The UrbanWire

By: Amanda Jacquelin Phua

Not satisfied with just offering good food and drinks at moderate prices (a Tiger draft mug goes for $6, cocktails average $13 a pop), BluJaz Cafe frequently organises events and competitions for local talents to showcase themselves that patrons can sign up for and enjoy at no additional cost.

The 3-storey shop house at Bali Lane is a restaurant, a bar, and a lounge all in one. To top it off, its cosy, but loud, interior and friendly staff make it difficult to leave after dinner.

Says Benjamin Raymonenq, BluJaz’s PR & Marketing Manager, “Our regulars come for dinner, head up to the bar, and when they feel like relaxing, they simply head up again to the lounge!”

The restaurant features an al fresco dining area along with indoor seating. With an open concept, the restaurant is not only well ventilated, jazzy music also spills out onto the corridor, so you hear it even before you see it.

The second-floor bar is dimly lit, with mannequins providing a stand for lamps. Faux safari prints, like zebra and leopard print cushions and plush mismatched seats you can literally sink into, welcome and intrigue you at the same time. More than enough conversation starters here, that’s for sure. The bar’s also equipped with a professional DJ console where in-house DJs 44Beatz, Good Times, Pushin’ On and COUP spin every month.

As you go up to the lounge on the third floor, snatches of laughter can be heard over the music, which is at a slower tempo as compared to the first 2 levels. The lounge has a bar as well so you don’t have to worry about having to wait too long for your drinks to make their way up.

Frequented by both locals and expats, BluJaz aims to be the platform where locals can showcase their talents. Benjamin explains why: “I’ve been to local bars where local bands play, but they play only covers! They need to produce their own songs, make their own music.”

BluJaz also has regular jazz bands playing at the restaurant on the first level. Greg Lyons, a music teacher at LASALLE College of the Arts, plays every Monday night, and he’s on again with his band on alternate Friday nights.

This regular band is so friendly with the rest of the patrons that it’s easy to see why they enjoy such support from them.

The casual layout of BluJaz coupled with the cosy feel creates a homey atmosphere that is hard to duplicate, resulting in a quickly packed building. With another 3-storey shop house being converted into a second outlet, it’s going to be difficult to resist the charm of BluJaz and its music.

Visit http://www.blujaz.net/ for more details.

The Bizzare Young Things

^{All images courtesy of The Bizarre Young Things}

For this party trio, coming together was pure coincidence and fate. The 3 go-getters met in school, tuition and even at the National Day Parade in Singapore, without suspecting how much they had in common – the love for fashion, music and parties.

With a fantastic business idea to redefine the partying scene, the threesome met over coffee one day and decided to start an events, party and lifestyle company. They call themselves, The Bizarre Young Things (TBYT) and their only aim is for others to have awfully good fun while they gain experience in the clubbing industry.

The group said: “We want to infect people with our love for music and fashion interests through the parties that we organise.”

As young (they’re all under 21!) entrepreneurs, being pro-active is a must. TBYT for instance, started out emailing and meeting up with the management of clubs in the hope of creating a collaborative business effort. Joanna Tang said: “No money was needed as we just helped them promote the event and come up with fresh, unorthodox ideas to attract crowds to the club.”

Despite school being their major priority, they made it a point to meet before every party and get the necessary logistics ready. Joanna said: “I guess it’s more of an overall effort to keep it going, as we have the passion and interest in it. Once you have that established, the commitment factor is no longer a problem.”

Time to Differentiate

^{(Left to right) Ngeow Jiawen, Joanna Tang, Darren Foo}

These 3 good friends may be inseparable, but they’re each defined by their own striking personalities and forte in contributing to TBYT’s success.

Ngeow Jiawen may look like the average person on the street but the party beast inside her loves partying, shopping and most things decadent. Vices aside, she spends most of her time juggling school projects, her social life and planning events for TBYT.

This rather reserved lady is the creative mind behind all the arty-farty graphics and posters by TBYT. However, under the influence of alcohol, she epitomises what living life to the fullest means. As the saying goes, you only live once right?

Joanna Tang exudes confidence, charm and charisma when speaking.  Language is no barrier to her as her strength is in writing and churning out write-ups for the group. Apart from all that writing, this brainy miss-know-it all takes charge of all things financial of TBYT.

