End of an era as Stereotype club night comes to an end on seventh birthday

• DJ Huggy with his Stereotype partner Paul Cunningham

At its birthday party tonight, one of the city's best-known club nights will go out with a bang, as many of the DJs who have graced its decks over the years play under the Stereotype banner one last time.

It is certainly the end of an era for Huggy, the DJ who has presided over the night since it rose out of the ashes of his previous project, Burger Queen, which first brought him to fame in the mid 1990s.

He might not be hanging up his headphones forever but the end of Stereotype is a watershed for the 36-year-old. So how does it feel?

"It's a mixture of emotions," he says. "We've taken a big selection of DJs that have supported us for the last seven years so it's going to be a retrospective party, celebrating all the years, as opposed to just this year or last year.

"We're obviously really pleased that it's coming to an end for the right reasons. You can be nostalgic and say it is quite sad but you can't be that narrow-minded to say that things are going to stay the same forever."

Things are no longer the same in clubland, he says – not just in Edinburgh but across the country. Things are getting tougher and they would rather go out with a bang while the club is still a regular sell-out, rather than wait around and be forced to close with a whimper.

He explains: "I think that the club scene in general has changed. I think the recession's made a difference and people are

'People have no idea how much work goes into it'

a lot wiser with their money, they don't go out as often and when they do, they go to larger events, making it difficult for a good sized club to maintain good numbers.

"I think there's a shift towards the mainstream in general. I think society today is going in one direction – pop as a genre is larger than it's ever been."

New technology has also dampened the clubbing experience, according to Stereotype's promoter, Paul Cunningham.

He says: "Once, people would have to search to find stuff but, with file-sharing, now anyone can find the most up-to-date stuff. Before, people would go to clubs to hear cutting-edge music and wait for it to be released and now they've got it in their hands."

The massive expansion in opportunities for audiences to see DJs and musicians live has also taken its toll.

Paul adds: "There's so many festivals up and down the country these days that it's not as difficult for people to see big names. T in the Park will take 70,000 people in a day and people travel down south for Global Gathering and things like that.

"There are so many opportunities for people to catch not just electronic music but live bands. It's just not as important for people to go out on any given night of the week.

"Today, so many club nights start and fall away. To still be full after seven years shows you're doing something right and shows you're respected.

"It's time to take stock. We've both seen clubs of other friends that have petered out over a few years. At the moment, there is a shift in trends – we'd like to see what happens over the next couple of months."

They are certainly not slinking away with their tails between their legs. Huggy will continue his global career as a DJ – he currently has gigs lined up in LA, Miami and a summer in Ibiza to look forward to – and the pair plan to switch from running Stereotype's once-a-month nights to three or four big parties every year, giving them the freedom and power to pull in the best acts.

Huggy says: "With Stereotype, we have 12 dates in a year that are fixed so we can't always get the acts we want. We're going to put on parties that could fall any night of the week, any week of the year. If you've only got 12 nights a year you're competing with New York, Buenos Aires. No disrespect to Edinburgh, but why is someone going to turn down 10,000 people in Sydney for playing at the Corn Exchange?"

The decision to step back for a breather also stems from Huggy's belief that a job should be done properly, or not at all.

With club revenues down, he also now has a day job managing the website of Xile Clothing, based on South Bridge, and says he couldn't contemplate running Stereotype half-heartedly.

He says: "People have no idea how much work goes into it. I think there's a perception that you send out one message on Facebook, turn up on Saturday night and take the money on the door. It's extremely time-consuming.

"I think that's why we're in such a state where some clubs are really good and some are terrible – there's no work ethic. If you go to one bad club you can go home thinking 'Clubbing's rubbish'."

Much of that effort has gone into discovering and providing a platform for up-and-coming local talent, developing a high-quality slate of residents who could guarantee clubbers a good night even when the big names weren't in town. It is these favourites who will be on the bill tonight, including Master Caird, Ryan Ellis and Ewan Smith.

As he looks to the future, the world might be his oyster but Huggy remains committed to his home city. The former Drummond High School pupil, known in those days as John McDonald, now lives in Abbeyhill, within a stone's throw of his birthplace at the Elsie Inglis Memorial Hospital.

He might have gigs on offer across the globe but he still relishes coming home. He says: "You don't have to base yourself anywhere else, you can travel everywhere. Edinburgh has a real rooting thing – if you're born here or if you live here, there's nothing better than coming back out the train station and seeing the Castle. Edinburgh's such a unique city."

The last Stereotype takes place tonight at Berlin in Queensferry Street Lane. There will be a limited number of entries available on the door.