The Power Of Two

As Sivilian Affairs, the husband-and-wife duo of Sivanesh Pillai Siv) and Lillian Hautemulle Lil) are making the Asian nightscape more thrillingly next level, one trailblazing party at a time.

- INDRAN PARAMASIVAM

"DON'T FIND LOVE IN THE CLUB" is a bit of conventional wisdom we can now discard. The musically progressive, soul-nourishing union of Siv and Lil happened against the backdrop of a night out soundtracked by heaving techno and illuminated by strobing lights. Seven years since their first date, the couple is on an uplifting, culture-enriching spree under their joint banner, Sivilian Affairs. Both sides of that happy union share the secrets to their bars-raising love here.

Guys, I don't mean to put you on the spot but tell me about the moment you met.

LIL: The genesis! I was visiting Singapore on a work trip and went to the nightclub HQ, where a colleague introduced me to this dude and said that if I wanted to know about music in Singapore, he was the guy. To Siva, he said something like, "Hey Siv, this is Lil. She's moving from London, and she loves dance music. I think you can help her out." That was our first meeting. After that, we followed each other on Instagram, and here we are.

SIV: Not long after our first meeting, Lil left Singapore. When she came back a few months later, I took her out on her birthday.

I bought her a reggae record, which scored me some points. After a lovely walk around Marina Bay, I realised she was cool and different from other girls I hung out with. She understood music and dance music culture.