First Steps Of Last Saturdays: A Love Letter To The Concept Of Day Parties

Meet the Last Saturdays crew (Credit: Courtesy of Last Saturdays)

There’s a sense of elation that flows from dashing towards the finish line after a gruelling month. Like the light at the end of the tunnel, or a rainbow’s pot of gold, Last Saturdays events reflect a culmination of wound-up tension and they are very much the anticipated release. The concept of their parties is given away in their name; occurring on the last Saturday of every month, these day parties are a metaphorical pat on the back for the troopers who’ve waited for that special weekend. Sure, parties happen all the time on Saturdays, but Last Saturdays just hits different.

Since its launch in August 2022, Last Saturdays has presented a fidgety format that’s nomadic in nature, always sprouting in different locales and keeping its supporters on their toes. From rooftop establishments like Hideout to streetside bars like Naga House, and even isolated distilleries like Tanglin Gin Jungle, the scenery of their spry get-togethers is always shifting. Their modular partnership with varying venues also highlights their priorities when it comes to collaboration, and it shows in their seasonal tie-ins with other party units such as PASA and YES YOU. They’ve cast a wide net in bringing communities together, and it’s been an inclusive social magnetiser much needed in the scene.

Day parties need to be more of a thing in Singapore, and Last Saturdays has your back (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

Last Saturdays collaborated with PASA and Nothing Between Us for Geylang Staxx (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

If you look at Last Saturdays lineups, you’ll notice an intriguing diversity of DJs across generations. You’re just as likely to spot fresh selectors like Vix, Leland and toastybiskit as much as trusted veterans like Dyzfnktn, Haan, Sivanesh and Benedict & Palmer. The outcome of such bookings goes beyond an assorted soundtrack – spanning bumpy ‘90s house, light techno, jittery UK funky or perky indie dance – but piques the curiosity of demographics from disparate age groups. Last Saturdays isn’t some new kid on the block that’s stabbing in the dark; they’re a collective with a reverence for party culture and the peers that paved the way before them. Everyone’s invited to a Last Saturdays event, whether it’s your first-ever rave or your last shindig in a long while.

I chat with the co-founding quartet – resident DJs Haili and HBN, as well as behind-the-scenes members, Tsaqif and Qayyum – for a deeper understanding of their weekend revelries. Last Saturdays might just become your new favourite day too.

Resident DJ Haili manning the decks at Tanglin Gin Jungle (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

So what in your opinion makes every last Saturday more special than the others? Why not, say, the first?

To be honest, we’ve never really thought about the last of Saturdays being particularly more special than other Saturdays. We kind of just went with it ’cause it has a nice ring to it. And I guess it worked out cause there’s just something special (in a way) about celebrating surviving another month [laughs].

Currently, how big is the team behind the event? How did y’all meet each other and decide to launch such a series?

We’re currently a crew of four founding members – Ella, Tsaqif, Haili and Qayyum. Ella, Tsaqif and Haili met while working together at a cafe ages ago and we just somehow got on pretty well since (this was also when Tsaqif, Ella and Qayyum found out they were cousins but that’s a story for another day haha!)

HBN dropping bombs as the other resident selector of Last Saturdays (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

Ella was living in Melbourne for a while but she ended up moving back to Singapore during the start of the pandemic. She reconnected back with Haili who was already playing out and running his own collective, Kugiran, pre-Covid. On one of their many conversations about the local music and party scene, Ella initiated the idea of a day party series as they were very common in Melbourne and were the highlight of her every summer. She saw the opportunity for Singapore, with weather not being an issue and the lack of day parties. There’s just a different sort of vibe and energy in day parties that we don’t get partying at 3am in a club.

Haili wasn’t too keen initially as he felt that it was not something that is easy to push and that maybe locals were not ready or as open to daytime partying. Eventually, after much persuasion, Haili relented and we decided to just give it a go. The first person we recruited was Tsaqif, who Ella knew from the start that if the collective were to happen, he would have to be a part of it. Tsaqif was down from the get-go, so that made it super easy. And then eventually Qayyum, who is Tsaqif’s brother, became part of the crew after he agreed to invest in us. He was meant to be a silent partner initially, but we love his energy so much and the dynamic he contributes to Last Saturdays that he ended up being a very much involved founding member.

“I think that the most important thing for me is just creating a space where people can partake in a judgement-free *joget*.” (Credit: Courtesy of Last Saturdays)

Tell us more about your individual experiences in the scene and how that helped shape your understanding of throwing events. Is it about giving back or paying it forward?

Ella: I’ve just been to way more parties and events than I probably should haha! But in a way, that shaped my personal understanding about events and what’s more important to me. Music has always been a huge reason why I go to events. If I don’t vibe with the music, it doesn’t matter how amazing the party looks. The second reason would be the sense of community. The feeling of going to an event where everyone is just somehow on the same level and vibing to the music together – there’s just a different kind of energy there. I think it's more of wanting to share or recreate that experience.

