different DJ’s and bands we’d love to see in the venue, so while I can’t give names just yet, there are a ton of artists that are on our bucket list to bring out over the next few years! 

What were some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far and how are you overcoming them?

By far, the biggest challenge so far has been the bureaucracy. We had a major setback being forced to walk away from our previous location. In the end we were better for it, but it was a big loss in terms of time and money. More recently though, I think everyone has been feeling the squeeze financially, and fans are typically forced to make hard decisions about where to go. So, we recently implemented a monthly membership to help remove the ticket cost from the calculation, and make the decision a little easier for folks. 

Can you elaborate on the importance of community and safety at Kulture Music Hall?

The music scene in general, but especially the dance music scene, has always had a target painted on it. It used to be warehouses and basements, and it has always been difficult to integrate with the community and create safe spaces for fans when your location is always changing, and the laws prevent you from properly caring for your guests. Thankfully, Denver has been a progressive leader in that department. We communicate and listen closely with our neighbors to ensure we we integrate as best we can with our local community. But community goes beyond the immediate locality, and so our vision has always been that everyone that enters Kulture feels as safe as possible. Because we are a destination venue, we don’t have random folks coming into the venue that don’t always integrate or interact well with the fans that are there for the music or community. Everyone that comes in for a show, is there for the show, and not because they just wanted any old place to drink and dance. It is extremely important to us that everyone feels welcome, and comfortable to express themselves fully in our venue. Further, our staff is very carefully chosen, and receives extensive and ongoing safety training. We partnered with Blue Bench early on, but also have an on-staff therapist/CAC 2 addiction counselor that created an entirely novel training program that every staff member must complete that covers everything from how to recognize trafficking and overdoses, to proper deescalation. 

What makes the custom-built sound system at Kulture Music Hall unique?

We have the only installed BassBoss sound system in Colorado! But, aside from the name, the entire system was custom built to our specification, and sized for a venue three times our capacity. We did this to ensure we’d never be overdriving the system, and would have the capability to properly represent any genre of music. For most DJ sets, we also run entirely digital all the way from the CDJ to the venue processor with no AD/DA conversions along the way. This makes a massive difference in sound quality. You’ll hear components of songs that you didn’t know existed prior to hearing them on our system. We also recently installed another 12k watts of dedicated mid bass, as we recognized that the system as built for us, didn’t quite have the mids that we wanted. After we finished that install in mid June, we completely re-tuned the system from the ground up.

Can you share any interesting anecdotes or technical details about the sound system design process?

When we began the process of choosing a system, we actually toured the country listening to different venues and brands, and even considered building our own enclosures from scratch. But, after hearing the BassBoss system in LA, we were sold. Not just on the quality of the system, but the fact that we could interface directly with their leadership and engineer quickly and easily. We did ultimately end up building some custom mid enclosures, and that really made all the difference in sound quality. The system is rated for about 96k watts, entirely passive of course, and consists of eight dual 18” sub enclosures, four dual 15” mid enclosures, and four flown tops in q quadrophonic set up. For the booth, we have two diamons with two single 18” bass enclosure. After the re-tune, we’re completely flat from 20hz to 20khz. Standing on the dancefloor is like wearing a high end pair of studio headphones, except with the amazing physicality that comes from the BassBoss subs. 

How do you decide on the diverse range of events hosted at Kulture Music Hall?

We always wanted to be a venue vs a club. It really is a completely different kind of culture. We wanted to combine the best aspects of both, without being pigeonholed into one genre or another. Every person on our staff is passionate about music, and so we frequently bring out artists that our staff, friends, and promotion partners are passionate about! That could be edm, emo, goth, jam, or really anything! We have a nice, big open space that allows us to host anything with ease. So we have always been intent on finding as much diversity in events as we possibly can. 

Are there any specific types of events or artists that you aim to feature more prominently?

We would love to get more bands in the venue; We have had a handful, and they were some of our favorite shows! But, more generally, we are aiming to step our game up in the near future with bigger artists, and even more variety in genre. Ryan loves happy hardcore, so he’s been itching to bring out more of that genre soon! 

What kind of feedback have you received from the community and guests since opening Kulture Music Hall?

The most common feedback that we get is that the space feels like the Tardis (or a charmed wizarding tent if you’re of the Harry Potter persuasion). It feels much larger on the inside! But it really is a completely different experience than I think most people expect when they see it from the outside. And the view, we can say with absolute certainty that we have the best view of the city of any venue. Folks always immediately gravitate to the windows as they walk in for the first time. We have also heard frequently that we feel like a venue for the artists. If you want to hear what your new track can really do, it’s a great place to test it out! 

How do you measure the impact of your venue on the local music scene and community?

There are a few ways really, but one impact that I have been noticing more as time goes on, is that folks are becoming more vocal and more demanding of other local venues and clubs to implement similar safety and security measures. That is exactly what we had hoped for in our community, and looking into the future, we’d love to see the city and community implement more harm reduction programs, and legalize additional safety measures, like 4am last call, test kits, etc. We’re pushing the envelope and working to be a model for how to interact with, and keep your guests safe, but there is always more that can be done! 

Do you have any upcoming projects or collaborations that you’re excited about?

We’re currently curating a group of diverse and talented mural artists! We hope to be able to cover and showcase as much of our venue as possible with local art, and keep that process ongoing into the future! 

What advice would you give to other aspiring venue owners or entrepreneurs in the music industry?

Don’t do it for the money, or because it sounds cool. It has to be a passion project, whatever it is. It will not be easy, you’ll work 20 hours a day, you’ll probably never get rich, but with enough passion, it will absolutely be worth it.