Where Nightlife Meets Innovation

From 1996 to 2000, Home Base wasn’t just a venue—it was a revolution in real time. Spearheaded by Vlad Cood, this 250,000 square foot warehouse became the epicenter of West Coast rave culture and a proving ground for what large-scale event production could truly be.

Vlad didn’t rent a space. He built an ecosystem. At its peak, Home Base produced over 300 massive events, drawing 15,000 to 30,000 people per show and supported by a crew of over 300 staff and production personnel. These weren’t off-the-grid parties—they were professionally run, logistically complex, and emotionally unforgettable. Vlad turned raw industrial space into a cathedral of sound, lights, and human connection.

Each event was an orchestration of chaos made sublime—security, medical teams, artist wrangling, ticketing, vendor logistics, and a full production build-out done 50 times a year during its prime. The scale was jaw-dropping, but what truly set Home Base apart was the vibe: inclusive, intense, euphoric, and deeply communal.

Credited by many as the birthplace of the Massive EDM movement, Home Base became a launchpad for what the global scene would eventually become. And at the heart of it all was Vlad—engineer, promoter, and cultural architect—proving that the underground didn’t have to stay underground forever.

 Before there were LED walls or mega-clubs, there was a feeling—a code of conduct passed hand-to-hand under blacklights and warehouse rafters. Vlad Cood didn’t just witness the birth of American rave culture—he helped define it. In the early 1990s, he coined PLUR: Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect.

What started as a personal ethos quickly became a global mantra. PLUR spread from underground dance floors to mainstage festivals, offering ravers a shared language rooted in empathy, connection, and radical acceptance. It wasn’t just a slogan—it was how you treated people at 3 a.m. in a crowded room pulsing with light and bass.

For Vlad, PLUR wasn’t about branding—it was about survival. In a scene that was raw, rebellious, and growing fast, it gave the culture a moral compass. It reminded everyone why they were there: to connect, to celebrate, and to look out for one another.

Today, PLUR remains a guiding principle for EDM culture worldwide. And while many have adopted it, few know where it began: with a visionary builder who saw that rave culture could be more than a party. It could be a community.

In the mid 2000s, while most nightlife was chasing bottle service and velvet ropes, Vlad Cood leaned into something deeper: intimacy and mystery in a late-night atmosphere. The result was INCEST After-Hours, where INdustry + sCene + ESTablishment converged into a lush, sensual nightlife concept inspired by erotic art, ancient aesthetics, and high-end design - for only the SF A-List movers and shakers.  

This wasn’t a gimmick. It was a fully realized world—red velvet, gold-leaf detail, textured lighting, and an energy that blurred the line between theater and nightlife. Vlad conceived and built Incest as a transportive experience: part lounge, part performance space, part secret society. Every detail was deliberate—from the custom furnishings and signature scent, to the curated music that pulsed like a heartbeat under every conversation.

It was bold. It was controversial. It was unforgettable.

Running Incest took precision. Vlad wasn’t just building mood—he was managing operations, overseeing staff, and navigating the unique challenges of a venue built around sensuality and discretion. It required balance, restraint, and creative discipline, all of which he brought to the table in full.

Though short-lived, INCEST After Hours lives on in stories and memories. It’s still whispered about as one of San Francisco’s most daring nightlife experiments—beautiful, immersive, and unapologetically adult.

In May of 1999, Butter opened. It gave San Francisco its most unapologetic, unforgettable, and unexpectedly iconic bar. Born out of a desire to create a space that felt real in a city already leaning toward gloss, Butter became an anthem in brick and neon, as the first Rave-Born DJ bar in SF, and perhaps anywhere, presenting a DJ inside a bar setting.

This was no concept bar. It was pure instinct—Airstream panels on the walls, kitschy cocktails in pouches, and a playlist that never apologized. Vlad built it himself, in every sense: designing the look, tuning the flow, hiring the team, and operating the bar personally, serving up a huge nightclub experience out of a small yellow house.    No pretentiousness. No hype machine. Just sweat, vision, and a feel for what people wanted before they knew they wanted it.

The result? A venue that didn’t just last—it imprinted itself on the culture. Butter became a rite of passage, a weekly tradition, and a magnet for artists, nightlife workers, neighborhood regulars, and visiting misfits. It’s where stories started—and sometimes ended. It’s where the lights were low, but the energy was always electric. And it's also where the REDBULL Vodka was created - yup ... it all started here at Butter - on 2 Turntables and a Microwave.   

Over two decades later, Butter still runs hot, as a regional institution and Official SF Legacy Registry Business #182.   Vlad’s original blueprint remains untouched: give people an authentic place where they can let go, be seen, and not give a damn about what comes next.

MegaBuzz isn’t just Vlad Cood’s next project—it’s his legacy in motion. Slated to launch as an expansion of Buzzworks, MegaBuzz is a one-of-a-kind immersive venue that merges nightlife, digital art, and experiential technology. Every wall, floor, and ceiling will be wrapped in programmable LED panels—transforming the space into a living, breathing canvas of sound and light.

But this isn’t a gimmick. It’s the next evolution of the environments Vlad has been designing for decades. Where Butter gave people freedom, and Buzzworks gave them flexibility, MegaBuzz gives them immersion. Think: real-time reactive visuals, VR-enhanced performances, AI-curated lighting, and events where the room itself becomes the performer.

This is nightlife reengineered. A hybrid venue that functions as a club, creative lab, and brand activation platform. From digital art showcases to full-body sensory installations, MegaBuzz will host the kind of experiences that people don’t just attend—they remember.

Construction is underway. Permitting and planning are in progress. Vlad is hand-picking collaborators and investors with vision, patience, and passion. This is not just another club—it’s a high-impact cultural tech installation, built from the ground up by a founder who’s done it all and is now aiming higher than ever.