The Bright Touch Of The Blackout Agency: Winning The City's Heart With Escape 56
The Blackout Agency – serving a roundhouse kick to the status quo of parties in Singapore (Credit: Blackout Agency)
Picture this. It is the rollicking F1 season, and an electrifying vibe is stirring restlessly on the island. As a hugely commercialised event, one that rakes in a tsunami of tourism dollars, one can expect a multitude of commercial-inclined entertainment to appease the masses who will inevitably flock to the glitzy garden city – a smokescreen naturally buffed up by Crazy Rich Asians’ hype. Swanky establishments like CÉ LA VI, Marquee, and The Podium Lounge will undoubtedly host events of such high-rolling magnitude, and that is a victory for the nightlife industry.
But what about the underdogs? What about the underground? If you were to think that the subcultures of dance music have no place amidst this ostentatious fervour, let alone clinch a stamp of approval from government bodies, one man will fight to prove you wrong.
Blackout Agency is the brainchild of Zig Zach, one of the hardest workers in the scene (Credit: Blackout Agency)
For Kim Khan Zaki – a local promoter and DJ whom you might know as Zig Zach – he was successful in getting his renowned Escape 56 party series endorsed by the Singapore Tourism Board this frenzied F1 season. Happening on 13 September, his eighth edition of Escape 56 was officially selected to be a part of this year’s Grand Prix Season Singapore (GPSS), which essentially means that it’ll be on the radar of uninitiated visitors wondering if there’s an underground dance music scene in Singapore.
Getting statutory support for such an event is generally uncommon, and it is by no means an easy endeavour. But if you know Zach, he never takes the easy way out.
Secret villa parties are part and parcel of Blackout’s repertoire (Credit: Blackout Agency)
This is a guy who’s thrown pop-up parties in all sorts of unprecedented locations, from a rickety Chinese junk and gin distilleries, to secret villas and institutions for the arts. Why, in 2017, Zach even had the guts to take over an abandoned prison facility on the offshore St. John’s Island, requiring punters to catch a ferry to partake in his festivities. People did, of course, and what a bash it was.
Like a dirigible that never deflates, Zach rises to the challenge when it comes to organising events under his Blackout Agency, and this latest STB-approved fiesta is another enterprise of his that soars.
“Yeah, I wasn’t really sure how the meeting was going to go with STB, to be honest,” Zach admits with a tinge of modesty. “I turned up, told them a bit about past events, showed them pictures and videos, and then shared my upcoming projects. I guess they liked what they saw and wanted something different for the F1-GPSS. It has been mainly pop bands or EDM over the years, so I guess the whole concept of a secret location party with a headliner intrigued them.”
By headliner, Zach refers to the inimitable Henrik Schwarz, who is slated to do a live set for the next Escape 56 instalment. “Since I started promoting five years ago, I made a checklist of DJs whom I wanted to play for my parties, and Henrik Schwarz is high up there on that list. I’ve been a huge fan of Henrik Schwarz for many years and he is undeniably a great musician, a great producer and a great act that you have to catch live if you’re an electronic music fan,” Zach shares excitedly.
Escape 56 has brought down numerous big names like Red Axes (Credit: Blackout Agency)
The booking of Schwarz is yet another feather on the cap for Zach’s DIY, party-throwing ethic. Without the budget of a backing club or heaven-sent sponsorship, Zach has dug deep over the years to bring down acts like Âme, Red Axes, Marvin & Guy, John Talabot, Roman Flügel and many more. He also peppers these events with local warm-up acts, giving homegrown selectors an audience receptive to new sounds. For Zach himself, he’s taken a backseat when it comes to these performance opportunities, passing the baton to other emerging talents. “I’m working on a bunch of projects locally and regionally, so it’s really time-consuming and I haven’t had time to dig for music as much,” he explains further.
It hasn’t stopped punters from requesting the hat-donning maestro to come back to the decks, however. After all, this is a versatile talent who’s played at international festivals like Epizode and Wonderfruit, aside from other prominent venues in the scene. Occasionally, Zach does indulge with a surprise set or two, but for the most part, he simply has had his hands full running his Blackout Agency for the last five years.
