Fragle Rok

Interview with Lloyd Chiu, Co-Founder & CEO of Flat 5

• Fragle • Season 2 • Episode 1

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 48:10

Listen to the full episode:

https://open.spotify.com/show/4mxShzU5AX5rqHHJ2C6Ikx?si=871da6287c544003

We trace Lloyd’s journey from Bristol vinyl sessions to building Flat Five, a five-floor club designed to feel like a festival every weekend. We unpack how inclusive programming, safe BDSM events, and a 36-hour New Year’s plan are helping grow Taiwan’s underground scene with heart, intention, and craft.

In this episode, we explore:


• building a festival-in-a-club with five floors
• Bristol roots, vinyl practice, and grit in computer science
• moving from engineering to sales to club leadership
• Corner’s legacy, launching B1, and Studio Nine’s impact
• why variety beats single-genre programming in Taiwan
• after parties as a launchpad to full programming
• inclusive events with queer and BDSM communities
• safety, consent, and professional hosting for niche scenes
• New Year’s plan spanning 36 hours with local DJs
• redefining success as happiness and community

Follow Flat 5 on IG: https://www.instagram.com/flat5_tw?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==


Follow The Fragle Rok Podcast: 

https://www.instagram.com/the_fragle_rok_podcast?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==



SPEAKER_01

Alright, Dajani How welcome. Yeah, like that. Welcome to a new episode of the Fraggle Rock Podcast. We are now diving into the nightlife of Taiwan, and this is episode one. Joined here by my friend Lloyd. Lloyd, how you doing? I'm good. Thank you. Can't believe I made it. It's just not easy. Yeah, we made it. Um, so you are the current owner of Flat 5. Is that correct to say?

Festival Vibes Every Weekend

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I'm the co-founder and the CEO of Flat Fire. Yeah, CEO of Flat Fight, yeah. And what is Flat 5? Flat Fi is my new project, and we like I said we as a team, like we try to build it as a like a festival-like club because people like festivals, but we don't have festivals very often, like maybe only like once a year or something. But so my idea is why if we make this club as a festival vibe for every weekend when people come to our club, they feel like they are in at a festival.

Bristol Roots And Vinyl Beginnings

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow, yeah. Sebastian said something like that. He was like festival vibes. So you're trying to bring like a festival into a club. Yes. That's your intention. Yes. Wow. Yeah. Okay. How did you uh like how did you get into the earlier we were chatting and you told me something about university? Oh yeah, I what did you go to university for?

SPEAKER_02

I I used to study in in Bristol, England. Yeah. I major computer science and engineering. I also got into rip music. When I was in England, like my uh roommate, my flatmate, uh taught me how to DC on vinyls. So I practice literally like from 12 to 16 hours a day. Like every day. That's how I got into sober. Sober? Yeah, pretty much sober.

SPEAKER_01

12 to 16 hours a day is a long time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, pretty much every day. Yeah, that's how I started my you were doing like like real vinyl turntables. Yeah. I used to have a set of turntables and then I went to jail and somebody broke in my window and stole them.

SPEAKER_02

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

Turntable.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. In in England, like people do that a lot. Like people literally like broke in can break into a club and just like grab the turntables away. Terrible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So great about Taiwan, right? Yeah, yeah. Taiwan is good for that. And at Flat Five, you guys just have like a metal gate you just slam down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's good. Pretty safe here. Tell me more about Bristol. So you went to study computer science and engineering, is that right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I started there and then I met a lot of people and Bristol is like, you know, has the biggest like music scene, one of the biggest music scenes in in England. Like and it's famous for like John and Bass, Dubstep, Top Music, also House and Techno. So I used to go to a lot of parties. Sometimes, like I remember this party I went to, and it was around like 3,000 people, and I was only Asian. Oh shit. I was only Asian at the party. And then people saw me just like they thought I was Japanese. So they keep speaking like Japanese to me. And I didn't understand the word, but like I don't know. And then like yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So it was how that make you feel?

SPEAKER_02

It feels good. Yeah. Because yeah, it feels good. Because uh they you know, people seem to like welcome me and and all that, you know, like like I made a lot of friends, you know, I D Saying with the friends, and and some of my course mates at the time now they become quite famous actually, quite well known. Really? They become like international DJs. Wow. From Bristol. And we used to study and play together. Wow. Yeah. What year was that that you went to England? I can't remember exactly, but it was maybe like over 15 years ago.

