Shutter Rhythms: In quest of a Singapore sound

DJ Suffyan Safi, 25, is frustrated. He says: "It's so hard to do a short-term creative project here. You either need to have a massive following or a lot of money to get the space for it."

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His year-old project of filming pop-up radio sets of known and emerging local talent began behind the shutters of a hawker stall in Mountbatten, on the eatery's rest days.

In May, he moved operations to a dinky shophouse room in Geylang, where the ceiling is missing a panel, but the red walls are inviting.

The use of both venues depended on the largesse of friends, who loaned him their rented units for free.

With the backing of fellow DJ Haziq Halim, who rents the Geylang studio that appears in his latest videos, Suffyan was able to extend his brainchild, Shutter Rhythms, into its latest run.

Not quite a radio station or collective, Shutter Rhythms has so far focused on curating a roster of electronic music DJs, bullish on non-conformist sound. The hour-long sets are filmed, edited, then posted in full on YouTube and audio platform SoundCloud and clipped for Instagram.

The shophouse sessions are presented fish-eye style, as if seen through a pinhole.

These sets allow for unfettered expression, with no need for crowd-pleasing, Suffyan says. "On a radio set, DJs can play what they don't usually do at clubs. You can show the obscure tracks you're digging, your true sound."

The resulting video is also a record of progress, adds Haziq, who pays $1,200 in monthly rent for the 600 sq ft room. "You can see how your sound evolves from past videos."