Every now and then, you can still catch Zach on the decks, when he’s not too busy pushing events (Credit: Blackout Agency)
“I pretty much started with no experience in doing events and very little knowledge on booking and arranging tours for DJs, but I was passionate and learnt the ropes quickly. People like Kavan Spruyt (Midnight Shift) and Alyssa Kokilah (Aligned Agency / Super 0) were really helpful in showing me the ropes. So a massive thank you to them!” he shares.
“It hasn’t been easy, but I think I’m finally at a good stage of my career where I’m getting really cool offers, and brands are approaching me to do interesting projects. I think just being different and consistent is very important. ‘Quality, not quantity’ is something I always believe in.”
Blackout teamed up with fashion brand, HUGO, for a takeover at Brass Lion Distillery (Credit: Blackout Agency)
Through the Blackout Agency, Zach has deftly expanded the influence of house and techno into other markets, collaborating with the likes of HUGO, Beerfest Asia, and in particular, Jägermeister, with which he launched the aforementioned Escape 56 series in 2016. Zach also helps run Sunday Social Market (together with his loving partner, Jade Amar), a beat-filled bazaar that peddles unique crafts, fashion accessories, decor items and more.
Pasar Pink! was an inclusive social market that celebrated love, organised by Sunday Social and Pink Fest (Credit: Blackout Agency)
“I love food, music and art, and I believe that these all go hand-in-hand with each other,” Zach elaborates on Sunday Social Market. “So for me, putting these things together is important, especially if you want to build a strong culture and bring the scenes together here in Singapore. Just relying on late-night parties is not something I want to do. It gets a bit too repetitive for me. So the daytime and lifestyle events give me a bit more freedom to bring all the things I love together.”
If, at this point, you’re already overwhelmed by the scope of Zach’s repertoire, just imagine being in his shoes. While he does, as a party promoter, relish perks such as expanding his network and connecting cultures, it’s impossible for him to dodge the horrors that come with the job, and that can be a real monkey wrench.
Planning events like these take time and sacrifice (Credit: Blackout Agency)
He explains, “Doing events is a pretty stressful thing; it’s months of work and planning that lead up to the night. Some events take me anywhere from three to six months of planning, depending on the scale of the event. It can also be a pain applying for licensing and dealing with all this nonsense. Some of them [these conditions] just aren’t flexible. This is what happens when you have an older generation running things. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way around it and it needs to be done, so you just gotta take it on the chin and get on with it.”
Accomplishing all of this does require a headstrong attitude and lots of unbudging fortitude. Unquestionably, these are traits that Zach possesses, and if you know about his brutal, battered background, you’ll understand why in a heartbeat.
Did you know that Zach was a former Muay Thai champ? (Credit: Daniel Lois and Ben Siow)
Because if there’s one other thing that Zach loves besides music, it’s Muay Thai. In fact, the man has dedicated his mind and body to the sport since he was 17, and he was even the first Singaporean to win at the Lumpini Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. Even through all the cacophony from promoting, Zach still finds time to teach private classes most mornings at 8am, and shadow boxes when he can.
“Everyone always say I’m a total machine when I work, and I think it’s probably because of my background and my life as a professional fighter before,” he reveals. “Being in the ring and fighting teaches you a lot of things, about your mind and your body. You learn to think under pressure and stress, you learn to see things from different angles to solve an issue, and you also learn to push through even when you are exhausted and tired.”
The fruition of large-scale events like Escape 56 – this one with Âme as its headliner – makes the fight all worth it (Credit: Blackout Agency)
Promoting parties is, indeed, a battle. But in the proverbial ring, Zach manoeuvres through it like a champ, striking at the heart of the industry with events and professionalism that knock expectations out of the park.
Down the road, Zach already has a couple of haymakers planned on his schedule, including a collaboration with the German Film Festival and Goethe Institut Singapore on 9 November, to mark the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And without revealing too much, he even hints at the possibility of another mega island retreat for the getaway-seekers.
Don’t be surprised if you spot another island party on the horizon (Credit: Blackout Agency)
Whatever he has building up in his arsenal, Zach will guarantee that it will negate any impression of Singapore being ‘Singa-bore’. And if the STB nod for Escape 56 is any indication, along with the community he’s amassed through Blackout, he’s definitely on the winning side.
Escape 56 Feat. Henrik Schwarz, 13 September, 61F One Raffles Place, 1 Raffles Place, Singapore 048616, get your tickets here. For more information on Blackout Agency and its events, follow its official website.