Singapore Goth clubs & fashion. Saito’s Dark Alternative Movement, Singaporean Gothic clothing & BDSM subculture.
Monday, August 23rd, 2010 by La Carmina
Singapore. Perhaps you think of a squeaky-clean, Southeast Asian utopia where it’s illegal to chew gum. Ah, but how darkness brews under the surface! I interviewed Saito Nagasaki, chairman of Singapore Dark Alternative Movement, about Singapore’s Gothic fashion and nightcrawling scene. It’s strong, vibrant, and I’m personally dying to check it out.
(The first two photos are by Razor Razin Photography; the rest are by Shirley Zhong Photography.)
La Carmina: How did you first become interested and involved in Goth / underground subcultures?
Saito: I first became involved in subcultures when, unbelievably, I was entranced by the music of British group Manic Street preachers in my adolescence around 1996. I was studying abroad in Perth and the depth and breadth of such lyrics pushed me to explore my then-conservative musical boundaries and its related ideas. This eventually lead to my discovery of Garbage, Marilyn Manson, NIN and sideways to foreign language dimensions such as Dir En Grey, Malice Mizer and to increasingly niche genres. I came back to Singapore for National Service and was already part of the local ‘hang out group’ back in Far East Plaza with the pioneering batch of alternatives in Singapore… however the concept of ‘underground’ culture was always stigmatized as being rebellious teenage-esque tripe and not given much credit on our own shores. What I was a part of then was little more than a common aesthetic and the public perception disgusted me. I only developed on the cultural front when I met some really interesting people with resistant views of society on campus when I was back in Australia for university (much later on in 2003) that spoke to my inner curiousity and motivation to change fundamental perspectives. They brought me to attend Dominion, one of the larger Gothic events in the state and I was in love with the people, the atmosphere and the very structure of their community. It was then that I swore I would re-create some semblance of this glory when I returned to my home country.
La Carmina: Can you tell me about the Singapore Dark Alternative Movement and its work?
Saito: The Singapore Dark Alternative Movement (SDAM) is the culmination of alot of hopes and dreams back in the late 90s to form a social platform as a means to build solidarity among the alternative subcultures in Singapore. SDAM actually had its roots in 1998, April 10 from a loose gathering of like-minded individuals (mostly Gothic) that gathered at the only alternative apparel shop at the time, Lost Soul. The owner of Lost Soul, Sand Chai is generally regarded as the pioneer of the community and held in matronly regard as the creator of what would be the common ancestor of various splinter groups to come. Groups like the now defunct Singapore Gothic Covenant (led by Christopher Choy) and our sister community, SGdomsubs (currently helmed by Master Alex) that cater towards the SM oriented populus.
It was through a lot of informal activity and purely social interactions that bred the initial batches of supporters. It was around 2004 that I emerged as a driver of change to push the community from a very insular and elitist sect to a more grassroots and expansionist initiative. This was about the time when the acronym ‘SDAM’ was created and what was to come was modelled from my experiences abroad in western-gothic communities such as the Perth Order of Gothic Societies, starting with my creation of a operating committee to more effectively tackle functional areas. As the numbers swelled and the social networking phenomenon blossomed, we drew upon some of my professional experience to create various event Brands to address several functions: Find closet cases that subscribed to the music, but not the culture and recruit them into the community, expand the awareness of the local alternative community to Singaporeans and the greater southeast Asian sphere and to destroy harmful stereotypes of the culture that are ingrained in the national mindset.
Some of the brands we came up with were: the Alternation series, that became the longest running alternative music night in Singapore. The Dark Friday series, that put the community on the global gothic map with guest sets from international exponents like Eskil Simonsson of Covenant, Angelspit, DJ Panic (Resident of Slimelight) and even the likes of DJ Mini from Montreal, Canada. Outbreed, an annual ‘Gothic rave’ concept I imported from my freelance promoter days in Perth. And Finally and most recently, the Heart of Darkness series that focused more on local talent and formed a staple in the local gothic social diet on a monthly cycle up till our host venue was closed. Our next project “Necropolis” is a smaller, pub based event that incorporates a large amount of deathrocker and psychobility elements. Necropolis is due to launch on 18th September at Pardis (67 Boat Quay). We keep archives of the events on our website - www.sdam.sg – and our community facebook group.
Of course we have had our share of stereotypes from a uneducated public, but the sheer quantity of controlled mainstream media exposure, coupled with accessible events has made a lasting impression locally. Additionally, we discovered that generation Y did not take kindly to labelling themselves anything, i.e.: Goth, punk, metal, etc due to the advent of social networking and the incumbent Singapore dichotomous mindset (we have to be one person at work/school and another in our social lives all the time) – because of this, I coined ‘Singapore Dark ALTERNATIVE movement’ rather than ‘Singapore GOTH movement’ as it would pigeonhole everyone involved.
