revelry: Podcast

#0058 - Taaka: All Party Proceeds Goes To Charity

revelry: Podcast #0058 Nick Levanic aka TAAKA is an Australian expat and DJ who moved to Singapore in mid-2019 before the COVID pandemic, and is the founder of YES YOU - a House music collective that promises party-goers some “bass-driven, booty-shaking house music”. Check out the episode as TAAKA shares his experiences leaving Australia and adapting to Singapore’s nightlife scene especially due to COVID. He also explains the founding of YES YOU, and his pro-bono philosophy behind YES YOU’s events, proving that nightlife can do more good for society than just an outlet for fun!

#0057 - Fariz Jabba: "16 Baris" Sensation, Importance of Authenticity

Fariz Jabba is a renowned local Malay-English rapper well-loved by the Malay community, who first gained fame through his viral freestyle raps on social media (especially through “Kunci Gang” — a parody of “Gucci Gang”), and famously appeared in Joe Flizzow’s hit Malaysian rap series, “16 Baris”! He is also currently an ambassador for Gucci and Nike. In this episode, Fariz tells us how his tough journey as a rapper began, starting from juggling 10 jobs as a teenager, and what goes through his mind when he creates his rap flows. Fariz then reveals to us how he felt absorbed by the business nature of the music industry which negatively affected him as an artist, which eventually drove him to go indie. He also shares his life-changing experience debuting on “16 Baris” whereby he had to overcome many hiccups and setbacks during his performance. Fariz ultimately gives us his thoughts on the definition of being a successful music artist and the importance of being authentic to yourself.

#0056 - Jared Kong: Director at Gushcloud International & Part-time DJ

Jared Kong is the Director (Creative Acquisitions) at Gushcloud International, a renowned talent agency and management company founded in Singapore that now operates in 12 countries. In this episode, Jared shares with us his time working in the legal profession before joining Zouk as their Legal Counsel. Jared also recounts when his love for EDM began, leading to him becoming a part-time DJ. Jared also goes on to the topic of content creation. He talks about Gushcloud’s global talent management and what they do. He then emphasises the power of being subject-matter experts in influencing and explains the importance of authenticity over virality as a content creator in making sustainable content.

#0055 - Daniel Ang: What is Trance?

Daniel Ang is the founder of “TRANCE4M” which is a local Trance music DJ collective much loved by the trance community in Singapore, and “Last One Standing” which is an events app that regularly hosts Trance music events and often invites international Trance acts such Paul Denton and Lostly. In this episode, Daniel tells us the beginnings of his musical background with his struggles at the piano before finding Trance and DJing as his passion. He also shares the origins of “TRANCE4M” and “Last One Standing”. Daniels also reveals his immense struggles in trying to run “Last One Standing” over the past 4 years and his attempts at making it his full-time career. Daniel then discusses with LENERD the current state of Trance and the ongoing industry trends that are shaping it today and shares his criticisms about Trance DJs veering off to Techno in their sets instead.

#0054 - BONGOMAN: How To Start A Music Festival

Nick Bong, AKA Bongomann, is the former resident DJ of “Headquarters” by The Council and is currently based at Offtrack Bar. He is also a key member of Ice Cream Sundays Collective, and recently had the privilege to play for the first-ever “Boiler Room” event in Singapore last year. In this episode, Bongomann tells us the beginnings of his DJing journey which began during his overseas university study in Australia. He also talks about being involved in Ice Cream Sundays Collective, and how they managed to throw a music festival at Sarimbun Scout Camp! (of all places!) Bongomann goes on to share his latest album: Lounge Zero, and label: “Super Enjoy”. He also weighs in his opinion on Singapore’s creative talent drain and whether the only way Singaporean Creatives can succeed is to move overseas (JJ Lin Effect).

#0053 - evanturetime: Music Directing Big Artists

Evan Low AKA “evanturetime”, is an award-winning producer and music director who has worked alongside prominent local acts like Benjamin Kheng and iNCH, and was involved in the co-production of many National Day Parade theme songs such as 2021’s “The Road Ahead”. In this episode, Evan shares the beginnings of his inspirational music journey from his polytechnic to Berklee days. He also talks about his experiences touring with the famous Taiwanese Mandopopstar, A-Mei, his role working with her, and reveals the challenges involved in a live music performance. He also gives his take on supporting local talent and explains how it can be force-fed. He also shares his experience producing 2021’s popular NDP song, “The Road Ahead”.

#0052 - Daniel Cheng: Pain Points Of Running A Club

Daniel Cheng is the former owner of Get Juiced and one of the founders of ARK 11. In this episode, Daniel shares his principles as a club owner and the importance of humility and forming the right connections in the nightlife industry. He also shares his vast experience running clubs starting at F Club. Daniel reveals his founding of Altra Management which managed some of Singapore’s most prominent female influencer DJs such as Jade Rasif, and dispells the misconception of female influencer DJs. He gives some wisdom to be profitable in running a club even if the music needs to conform to the typical cookie-cutter template against your music preferences as a club owner. Daniel also gives his take on “educating the Singaporean crowd” with new music and why it is idealistic in Singapore’s nightlife scene.

#0051 - Headquarters KL: Malaysian Real Talk

HQ-KL is a Malaysian Hard Dance Collective (not to be confused with SG’s Headquarters!) currently helmed by Ruby with Eric aka DJ No One. In this episode, HQ-KL popped by to share their origins and what inspired Ruby to start this collective which focuses on the hard dance genres. Ruby and Eric also give some insights into the underground music scene in Malaysia compared to Singapore. Both of them share the worst and craziest event mishaps that have happened to HQ-KL including the wildest police raid story during a secret event. They also revealed the wild twists and turns in their career paths before eventually finding their calling in the Malaysian nightlife scene and turning their passions into reality.

#0050 - Benjamin Kheng: The Master Of "Jack Of All Trades"

Benjamin (Ben) Kheng is a Singaporean singer/song-writer artist formerly together with the much-loved local pop band “The Sam Willows”, and is a local charismatic heartthrob who definitely isn’t a stranger to us all! In this episode, Ben goes unfiltered and discusses his growth as a child and how his father played a pivotal role shaping his career as a singer. He goes on to explain the creative processes for song-writing and music that works best. Ben also discusses whether the Red Ocean strategy is better than the Blue Ocean for an artist. Ben gives his opinion on whether music labels are essential to an artist’s success in today’s music industry. In addition, Ben reveals to the audience what happened to “The Sam Willows”, and opens up to going through therapy and how it has helped him.

#0049 - Sihk: Gabber Culture & Censorships

SIHK is an Indonesian DJ/Producer who is currently the label manager of Yellow Claw’s Barong Family. In this episode, SIHK shows his admiration for Singapore’s safe environment compared to Indonesia. He discusses with us whether making music is for the poor and catering to the rich. SIHK also shares his criticisms of cookie-cutter DJs/producers, and his belief that music should be fluid and not bounded by structure. SIHK also reveals what it was like producing for Rich Brian and NIKI from 88rising, and how he eventually got noticed by Barong Family and became their label manager today.