SPEAKER_01

15 years ago. Yeah. Wow. Around that time, yeah. Should have been like 15 years ago, so that'd be like 2000. Yeah, 2000. Oh maybe even longer than that. German bass was definitely bigger than, right? Uh very big, very big. I love German bass. There's no German bass here.

SPEAKER_02

Some people try to bring it back, but I would say, yeah, you're right. Like the scene is still pretty small here.

Language Barriers And Grit In CS

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right on. So when you went to Bristol, did you got your degree and you graduated? Yeah, I got my degree and I graduated.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, it wasn't easy for me because obviously I had to study in English. Like all I learned before in Taiwan was American English. And when I went to the UK, and it was all like British English. So that's kind of a bit hard for me. But I remember the first year, uh, I didn't understand a thing. So like even nothing, uh literally nothing, maybe like 20% of the things. And like uh even my tutor told me, like, uh, Loey, why are you even here? And you know, like computer science is one of the most difficult degrees you can, you know, like, and then why are you even here? Like you don't understand things. I said, just because I don't understand this, so I'm here to learn, right? I think that's the spirit. And then I remember the second year, I kind of, you know, like I can like manage my like homework and and stuff, you know, like I can start like understanding things, maybe 50%, 70%. And my third year, I can start teaching other people, like sharing my knowledge. Wow. In English. In English, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So I make progress, you know. You gotta be so intelligent and humble to do that. Yeah, I think a lot of intelligent people.

SPEAKER_02

I met a lot of intelligent people, but I just worked hard because I I knew that what what lack of, you know. So I just had to work harder than other people in general, because people didn't have the you know the the the English problem, you know. So I just had to work hard. You know, I remember when my course made I went to the bar having drinks, party all the time. I just like stay in the lab all the time, you know, like really trying to do that. Like a nerd. Like a nerd, like a nerd. I had to do that. I think I had to do that. Yeah, I I have to I had to like work harder than other people. Right. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and and I also think like I don't know, I don't know about other places, but I think like England is is a good place for that because uh when I did my education in Taiwan, I feel like the structure and everything, the educational system was not right for me because there was only one way of doing things. Like if you don't follow the rules and regulations and everything, they punish you. Because okay, there's only one way of doing this, you got to do the certain way. And I feel I'm lucky, like my parents sent me to the UK, and so I I could experience like another like environment, which I thought I think is is is is better for me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's amazing, yeah. Yeah, computer science. Not only were you learning English, but also computer science at the same time. Yeah, yeah. That's intense. Yeah, very intense.

SPEAKER_02

Like, like and I remember uh our degree, like uh first year, the school program had to kind of like let go like one-third of the people. Yeah. And the second year, another one-third of people. How many people was that? I can't remember, but like thousands of people, but like one third's a lot. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Some people just couldn't keep up. Dang. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So it took four four years to graduate? Uh three years. Three years. Yeah, in the UK it's three years. Oh, really? Yeah. That's just an American thing, huh? Yeah. So you you got your degree and then you came back to Taiwan? Yes. Yes. And then what did you do?

From Engineer To Sales Leader

SPEAKER_02

I studied, I went to I used to work in the uh telecommunication company. I study as uh engineer and because I I can speak English. So the the the company wanted me to not just to be an engineer because my English may be too good for just an engineer. So I became a sales engineer because then I could speak to the clients, you know, and everything. So I had the technical background and also the sales background. And then I later I became a like a sales uh manager. And I was quite good at that. You know, I'm still quite good at that. You know, and that's how I think that's that period of time, like taught me how to become the sales. And then from my understanding, my background, like uh sales is how you if you want to be a boss, you know, like salesman is the way to go. Because you got to, you know, like be in charge of the you know the the sales, the revenue of the company, and if you cannot generate any revenue for the company, you have to always rely on other people, then you cannot be a good boss.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Yeah, right. Yeah. Wow. And then well, how did you end up here in this nightclub nightlife scene of Taiwan?

SPEAKER_02

It's there was a time, you know, like we all had fun at uh at a club called Corner at that time. When when was this? About I can't remember exactly, but it was a long time ago, maybe. You know, dude, like nine, yeah, not ten nine years ago. Nine, nine, ten years ago. I went to corner and party. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was one of the promoters. Were you? Yeah, I was one of the promoters at Corner. Uh we were doing this uh at my my first brand, it was called Base Kitchen, uh, which I brought back actually from the UK because we had this idea, and then we wanted to do more like house music. At the time, it was more like techno, just techno, techno, techno.

SPEAKER_01

What is techno?