Recently I have handed the torch over to one of the Generation Y enthusiasts and committee member from the my last term ‘in office’, Dalsix Visser. It is my belief that it is in the best interest of the movement to contemporize with a progressive attitude. I will, however, be taking a page from Singapore’s patron LKY, remain in an advisory capacity for the fledlging new leadership to benefit from my industry connections and experience. I was thoroughly lucky to have the support of a few diehard committee members such as Faith, Murderfreak, Lyn, Vanessa, Nevar, Alex, Simone and allies like DJ Mentor and Syvester Henry and many many more that saw SDAM through to today.
I’m now more focused on my band Aesgrade (www.myspace.com/aesgrade) and am continuing as the host of “Taste of Darkness” on Mesh radio (www.meshradio.sg). It’s actually been a bit of a relief to be able to get my head into music again as creative expression is never very far from my heart. My band especially began as a fun project with a like-minded enthusiast (zero One) who had leanings towards dance music. Through my network we got signed by label Paternoster and published by Netmanagement in Hamburg, Germany and will be releasing a CD soon… if our cards are played correctly. To date I’ve had two live performances in the capacity of the project, one of which was in the middle of Mandai, a forested area near the night safari in an botanic/orchid garden.
La Carmina: How would you describe Gothic fashion in Singapore? How has it evolved?
Sait: Oh yes the fashion has moved on a bit from its initial interpretation of Victorian and a misunderstood quasi leather punk look - much of the fashion was a bit of an adaptation to what some of the senior members brought back from trips to America, Japan and Australia (myself). Recently we had one DJ Ghoul join us from the Netherlands and this has also brought in some interest in the deathrocker vibe. Of course there are the hardliners that still hold their candles morbidly against the daybreak, fighting all attempts to evolve the lamentable ‘classic local style’ of band T-shirt and jeans. Popular brands include Demonia & New Rock boots, Dark Angel, Alchemy Gothic and *cough* imported Hot Topic. There is even a few crossovers with Lolita labels such as Baby the Stars Shine Bright (BSSB) as well. The cyberpunk look is the most compatible with our climate and seems to be the mainstay of the regulars in the events with hair extensions, mesh tops and spiky accessories.
La Carmina: Can you recommend some Singapore Goth clothing brands, designers and shops?
Saito: Rather amazingly, there is very little local exponents for original Goth fashion. A lot of DIY goes on by modifying existing commercial apparel – however a couple of local designers that appeal to the archetype such as perfect in black and even retail giant Nautica. Lique Vanique, one of our former committee members has started a couture design too.
Some of the shops I highly recommend visiting are Haru (Far east plaza #03-42/46, shop 3 & 6), Black Alice (a lot of Lolita apparel), Lips (#03-08, Orchard Road, 228213, Singapore ), Wizard of Oz (for stompy boot needs!) and Dark Angel (they once had a warehouse store in Singapore, but have maintained friendships with our members, Fantasy and medieval wear including Corsetry and couture).
Music and culture wise, there is an overlap in interest with artistic Noise/electro centred around Flux us (www.flux-us.com.sg), nationalistic X’Ho (www.xhosux.com) and several awesome local alternative bands such as Cosmic Armchair (synthpop), Dualtone (industrial), Meza Virs (gothic metal) and Strobe like a butterfly (industrial rock).
La Carmina: What do you predict for the Goth / BDSM scene in Singapore? Is it growing, changing?
Saito: With the changing face of the gothic and BDSM culture globally, Singapore is not too far behind Europe because the new breed of members are better at importing foreign concepts, keen to share ideas and are increasingly well educated. I saw local community through its infancy and with heavy heart have witnessed a lot of former enthusiasts ‘go vanilla’ to better fit into their work places and social circles. However, there is an undercurrent that we have ignited and even sleeping bats have nostalgia enough to kill their civilian disguises in time to come. We had a lot of the teens growing into their adulthood and have began to assimilate with other subcultures, cross-polinating the length and depth of the entire spectrum. It is my belief that the separate scenes here don’t have enough critical mass to explode into their own ecosystems yet (particularly in Asia, which is juxtaposed with Western countries in that they have highly polarized subculture leanings) and I’m proud that SDAM provided a firm basis for a lot of would-be exemplars of their individual style and expression. In the next five years we might actually see a different alternative evolutionary tangent, one that has rationalized its very visual roots to a more cerebral and diversified mindset. Such a community would spawn versatile individuals who can be underground/Goth while wearing the mantle of popular culture, to KNOW that they are alternative with no reservation and to proactively pursue all related interests bravely without fear of reprisal while enriching the totality of Singapore society that hosts them.
A thousand thanks to Saito for the eloquent and fascinating interview! We’ll be exploring Gothic fashion and subculture in Korea, Australia and Russia next… what would you like to see? I’m always happy to hear your comments on my blog: www.lacarmina.com/blog (I’ll be posting more Tokyo Gothic Lolita store photos, nightlife and footage from my current TV shoots there.)
† Dark Wishes †
LA CARMINA