Haili: Prior to Covid, I explored the ‘scene’ and went to many different parties and events. That gave me the idea of creating my very own party called Kugiran. My ex-collective partner (Jon) and I did a couple events from 2017 to 2019 pushing UK-centric sounds. From that experience, I was able to learn a couple of things on running an event. For me, creating a safe space for everyone to enjoy/dance with no judgement is key towards throwing a great party.

Last Saturdays events often boast a mix of newer and veteran DJs (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

Tsaqif: My very first experience with the ‘scene’ was actually working at Choice Cuts. I was just looking for a part-time barista job but I definitely found more than that working there. I was exposed to a wide spectrum of music events: ska, techno, drum & bass; it really is a never-ending list. But all these events shared a similar ideology which was providing a safe space for individuals to just dance. No judgement, nothing; just joget. I think that the most important thing for me is just creating a space where people can partake in a judgement-free joget.

Qayyum: My very first experience with the ‘scene’ was actually on 27 August 2022, the very first Last Saturdays. As mentioned before, I was initially supposed to be just a silent partner in the group. Having absolutely no background in this space, I wasn’t exactly sure how much I could contribute to the events other than just the financial aspect of things. However I feel that having a complete outsider’s perspective on things does help in making our parties accessible to the masses. This has been a whole new world for me, and I’ve enjoyed every single aspect of it and I look forward to sharing it with veteran partygoers as well as those discovering it for the first time, much like myself.

Naga House has been a frequent collaborator of Last Saturdays (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

The influx of comeback parties has been astounding, but there’s always the fear of a saturated gig-scape. How do you ensure that you stand out from other events, yet exist in a way that mutually benefits other promoters?

Don’t think we worry too much about standing out. There will always be different groups of people being drawn to different parties and we were never in this to be competitive. From the get-go, we were always about collaborations, and if any other promoters or collectives are ever interested in doing something with us, we say, why not? As long as we don’t lose the essence of what we do, that is all that matters to us.

One unique aspect of your parties is its nomadic quality. What do you look out for when handpicking the perfect venue for your next event? And conversely, would you rather be rooted in one spot?

Hideout was picked as the venue for the launch of the series specifically because when Ella envisioned how the day parties would pan out, they would be on rooftops. Hideout’s was the perfect rendition of that. But since then, we’ve been sort of more open about where our venue would be, depending on who is keen to do a collaboration with us, or who has a space that could deliver the sort of atmosphere we would like to have. Tsaqif mostly handles the procurement of the event venue, but it's always a collective decision where our next venue will be. We don’t think we will ever just be rooted in one spot. We like how the different venues make all our parties a little different from each other. But maybe eventually we would like to have venues that are sort of our more regular spots.

“Collaborations are intrinsic to Last Saturdays and we love doing them. It allows us to keep our parties fresh.” (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

Last Saturdays events have also featured lineups that showcase up-and-comers and veteran selectors. How important is it to you to maintain this balance in your curation? Is it about generating appeal catered to both younger and more seasoned audiences?

This is definitely the most important part of our curation. The intention from the start was always to be able to give a platform for new or more unknown DJs to play – because not many promoters would want to just let someone completely new and unknown play, which is understandable. For us though, we would love to be able to give that opportunity. Having more experienced or veteran selectors helps with the balance. At the end of the day, the experience shows when these veterans are playing and that’s inspiring. But we’re also hoping that when new unknown DJs gets to share the decks with these veterans, it could inspire them to keep at it and keep going.

Which Last Saturdays party has been your favourite so far? (Credit: @qiyanahazmi)

Collaboration seems to be another cornerstone of Last Saturdays events, with past initiatives roping in the likes of PASA and Naga House. In running such endeavours, what key qualities do you gravitate towards when picking the right partner?

Collaborations are intrinsic to Last Saturdays and we love doing them. It allows us to keep our parties fresh by injecting slightly different flavours which our collaborators bring into the mix. Collaborating also allows us to learn and grow in this space, as we inadvertently pick up things here and there from the collaboration partners we work with. That said, we also very much gravitate towards partners who share the same vision of prioritising the vibe of our party, music and community.

You folks have run several events now. What lessons have your learnt so far, and can we expect greater things for Last Saturdays in 2023?

The biggest thing that we learned, which is probably the most important, is understanding the rhythm of how we run Last Saturdays. Now that we’re five parties in, we have definitely gotten the hang of it. We recently had a team meeting and decided that we are all aligned with wanting to do more things for 2023 (not sure about greater though haha). It was always the intention for the collective to not just be a party series but also pushing music and art – maybe fashion. We can’t really reveal anything yet but there are already some things planned so we’ll see!

Last Saturdays usually happens on the last Saturday of every month. Follow their Instagram page to stay updated with their activities.