SPEAKER_02

Tech like if you were to say techno, like what techno can be broad. Like right now, we're talking about a lot of different kinds of technos. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01

But at the time so you're using techno as like an umbrella term for all the minor genres. Yeah, minor genres. Gotcha. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So we want to do more house music, like as another genre, because as a club, I don't think it's a good idea to just have like one genre. I mean, I know in the US and in in Europe, I mean, some people do, but uh, I think in Taiwan the scene is too small for that for just like one genre. So you gotta have uh variety.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Variety. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So you were so like nine, so around the time I was going to Corner, you were a part of Corner? Yeah. Not the management though.

SPEAKER_02

Like I was just one of the promoters. Like, but I I I used to work closely with the management, closely with the management. Wow. Yeah, yeah. And then after corner shutdown.

SPEAKER_01

Close down?

SPEAKER_02

Because he was a program managed by the management then, and then it kind of like shut down.

SPEAKER_01

Uh-huh.

Shibari, BDSM, And Safety

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And I remember there was um period of time, maybe five, six months, if I remember, there was nothing after corner. No parties, no parties, no clubs like this, you know. And so people were like hungry for good music, like underground scene, people didn't know where to go. There were definitely still, you know, like commercial clubs, you know, but you know, like it's not for everyone to taste, you know. Yeah. So that's why like uh I had opportunity to meet my like uh investor, you know. Like I know we talked about this, he wanted to open the club, and then uh I had the experience. I've been promoting underground parties for for for years. So we kind of like team up together, and I we opened our first club called B1.

SPEAKER_01

Oh shit. Yeah, you guys opened B1. Yes, so you're like an owner, co-founder?

SPEAKER_02

Co-founder, but I was working as a general manager because I wasn't a CEO, I was kind of like general manager at B1, but I was kind of you know doing things the way that the CEO would do, you know, because I had this mindset, you know, like I knew that like one day I may be my own boss, so I just kind of did the same way as the CEO would do.

SPEAKER_01

I'm trying to think about B1. Oh yeah, my most vivid memory at B1 would be the Japanese Shibari rope thing. And I bet the listeners have no idea what that even what that even is. Can you explain that?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we try to bring all kinds of you know, concept and everything. And like one of the concepts we had was like a BDSM thing, you know. What's BDSM? I'm also new to BDSM. Really? Yeah, I'm really new to BTSM. I was I'm just an explorer here.

SPEAKER_01

Your uh manager introduced me to BDSM. My manager is Sebastian the manager of Flat Five? Yeah, he's one of the managers, yes.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, he's the one that introduced me to that. Because he's experiencing that scene, you know, BDSM scene. So I'm also new to that. Me too. Yeah, up to that point I had only ever seen it in movies. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm excited, you know, like because I think that's the spirit we should have, right? Just like welcome new things, we experience things, I mean, and we create things. We create events, we create projects, you know. Sometimes we make mistakes and we learn from our mistakes. Um we don't we don't we don't make the same mistakes, right?

SPEAKER_01

Right. But the Shibari, that's like a complicated moving rope art where one person from Japan. Yeah. From Japan, where one person ties up another person in a form of a professional, a professional one, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. And it's like so popular with other girls, like when we had that event, I remember like some girls just came like specifically for that event. They just want to be tied up, you know. I said, Oh Lloyd, I never experienced this. Can I try? Yeah, and I was like, uh yeah, you can try. And yeah, I want to be tied up. Yeah, can you tie me up? I said, No, I can't, you know, I I I can't do that. You know, I'm not professional, but introduce professionals to do that.

SPEAKER_01

It's so weird, right? I said I did the same thing at my first BDSM party. Yeah, you you got tied up? They're like, You want to do it? Or some girl led me there, I think. I thought she was joking, and then next thing I know, there's like ropes getting tied around one leg, then both of my legs are getting tied together, then they like tie up my whole body, then like they're like, Are you ready? I'm like, for what? They're like, Are you ready? I'm like, I guess so. And they like flip me upside down and spun me around in circles. Like, did you enjoy it all? I loved it.

unknown

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I'm not sure why I loved it, yeah, yeah, but I loved it. Yeah, yeah. It's an art. It's an art. I think it says something about us as people that we like to be have our physical freedoms taken away, and there's some sort of freedom and not having any freedom. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Uh again, like I'm new to this, so I don't think it's like for me to explain this because I haven't experienced this, but yeah, I think we are about to experience yeah, because we have like some BDSM like events coming up. For real. For real, yeah, for real, yeah, yeah. We have uh professionals who organize events at Fly5 to show us you know the proper way, the correct way to do it. Because you've got to be super safe and very, very professional, very safe, safe and professional, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cause what what kind of things are gonna be going on at a BDSM party? I don't know yet. I don't know yet. If I want to go, I should I expect you're still new to it, right?