Her sporty glow radiates both excitement and passion that she translates into everything she does in life – even when it comes to partying. Just beware of her tongue when she’s loaded up on the booze. Joanna has varied tastes in music and hopes that people can share her enthusiasm through events like OMG! It’s pop! Her motto: Live it up!

Darren Foo may seem like your crazy party boy raiding the clubs on weekends, but he means business. He loves fashion, art, music and anything beautiful and believes in taking chances in fashion by dressing differently to show his individuality. Expect to see his flamboyant sense of fashion and chunky necklaces when he parties the night away.

Darren says: “Why blend in with the crowd when you can stand out from them?” There’s more to him than being that alcohol heavyweight. As the only male in the group, his undying energy means he is always hard at work mingling with the crowd and improving TBYT’s public relations with current and future working partners.

OMG! It’s Pop!

What got them started? The current scene was too dull for them and as Joanna said, “it is the same old boring thing going on in clubs every week.” Music and drinks don’t amount to a successful party. In fact, their idea of a good party is an experience with something new and fresh each week. This gave rise to the launch of their pop extravaganza party, OMG! It’s pop! The first official party planned by TBYT that’s held every fortnight at Home Club.

At OMG! It’s pop! you can expect unusual fashion theme parties (Think fairytales, pumpkins and Black and white parties) with crazy POPpin’ music and props courtesy of TBYT.

This pop party is about reliving your old school days with a twist. From electro pop to mainstream pop, these guys will party to anything. According to Joanna, OMG! It’s pop! differentiates itself from the usual club parties where being normal is overrated and they target a niche market of outstanding individuals to gather in the friendly atmosphere at Home Club.

To usher in the New Year and bid 2009 goodbye, join TBYT with a star studded night of OMG! It’s pop! on Dec 31. The party trio fully expect you to “come dressed up as bald Britney or Queen Madge to leap ludicrously into 2010! Boy bands, dysfunctional single moms, bimbotic blondes – all are welcome! We love psycho people cuz normal is so OVERRATED!”

On Nov 20, Heineken held its ‘by-invitation-only’ party at the Police Coast Guard Headquarters (former) at 5 Stadium Lane, just right beside the Kallang Water Sports Centre.

Promising to deliver an entirely new and irresistible music experience, the highlight of this party event by the Heineken Green Room series was the presence of two revolutionary DJs, The Gaslamp Killer and Tayo.

Before the DJs came and blew the crowd away with their unusual dubs and mixes, we checked out the unusual location Heineken chose to hold this event at.

This is the former Police Coast Guard Headquarters, where the party happened inside the room with the red lights. This location was chosen on purpose because it also has the element of being ‘unknown’ or ‘unusual’ which gels in with the whole event theme.

This room located inside the location was definitely interactive. Anyone could go in, and there were battery-operated torches hanging from the ceiling by chains. If you switched one on and shone it at the wall, there’ll be graphic butterflies, which are sensitive to light, following the direction of your flashlight. Pretty cool way of showcasing another element, ‘movement’!

Slightly after 11pm, The Gaslamp Killer arrived and got the crowd wild by his unusual yet powerful taste in music mixes.

The invitation card for this event introduced him as: “The Gaslamp Killer: Heavy dub step meets freaked out soul meets whatever twisted sounds are playing in his head. Welcome the Gaslamp Killer: Joint-resident DJ of LA’s infamous Low End Theory club with Flying Lotus. Now he’s bringing his ultra-intense, hands-on set to Singapore. Prepare yourself. It’s going to be a killer night out.”

Indeed, it was. Merely 10 minutes after he took over the stage, he already managed to get people in the crowd grooving to the beat of his unusual music style. People on the dance floor could feel the vibrating beats of the music, and that itself, upped the mood!

What’s a Heineken sponsored party without Heineken beer? Stationed at both ends of the location, Heineken sold their original beer at S$12 each. For those who preferred other alcoholic drinks besides beer, they also sold Vodka mixes and soft drinks.

All in all, this instalment of the Heineken Green Room series lived up to what it promised; Darkness, Light, Music and Movement. Keep a lookout for its next installment on their website!