harder, better, faster, stronger

This month, corporate Raffles Place will get an unlikely and ultra-groovy new inhabitant: the 6,114sqft Rasa, which touts itself as a “community space for arts, music and culture”, and is the brainchild of local techno and nightlife legend Kavan Spruyt. Keng Yang Shuen finds out from the man and some of the co-conspirators he has roped in – marketing and music head Cindy Tan, creative designer Efy Ramdan, and Chris Shearmon of Wild Pearl, which will help to curate some of the programming – on why this new venture is much more than a club and nothing like what Singapore has had before.

- Keng Yang Shuen

HI, TEAM RASA! LET'S START WITH TELLING US MORE ABOUT EACH OF YOU IN THE CORE TEAM.

Kavan Spruyt (KS): “Hi! I’m Kavan Spruyt, co-founder of Rasa. I’ve launched several clubs and bars in Singapore, including The Vault and Kyo, and spent 2016 to 2023 based in Berlin (where he worked with the now-defunct Ostgut Booking, the booking agency for Berghain). I’ve also been running a record label called Midnight Shift since 2009 alongside a few talented individuals such as Aya, Basil, Debbie Chia, Haan, Jo, Rothsman and Shoon (the label is one of Singapore’s pioneering and most progressive champions of techno and electronica music).”

Cindy Tan (CT): “I handle marketing and music programming at Rasa alongside Kavan. I’m a passionate advocate for the creative and electronic music scene, driven by my love of exploring new sounds and perspectives. Through extensive solo travels across Europe over the past decade and, more recently, four years living in Tbilisi, Georgia, I’ve been exposed to a broader spectrum of electronic music and underground culture. Professionally, I’m a journalist, copywriter and digital marketer.”

Efy Ramdan (ER): “I’m the creative designer for Rasa and was formerly a graphic designer with (the live music promoter) Collective Minds Asia for a bit. I also helped to design for the Goodman Arts Centre as well as Jigger & Pony Group.”

SOUNDS LIKE RASA HAS ALL THE MAKINGS OF A SUPER TECHNO CLUB. IS THAT THE IDEA?