SPEAKER_02

I'm still new to it. Yeah, I don't want to say anything, you know, like I don't know, and just yeah, yeah, yeah. Just I would say just go experience it, and then if you like it, you like it. If you don't, then just go away and never come back.

DJ Legacy And Underground Values

SPEAKER_01

Just yeah, for sure. I think it's a good thing, but we like a lot of things, we just see it in movies and then we generate like perceptions or prejudices, and then we become reluctant to like try. Yeah, but actually it's it's quite fun. Yeah, yeah. Not sure I totally understand why it's so much fun. Yeah, you just got to experience it's a hard to experiment for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So everybody come, yeah, yeah. Do you have one scheduled at flat five? Yeah, it's December. Don't tell me it's for fucking Christmas, you're gonna have a BDSM party. Don't say well, we might. Actually, you know what? In Taiwan, we switch everything, right? We take everything that I did back home and like change it and make it more fun. Oh god, I don't know if more fun's the right word, but like, you know, trying to celebrate Christmas in Taiwan is like it's never gonna feel like Christmas back home. No, so we just do our own thing, yeah. And like we did with Thanksgiving, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is cool. Thanksgiving, that was the first time I saw you DJ. I didn't know that you DJ. Oh, you didn't know?

SPEAKER_02

No, yeah, I've been teen saying for uh as I said, like I've I've been teen saying for maybe at least 15 years. Yeah. And I used to play at a lot of different gigs and festivals and big events and also play with like so you really like DJ DJ? Yeah, DJ, DJ. I didn't Right now, because my position is like I give you know the opportunities and levy. I'm the man behind to like push the scene. I at least I see myself this way. So I give more opportunity to like the newcomers, new DCs, because for me it's a bit boring just see me design all the time and just always me. So I kind of like want to let other DJs you know express themselves.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that's really cool. You got bored of yourself, and now you want to like bring in more variety. Yeah, yeah, it's like a legacy, right? Like legacy, yeah. Yeah, I think there's nothing more beautiful than like letting other people see that they also have the ability to create beautiful art.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and and the underground scene is never just about me only, it's about us, uh all of us, everyone together, in my opinion. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So it's this is like the underground scene that we're in, huh?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The underground scene. Yeah. And and nowadays, like people like people ask me this a lot, you know, like what's underground scene, what's overground? What's commercial? What's the difference, you know? For me, the biggest difference is you know, the underground scene, like I think most people hear for music. Yeah. Oh, for underground, people are actually going for music. For music, they want to dance, they hear for music.

SPEAKER_01

But for commercial, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

For commercial, it's I think I feel like it's something different. Yeah, don't get me wrong, like there's nothing wrong, you know, between commercial and underground. And in the underground scene, we also do commercial things. Like we still like charge people at the door for drinks, you know, like that's commercial. So there's nothing wrong with that. But I feel like um the way people act is different because like I feel like a commercial club, for example, like people go there, maybe they want a table, they want to sit down. I mean, music is still important, but I feel like uh others go there for like I don't know, like a different purpose. I I I rarely go to commercial clubs, so maybe it's not right for me to say, yeah. But I feel that the vibe's different, definitely different.

SPEAKER_01

I think you're right, because like our friends, some of our mutual friends that are DJs, I think for all of them that do it, they're not like doing it for money, they're like doing it from their heart because it's fun, or they like to watch their friends dance or whatever.

unknown

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you can tell that they're really doing it for fun, yeah, not for money. Yes, yes. If you were doing it for money, you would be in the commercial world, right? You wouldn't be in the underground.

Studio Nine’s Rise And Impact

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. But at the same time, we all understand that I mean money is important, you know. We all need money, we all need to make money to make a living. But I think something we need to understand that like we don't like money. Oh, I don't like money. I like the money, I like the experience I can use money for, you know, like I can use the money for uh to buy like happiness, for example. So that makes me happy, you know, like the experience, the whole club, the music scene, and you know, club scene, the whole experience that makes me feel happy.

SPEAKER_01

We were just talking about that outside, right? Like wealth and like what it really means to be what real wealth is, right? Yeah. And you were like, were you happy, right? Because that's more important than how much money you made.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I know like some people have a lot of money, for example, but they're not happy.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So for me, it's like, then what's the point? Like, you have a lot of money, but you're not happy. Some people are stressed all the time, you know, they have a lot of money. Maybe they have way more money than I have. But if they're not happy, then what's the point? Indeed. What is the point?

