What Is Ke’lektiv? And How Is It Helping The Local DJ Community?

Ke’lektiv is inspiring the local DJ community one episode at a time (Credit: Screenshot from Ke’lektiv)

DJs – remember what those are? In Singapore, that term is seemingly at risk of going extinct. Negative developments like the ban on DJ-ing, awkward pilot scheme for clubs and even the prohibition on recorded music in F&B establishments have forced selectors to be creative in the digital space. Since the beginning of 2021, Ke’lektiv has risen to be an ongoing force in the sustenance of the DJ community, providing these fading talents with a live platform to express themselves. Resiliently soldiering on in the face of stream fatigue and party-lacking ennui, the honchos behind the brand have been steadily releasing a series of live recorded sessions, keeping the lights of the scene on while it struggles to flicker back to life.

Starting out as an events promoter in 2018, Ke’lektiv boasts a network that keeps it in-sync with the rhythm of the scene. This influence shows in the curation of its series, as it’s managed to host a staggering selection of diverse acts across its episodes. Here, you have DJs plucked from different sub-communities in the scene, letting viewers catch acts who are both familiar and lesser-known. It’s an initiative of invigoration and education that reminds audiences just how immense our DJ community is, and what’s waiting to awaken once the turmoil of the pandemic dies down.

Aptly, these sessions have been taking place in a venue known as Pandemic Studio, a sequestered space in a gritty industrial building that provides DJ rehearsal and turntable repair services. The studio professionally records these episodes with a multi-camera format, giving viewers detailed glimpses of each selector’s tricks and techniques; an intimate insight of what really goes on behind the decks. It completes the experience with a dim setting and complex lighting, wholly simulating the atmosphere of a club that we all sorely miss.

Sharing more about his motivation behind the series is Ke’lektiv’s creative director, Fyan, who also performs under the alias, HAF. This is what Ke’lektiv is all about.

What defines the identity of Ke’lektiv and what motivates the brand to keep pushing theses DJ sessions?

Back 2018, I was organising events together with other music collectives in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. After a while, I felt the need to do more and wanted to create a platform for creatives to showcase their talent. If you look at the name “Ke’lektiv”, it’s a play on the word “collective”. For me, “collective” means “gotong royong”, a term that was used during the kampong days, where the community came together to share tools and strengths to harvest crops for the season together. So Ke’lektiv is where we come together and share our passion for the craft of DJ-ing.

During this period, many of us were affected by the closure of entertainment venues. There were limited platforms for artistes to preform and harder for smaller niche artistes to push their sound on their own. I felt that we would reach a wider audience if we pooled together our resources – thus Ke’lektiv.

The sessions have hosted a vast range of DJs across different genres and sub-communities. Is there a guiding principle that goes into the selection of these performers?

That’s the thing. I don’t like terming DJs with different genres and sub-communities. I feel that these terms divides us. We are artistes, musicians and most importantly, entertainers. Our primary goal back when venues were open was to pack dancefloors and make sure everyone had a great night while introducing them to new music and classics.

As most of my peers are non-commercial DJs and have been telling me how much they miss playing on industry-standard CDJs and mixers and that there wasn’t a platform for them to perform, I felt that it was my time to pay my dues to the community and create a platform for us. I’m always thankful towards DJs like Stephen Day and Seng Wei who helped during my early days to break out from the bar scene and play at the now-defunct mega club, Avalon at marina bay sands.

I don’t curate what the DJs play. I just tell them this, “Play music that reminds you why you started doing this, play something you can’t play at the club, play that rare B-side remix and don’t play what everyone else is playing”. 

I believe that everyone should be given an opportunity to showcase their favorite records. Drop a DM on Instagram and send in your links.  We are always looking for new artistes to showcase. There is always a mix of new and veteran DJs on every episode of the live-stream.

And how big is the team that runs Ke’lektiv, and why did it end up choosing Pandemic Studio as the home base of its sessions?

 

I was approached by Rizal AKA DJ Raw a while ago. He told me he had the technology needed for a live-stream, but didn’t know where to start and wanted to differentiate the content from the other live-streams. I saw it as the perfect opportunity for us to collaborate. He had the DJ gear, camera gear, intelligent lighting system and I had contacts.  And we decided to do monthly live-streams in a club setting instead of the green screen.

And well, when you walk into the studio for our live-streams, it’s just the studio cats, Raw assisting with the audio and visuals, and myself.

Follow Ke’lektiv on their Instagram page to stay updated with their episodes, which you can watch on their YouTube channel. The next episode comes out on 4 July 2021.