Bless The Mess: 5210PM Is A Crew Of Bedroom DJs Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands

The 5210PM crew embrace their origins as bedroom DJs (Credit: All images courtesy of 5210PM)

It’s a pressing bane of many bushy-tailed aspiring DJs. You’ve honed your mixing skills but no one’s watching. You’re ready to take the stage but a saturated gig circuit and shortage of venues means you can’t catch a break. Your lack of exposure means you don’t get noticed and you’re constantly playing out in your bedroom. But as a collective of bedroom DJs themselves, 5210PM are essentially asking, “What’s so wrong with that anyway?”. Instead, the self-made promoters are embracing the label and wearing it on their sleeves, transforming their predicament from obstructive to constructive.

Originally conceptualised by co-founders Javan and Atiq, who also perform respectively as juhvunnn and DJ DANGDUDE, 5210PM is a DIY crew of young, green, and relatively-unknown bedroom selectors who’ve come together to overcome the mutual struggles they’ve faced as emerging underground DJs in Singapore. There’s no wallowing in self-pity here, but a vehement and earnest desire to enable each other’s talents and grow as a unit. Swelling in size and voracious ambition, the collective has since evolved to include other fresh-faced residents like L.T.L.X and Loyboy – we roped in the latter selector for our 15-Min Flash Mix LIVE session for The Last Mile – collating a musical blueprint that flows beyond your average delivery of house and techno.

5210PM packing out Puck Provisions for their second Sunday Mess

5210PM is a story of resilient fledglings takings things into their own hands, sculpting their own tale without waiting for handouts, and boldly carving themselves into the tapestry of a crowded scene with a tier of professionalism that’s beyond their years. They’ve only organised two editions of their signature Sunday Mess events at Orh Gao Taproom and Puck Provisions, but you can see the care in their curation with their programming, customised décor elements, professional photography and marketing know-how that would put complacent promoters to shame. They’ve even developed the pull to invite DJs beyond their collective, with other rising guests such as Mari and Halia (Revision Music) and even more seasoned mainstays like RTJ (Strange Weather) – catch him, Halia and the 5210PM bunch next on 19 November for their third edition.

The burgeoning success of 5210PM is testament to the inclusivity and acceptance of the local electronic scene in spite of its stuffed state. Audiences are always hunting for something unfamiliar and untraversed, and these young’uns are declaring that they’ve got what it takes – even if you’ve never heard of them. It’s cool to be a bedroom DJ. After all, that’s where the magic happens.

I speak to 5210PM upstarts, Javan and Atiq, about the inception of this modest yet disruptive idea.

Did 5210PM stem from a mutual sense of inspiration, or perhaps, frustration?

5210PM started off as two secondary school friends who decided to spend the weekends DJ-ing. We (Javan and Atiq) would usually meet up around 5pm after work to start our jamming sessions. We consistently cut the sessions off at 10pm in order to catch the last train home, hence the name 5210PM. Slowly, we decided to expand and reach out to other bedroom DJs and creatives with a common passion and that’s when 5210PM became official.

5210PM was formed as a platform for bedroom DJs to promote themselves and thrive. What are your personal struggles of starting out as a DJ in the Singaporean scene?

Struggles… hmm I guess you could say keeping our speaker volumes down at home or even saving up the money to get our controller. On a more serious note, the scene in Singapore is really competitive and to put yourself out there really challenges how you can create an identity and brand yourself as a DJ.

juhvunnn is one of the original co-founders of 5210PM

“We don’t believe in drawing creative boundaries, so as to allow everyone to express themselves in the genres of house and electronic music.”

Conversely, what would you say are the pros of being a crew of DJs who are green in the scene?

Being green in the industry definitely has its pros. Firstly, I think being new in the community definitely draws the attention of others, especially since the scene in Singapore in so small. It’s really nice and cosy, don’t get us wrong. It somehow still drives us to do better and improve on our existing skills.

Are y’all all self-taught DJs who honed your skills at home? Or did y’all have any guidance or mentorship from any established selectors? Any local heroes?

Surprisingly enough, 5210PM DJs are all YouTube-trained! We learn from material online as well as occasionally peeking over the DJ booth at local gigs and events. In terms of local heroes, I think we drew a lot of inspiration from Ice Cream Sundays, Darker Than Wax and Strange Weather. Their unique sound, curation and the effort they put into their parties definitely inspires and drives a young collective like ourselves.

L.T.L.X is another eclectic resident of 5210PM with minimal and techno selections

What is the general age of the collective? And what does it take to play at one of your events?

5210PM has four DJs with our youngest at 19 and oldest at 24. Obviously, being a bedroom DJ who enjoys house and electronic music like us is a key criterion. Just be passionate, hungry and open. Drop us a DM and submit your interest. It's almost like applying for a part-time job.

In terms of the music curation, is there any direction or philosophy that y’all stick to?

Our team’s philosophy is really simple. We don’t have any fixed direction or sound per se. We don’t believe in drawing creative boundaries, so as to allow everyone to express themselves in the genres of house and electronic music.

Loyboy is also one part of the 5210PM gang with his psychedelic picks

Tell us more about your Sunday Mess events. Why have it on Sunday, and what kind of locations do y’all look out for hosting the revelries?

When we discussed days to hold our gigs, we realised this belief among Singaporeans (or at least in our community) that Sundays are no party days. Hence we decided to exploit this fact, offering an alternate way for everyone to spend their Sundays instead of just the usual Friday and Saturday parties.

Are your parties ever gonna go beyond the 10pm limit? Or would you keep it that way?

As of now, we have no intentions of going beyond the 10pm limit but we have been getting feedback and suggestion that people would love to see an after-party. So when the right opportunity comes by, we will definitely love to explore this idea of an extra messy Sunday Mess.

And finally, as new kids on the block, how do y’all gauge your progress and improvement along the way? Is the ultimate goal to transcend the status of a fledgling ‘bedroom DJ’; although curiously enough, doing so would create a paradox with the collective’s identity?

Well, to us obviously the ultimate goal is to be Sunday's biggest party collective for house and electronic music! But for now it’s all about baby steps – keeping the cost of parties affordable and increasing brand exposure is our priority. We want to be heard but we also wanna be accessible to all. Despite focusing most of our resources on Sunday Mess, we have a side series mainly for YouTube and Instagram where we invite guest bedroom DJs to record their sets in their room. We believe that by doing so, we still retain 5210PM’s original roots of being a platform built by and for bedroom DJs.

DJ DANGDUDE is another co-founder of 5210PM, known for his uplifting and energetic catalogue

“When the right opportunity comes by, we will definitely love to explore this idea of an extra messy Sunday Mess.”

5210PM’s next event is Sunday Mess 3, 19 November 2023, 5pm-10pm, Nothing Fancy, 11 Hamilton Road, Singapore 209182, get your tickets here. Follow 5210PM’s Instagram page for more updates.