SPEAKER_01

Better to be broken happy, eh? Yeah, broken happy. I like the term, yeah. Just just to back up a little bit, so you opened B1 with the investor. Yes. And uh what happened to B1? And then COVID hit? Oh shit! Yeah, oh man.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, COVID hit. We had maybe like two and a half years uh-huh at B1 time. We had some like amazing, amazing events. Uh B1 during COVID? No, no, before before COVID. And I other people had like really, really good memories. Yeah. And then COVID hit, and then actually, like before COVID, we were about to organize our first outdoor festival. Oh wow, yeah, and then COVID hit, but I didn't think we were well prepared though, so maybe it was a good thing. Yeah, for me it was like maybe the I don't know, like the the universe or like uh sometimes things happen and you don't know why. Yeah, just like uh maybe don't do it yet, you're not ready. Like for me, it was like that, right? Yeah, yeah. So it was good. And then after COVID, and then we took a break, you know, during COVID time, everybody took a break, kind of, you know, and reset, like rethink. And like just shortly after COVID finished and I started my second club with my like other investors, and it was called Studio Knight. Oh shit. You were a part of that. Yeah, I was a co-founder and the CEO of Studio Knight. CEO? Yeah, CEO. The one and only CEO. Yeah, one and only CEO, yeah, Studio Knight. Yeah, okay, wow. Yeah. I mean other investors are also like the investors, the shareholders, they're like they're also bosses, but like I think I know a couple of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, I was a CEO, yeah. Wow. Yeah. And then I think a lot of people still remember uh Studio Knight because I also been out, you know, quite a lot. I met a lot of people, and then every time I see people, it's just like, hey, Lloyd, like we want Student back, you know, where's Studio Knight? We want to yeah, like people just kind of like uh, oh, without Studio Knight, we don't know where to go. I mean certainly certainly there are other clubs, you know, but nothing like Studio Nine. That's what they told me. I feel the same too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Studio 9 was pretty cool. I was like a big oh not not a super big club, but that a really big outdoor space so you could see the whole city. So that was what was pretty cool about Studio Nine is you could be inside or outside.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

There's two or three three rooms, maybe?

From Studio Nine To Flat Five

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, three rooms. Three rooms, yeah, including the terrace. Yeah, three rooms. We kind of had three rooms. Yeah. Do you feel like there was a variety of music there? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the one way I kind of want to go. In the beginning, we kind of wanted to stick to this, like only like one genre, you know? Yeah. Like you said, like a minimal room, minimal house.

SPEAKER_01

I thought you said like with corner, you you realized that wasn't a good idea.

SPEAKER_02

To as a promoter, I think it's good. Like uh, if you have a brand, for example, I think it's important. Like you want to express yourself like uh where you want to go. But as a club, you know, like people come to club for different like purposes, you know, like the like different kinds of music and different events, right? Different events, yeah. So in my opinion, like if you only have like one music general, like people get bored, especially. Yeah, I got bored at Studio Nine, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then that's why then we had the different kinds of music. We had John and Bass, we had techno events, we have house events, also like room minimal events, etc. You know, and so we kind of attract different fans, you know, like from different corners, like different like people have different tastes, right? So yeah, I think we made a big quite a you know, success, you know. With Studio Nine? With Studio Nine. You see it as as a success? Yeah, I think so. I think so. Yeah. When I say success, I don't mean that like we like made like tons of money or that, you know. I think it's like it stays it stays in people's heart, you know. Like people had good memory and they still remember it, they still want to name and then it was you know probably like one of the best times they had. I also heard a lot a lot of foreigners, for example, they st they decided to stay in Taiwan because of Studio Night.

SPEAKER_01

Get out of here.

SPEAKER_02

No, it's true. It's true. Yeah, my friend told me that. And after, I'm sorry to say, like uh because it was the the lease, you know, the landlord didn't want to run uh studio anymore, so after three and a half years, we had to shut down. It was a shame, I know. But I've this is what I heard. I heard actually a lot of foreigners left Taiwan after Studio Night. Really?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I think I remember I don't know, there's been a few exoduses where large groups of foreigners left Taiwan. That's interesting. Yeah, I'm not sure, like you yeah, like uh it was just maybe just one of the reasons, you know. I mean, I can think of like one of my friends that really liked Studio Nine, and then she went to like La Fin and she's like, I don't like La Fin. I'm like, I like LaFin. She's like, I don't like it. I heard a lot of people say they don't like La Fin. I'm like, I think LaFinn's great because when I dance, I like to get wild, and at La Fin I actually have space to move around. Yeah, but a lot of other people complained, and I think that was like the only other one of the only other ones at that time to go to.

