When DJ ha-MEEN plays his set at K-House, he places a sign in front of his setup that says “refrain from making requests.” The sign is a staple at K-House’s weekly All Grooves DJ Lounge, which launched Feb. 26, and allows local artists to express their unique music styles while cultivating a culture of engaging listening bars in Ithaca.

DJ ha-MEEN goes by Ben Ortiz when he is not making music and helped organize the event. K-House might primarily be a karaoke bar, but the lounge strives to build a community. DJ Dou and DJ L34N were lined up for launch night along with Ortiz, and Ortiz said he has 14 total DJs lined up.

“I’m most excited about the alchemy and mixing people together,” Ortiz said. “We are doing what would be the opposite of a gatekeeper. We’re letting people into the community of DJing.”

Move to new location

The All Grooves DJ Lounge is open to anyone over the age of 21 and is one of the latest programs that K-House launched at its new location at 121 W. Martin Luther King Jr. St. in Downtown Ithaca. This location previously housed The Watershed and Downstairs before it closed in December 2025. K-House was previously located in Lansing.

Alina Kim, owner of K-House, said this move to the new location was one of the factors that motivated her to expand programming. The All Grooves DJ Lounge takes place in Room K, where The Downstairs used to be.

“The Downstairs was a revered location,” Kim said. “It was almost an obligation to come up with some kind of programming to be able to save the scene in some ways.”

Kassandra Crawford, an IT networking systems administrator at Cornell University, attended the first All Grooves DJ Lounge on Feb. 26 and said that the way K-House is maintaining the legacy of the space it used to be is important.

“I’m excited that it didn’t go away,” Crawford said. “It’s got a new flavor to it, ’cause it sounds like it’s not just gonna be karaoke, and that’s exciting for me. I’ll get to experience new art and new music.”

Crawford said she heard about the event through Ortiz, who also works with her at Cornell. Ortiz is a collection specialist for the Cornell Library’s Hip-Hop Collection. Crawford said that to her, programming like the All Grooves DJ Lounge is very meaningful.

“In the current environment that we live in, being a person of color, I think that we need to remember to thrive and live and enjoy,” Crawford said. “That’s what art and music does for me.”

K-house’s expanded business model

To make up for the loss of private karaoke suites in the new location, Kim said she has adopted a pop-up club model in which K-House hosts private karaoke at different local locations.

“We’re inheriting a lot of the loyalty to the previous location, as well as the people that were loyal to karaoke and our followers and our fans from our last location,” Kim said. “It feels like a nice merging of the worlds.”

In addition to the All Grooves DJ Lounge and pop-up clubs, K-House also hosts Q Space, where events like creative writing workshops oriented toward the queer community take place. The establishment also collaborates with Farm to Feast to offer food.

According to Kim, the next goal for the All Grooves DJ Lounge is to get investors, like a local bank or pizza shops, to sponsor it. DJs are compensated through payments made at the door and any additional donations are welcome through QR codes available at the event as well.

Ultimately, Kim said she hopes that K-House can become a thriving hub for art and culture.

“I’m just trying to give something that is missing here,” Kim said. “That we think Ithaca deserves, that we think Ithaca could accomplish.”