“We keep pushing”: Ice Cream Sundays on finding new event spaces in Singapore

On October 28, Ice Cream Sundays announced on Instagram that it can no longer hold events at Tanjong Pagar Distripark “for the foreseeable future and without heavy restrictions”.

The post said the decision followed repeated complaints from one anonymous person about events at the venue, including its own and those of other organisers.

Two days later, Tanjong Pagar Distripark posted on Instagram saying it would ask its licensees and tenants to pause any events that could disturb neighbours.

Ice Cream Sundays has held two to four events at the Singapore venue each year for over three years, drawing 1,000 to 1,200 people each time.

The most recent was the Rainbow Disco Club Singapore festival on October 3, which the collective co-organised. It had an outdoor session at the Block 39 carpark from 1pm to 10.15pm, followed by a Night Session. Co-founders Jake Camacho and Daniel O’Connor told The Straits Times that management emailed them about the restrictions on October 16.

According to Ice Cream Sundays, the complaint claimed bass noise of 115 to 125dBC after 10pm on October 3, measured from Block 109 Spottiswoode Park Road. A second reading of 110 to 120dBC was reported on October 4, measured from Block 110.

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The collective disputes these numbers, stating the Night Session was held indoors for about 600 people, around 200 metres from Block 109 and across a highway. It also says its Funktion-One speakers are rated at 103 to 114dB sensitivity at 1 metre, while 115 to 130dBC is what you would expect standing right in front of the speakers at a festival like Ultra.

It adds that it submitted decibel readings every two hours and had moved an earlier event 60 to 80 metres farther from housing.

Tanjong Pagar Distripark is not the first venue the collective has lost, as shared in an Instagram post earlier this year.

Asked how it keeps finding new spaces for its Singapore events, and what that says about the scene’s resilience, Ice Cream Sundays shared with Mixmag Asia:

“It says a lot about the resilience of the local music scene that there are probably more promoters now than we can remember at a time when these challenges are more difficult to overcome than ever. In a small city that develops at such a fast pace, it’s getting harder to hold outdoor music events in accessible locations that aren’t near residences. It forces you to get creative and to really put in the time and effort to do your homework.”

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The collective continues: “We’ve spent multiple days driving around to scope out different areas in Singapore to see if there’s any spaces we’re not aware of. We’ve done the same exercise zooming in on different areas on maps apps. We’ve also reached out to dozens of property developers, landowners and government agencies to see if anyone has spaces to offer up that fit our criteria. You can’t leave any stone unturned nowadays. It’s frustrating when the goal posts keep moving but we keep pushing!”

Despite the setbacks, the collective says Singapore is still worth a stop on the touring circuit. Asked why international artists and fans should keep the city on their touring map, the crew shared with Mixmag Asia:

“People would be pleasantly surprised by the diversity and quality of dance music events and programming that you can find here. And, as much as spaces keep disappearing, new ones will always surface. There’s also everything from more intimate DIY clubs to larger, more polished ones that give space to everyone from emerging to established local and international artists. Not to mention there’s a growing number of in-between spaces that people can go to before the club pushing different sounds. It’s a very close knit music community here overall and people who come here to play at or attend music events here can feel that.”

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.

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