unknown

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I would just say like a different obviously different clubs have different scenes, you know. I think I think it's my not my position to say anything about like other clubs, you know, because I like people like uh we are all business owner club owners, you know, like we have different. Yeah, zhonjong, like if we have different philosophies and everything to to run a club, and I totally respect that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How how much time was there be between Studio 9 and Flat 5? Like how much downtime was there before you opened Flat 5? Uh-huh. You're talking about a soft opening. Like Studio 9 closed, right? Studio closed at the end of February this year. This year. This year, yeah. Right now it's almost Christmas, right? Yeah, Christmas.

After Parties As A Launchpad

SPEAKER_02

And then December 2nd. Yeah, and then I joined this new company end of March, and then I had my our first event at Flat Five at the building. I mean was that the name of the building? No, no, Flat Five. No, we called it Flat Five, it's the name of a building because there's a five-floor flat. Five five flat floors, yeah, yeah, like an apartment, like a five-floor, you know, like it's not nine floors anymore. It's a five floors, so we ran the whole building. Yeah. And but the building, the renovation and everything wasn't ready. Like, for example, the AC was not cold enough. It was a summertime kind of, you know, if it's hot, we didn't have enough lighting. We just had two sets of uh sun systems, for example, and then but people still enjoyed it. Yeah, people still enjoyed it at the soft opening, yeah. The soft opening. But we are still at like a soft opening. Still right now. When when did you guys open? Like one opening or soft opening? Soft opening. Soft opening. End of March.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, end of March. Yeah, and then we just kind of like just like run out of the venue or like uh like somebody wants to do an event here because obviously with my background, like I know a lot of party uh event organizers, and they need a place, you know, they can uh throw their events, etc. So we kind of like team up, like work together. Also, for me, it was kind of um like a try and arrow.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So like you have to test, you know, you have to test the venue and everything, the sound and everything to see like where you still need to fix. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So it was good. But uh, sorry, I have to say to the like event organizer, and thank you for them, you know, like they were willing to like do the events, you know, create events like with me, and then it was definitely not perfect, you know. Like a lot of times we had some problems, you know, like tech technical problems, for example, yeah, and then and then we had to fix that, fix this. The venue was not ready, and I feel grateful. Hell yeah. Yeah, they they were willing to like do this. So you learn when you fail. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I've never seen the technical difficulty at flat five. Yeah, that's what that's because like you you came like maybe a couple months after, and we pretty much fixed the order.

SPEAKER_01

First time I went there was probably like October.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, October. Then we we pretty much fixed all the problems. The the only problem we have right now, I think, is the AC's sometimes too cold. Because at the time, at summertime, like people told me like uh AC was not strong enough. Uh-huh. So like so you got it too too strong. No, at the time, in summertime, like people told me the AC was not strong enough. Yeah. So we put, okay, we gotta fix everything, AC, AC, AC, AC, and now sometimes it gets too cold.

SPEAKER_01

Better too cold than too hot, though.

SPEAKER_02

Too cold, we can adjust the temperature.

SPEAKER_01

When you're partying, I mean, listeners, you might not know, but this is actually an after party club, correct? Am I correct? Uh it's no actually. No? Okay. I take that back.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. We we do yeah, we make after parties just as like a enterpoint to like enterpoint to the to the to the scene again, you know, like uh because at the time nobody nobody does after parties. And then so we thought uh uh maybe this is a good idea. Like maybe we can start with after parties, for example. And and then we did it, and then people love it because actually people come from other parties, maybe like during the normal club time, you know, maybe they go to you know, like other events here and there, maybe some like abundant warehouse, maybe some other clubs, you know, etc. And then the like after 3, 4, or 5 a.m., like they come together to the after party.

SPEAKER_01

It's fucking mad what you guys do. Yeah, opening at like 4 a.m.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's just as a stop, starting point, you know, like uh and soon, like well, right now, like we are we'll have our own events, you know, also the normal uh club time because you cannot just run a club with only after party. Right, you need to have your own parties as well, yeah. Parties and also organized. You're kind of already doing that or you're planning on doing more. Like the BDSN event I just mentioned, like we work uh closely with uh this BDSM community, and then we also work closely with the gay community. Okay, and then we also do like stray events and just music. We have different kinds of a scene, like sometimes we do like a festivals, we have vendors, you know, like people selling clothes, you know, like stones, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Hell yeah, crystals and stuff. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Nice stuff like that. So we have all kinds of events, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I had a friend that said they went to flat five, but it was like gay night, so they walked in and they like turned around and left.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Inclusive Scenes And Event Variety

SPEAKER_01

Because they weren't into that. So like if people want to know what's happening at flat five, how can they find out? Oh, it's on our IG, right?

