The Punks Behind the Pump
“I really wanted it to be a place where somebody could sit at the bar, after work, in their suit, and be sat next to a drag queen.”
Hailey and Ian McDermid, the married couple behind The Pump, decided not to target a particular demographic. Instead, they embraced them all. With heavy emphasis on inclusion, quality, and experience, they worked tirelessly from 2012 to 2014 to build a ‘safe place’ for a community with diverse interests and identities. If you’ve been to The Pump, you’ve probably seen more parts of our city’s culture than you ever had before. “I really wanted it to be a place where somebody could sit at the bar, after work, in their suit, and be sat next to a drag queen.” Now in the bar's sixth year of business, the young punk couple have proven their ambitious goals realistic and their unique vision inspiring.
Critically, they know how to perfect an atmosphere. “Ian and I are people nostalgic for a time we were never a part of,” Hailey shares as she explains how they indulge in sentimental familiarity by highlighting kitsch design elements and airing outlandish, old movies on mute. Vintage relics, well-priced tiki drinks, and experienced bartenders keep the atmosphere reliably relaxed in a place that rarely feels too loud or too quiet. When space-planning for the long closed Texaco Service Station’s rehabilitation, the couple designated zones to create a mixed use effect for the customers: an area to dance on the patio, an intimate room inside for quiet conversation, and a fire pit for gathering. “If you’re in different areas of the bar, you have a different experience,” explains Hailey. They even went the extra mile. A trip to the restroom is accompanied by a quiet reading of Harry Potter over the speakers, an effect borrowed from a New York City bar Hailey’s parents visited.
They may not dress the part of white collar entrepreneurs, but Ian and Hailey are two punks who turned an old building into a thriving city staple. Given the timeline of Uptown’s recent ‘renaissance’, it’s arguable their ingenuity has something to do with it.
> The Pump, 2425 N Walker Ave, Oklahoma City; (405) 702-8898; pumpbar.net