SPEAKER_02

It's on IG. IG, yeah, yeah. It's uh YouTube follow-up, it's uh flat five underscore like TW or yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah. So it's December right now. What's what's going on at Flat 5 this month? Anything big?

SPEAKER_02

Uh we have I think the BTSM event is gonna be big, and certainly the New Year's event. And right now we're organizing New Year's event, maybe because it's gonna be a couple days. We actually plan to have 36-hour events. Yeah, you guys are so crazy. Yeah, I think we'll start with uh I think we'll start with uh yeah, I know, but that's the way to go, you know. Like uh don't invite me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, yeah. I think you'll be there. I think you'll be there. I'm gonna do everything in my power not to go. Yeah, everything in my power. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So I think we'll start with with a gay event. Yeah, we're stuck in because we were close with them, and and then followed by our own event, which is a straight event. So like some people like gay events. For me, like I don't mind, I'm not gay myself, but like I like gay events, you know, because people are always friendly, you know. Yeah, I can feel that. Yeah, yeah. So and then followed by like straight events, you know, like because for me, it's more like well, straight event, you don't really need to label it straight, right? Yeah, no, just like a normal event, just like yeah, yeah, just like because if you're just there for the music, for the vibe, then why do you care if it's a gay event or it's a straight event? Right. Right, yeah. I mean we I'm just here for the music. Right.

SPEAKER_01

For the vibe, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So what is what is scheduled for New Year's Eve exactly?

SPEAKER_02

What's the schedule?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, like what is you guys are doing an actual event, not an after party?

SPEAKER_02

No, yeah, I think we start with uh with a gay event, the community we work closely with. Oh, that'll be like on New Year's Eve? Yeah, New Year's Eve like uh 31st. Right. And then the we'll finish the the gay event, I think at like 5 a.m.

SPEAKER_01

On New Year's Day, yeah, yeah, like first so the gay event's gonna go all the way through the night through the new year to 2026. Yeah, yeah, bringing in the new year with gay community, yeah, yeah. I don't have a problem with that because I mean no, I think that's an awesome and wholesome thing to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Also, like we support the community, you know, because also like they've been supporting us. Absolutely. Good vibes and good karma, good vibes, good karma, and and then we follow by uh straight fans and sorry, we start with after party, uh and then I think we'll do all day event uh until like I don't know, like 10 p.m. or 12 pm or something. So New Year's Day will just like keep going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that would be maybe like uh thirty-six hours or something. Wow.

New Year’s 36-Hour Marathon Plans

SPEAKER_01

Do you have DJs picked out yet? Pretty much. Yeah, we have some. What big names you got? Sorry? What big names? Who's gonna what are some of the DJs that will play? Do you know?

SPEAKER_02

I think this time because it's also a little bit rush for us. So we'll pick some like a big name DJs um from local. When I say big names, it's like just the DJs like everybody know. I haven't talked to like who? Uh like Mini J, for example. You you will DJ? I'll I hope it's DJ. Okay. And uh like Migo. I like to I don't think you should have her there. I don't think Migo should be there. Maybe she's booked, I don't know. Migo. Maybe DJ Her. I haven't talked to them though. Like DJ Her, Molly, I like to have them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And then also like some others. I also I think we're gonna have uh one of her's tracks at the end of this interview today.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I think she'll also be coming on the podcast soon. Awesome. I'm gonna listen to his awesome podcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So you're gonna hit all them up. Yeah. Any other ones?

SPEAKER_02

Also, like some new DC. I'm gonna talk, also, like I'm gonna counsel with my team because they're gonna have like different ideas. Yeah because I've been in the scene for too long. Like I know I'm all these like OG DJs, you know. I'm not saying they're old. You're an OG DJs, like they've been in the scene for so long. Good friends with them. But I also like I like to introduce some like new DJs, like fresh DJs, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so we have a good combination for sure. Yeah, what was it? Halloween, I can't remember if it was Halloween or the party before, but I saw some DJs I'd never seen before. One dude, what was his name? He was throwing down some nasty hardcore, like dubstep kind of stuff. I think he VJ. I think he's VJ is everything.

SPEAKER_02

He was dope, dude. Yeah, yeah. I liked him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, he plays uh a lot of like hot technos.

SPEAKER_01

Is he also a tattoo artist? I think he I saw a tattoo shop that said VJ, and I was like, I wonder if that's the same VJ.

SPEAKER_02

I'm not too sure. I'm not sure if he's he's yeah, he he has tattoos, a lot of tattoos, I think. Yeah, but I'm not sure if he's a tattoo artist. DJ her is a tattoo artist.

SPEAKER_01

She is correct. Have you heard of K49? K49? Or is it K99999? K999. Yeah, I heard of it.

SPEAKER_02

K999, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is he gonna DJ? Yeah, he will definitely DJ. He's now he's DJs everywhere. He gets more gigs than I do. Really? Yeah, damn. I don't DJ. Sounds like he gets around. Yeah, he gets around. Like, and he's improving. Is he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When I heard he's he's working hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah, just like these are here, there, also in Taizong. Maybe next time in I don't know, in in Pindong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, maybe Shangang. Yeah, maybe, yeah. Just you know, guess the world out, you know, guess his name out.

SPEAKER_01

Hell yeah. Cool, man. I guess the only other thing we could talk about is what's coming next year, but maybe we could save that for the next podcast. Yeah. Yeah, man. Yeah. Cool. Cool, cool, cool. One one last thing though. Your necklace, you were telling me about your necklace earlier. What is that again? I brought this back from China.

Local DJs, New Talent, Momentum

SPEAKER_02

I went to Yunnan. Uh China two months ago. And then when I saw this, I said, okay, this is for me because I also like I kind of feel like I'm a like no, I I don't want to sound like arrogant or something, but like I'm a Buddha in practice. Like I but with yeah, yeah. But even a lot of a lot of things in like Buddhism, like like this religion like taught me a lot, you know, things, you know, like, and I think for me that's the right way to do things, you know, like for example, like sometimes we see like two people arguing, you know, like you for me it's like you learn to see from the third angle. Also like for yourself, like your life, you know, like because if you are in here, you don't realize you're in here. It's like uh if you see a flower, from outside you see this flower is beautiful, right? But when you are inside, you don't see the beauty of the flowers. If you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

I do.

SPEAKER_02

So you have to look at it from the third angle. Also to your life. Like when you see things from your from the third angle, you understand everything. But when you are in here, you don't understand things. Like because you have maybe you have problems, you have delusions, you have you know difficulties, and you're in there, you're inside here, you don't see, you don't see your own problems. So you have to learn like to be at to look at yourself, look at your life from the third angle. Yeah, and this is Chinese, it's called Jingang Tzu. Yeah, and Fu Mo Tzu. So it kind of like a destroy the delusion. Also, it means wisdom, like uh because he's being like a kaiguang by the like really high-level like monk, you know, like so only I can touch it. Yeah, yeah, like nobody's otherwise, you know, the the energy may be affected by other people. Yeah, wow, that's cool. Yeah, it's it's really powerful. Like my friend advised me, maybe I actually don't wear it to like other like clubs or like uh to my own club, for example, because uh actually it might scare like some spirit away. And like that's what we kind of don't want, you know, like uh because we Wait, you mean like we want the spirits to stay? Yeah, because they also attract people. What I mean I mean don't get me wrong, like uh the spirit, like sometimes sometimes people think like the spirit uh bad, you know, but for me it's like uh it's like money, you know? Like the money itself, there's no right or wrong, or good or bad. It's how you use it. So for example, like if you use the money in a good way, for example, like you make some donation, like you might you buy gifts for your friends, for your loved ones, then you use money in a good way. But obviously, if you use money in a bad way, then that's bad. So money itself, there's no right or wrong, it's a good or bad. For spirit is the same. The spirit are innocent, the pure. There's no right or wrong, there's no good or bad. Yeah. But God is spirit too. Buddha is spiritual. Ghost is spiritual, and there's no right or wrong, there's no good or bad, it's just spirit. So we just respect them and we live with them, just like we respect old kind older like communities, right? Yeah, that's in my opinion. I love it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I love it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, be the third observer, yeah, yeah, third uh third angle observer, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And remove judgment. Yeah, remove judgment, yeah. The one were one of the most important things in in in Buddhism is like uh uh remove the I. Uh so there's no me, right? Yeah, like uh it's not like uh you remove every d you still do what you want to do, but sometimes just like remove yourself, yeah, like a Steve on the angle to observe every uh light.

SPEAKER_00

Cool, cool.