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Print Email Like 0 Tw eet 0 What's new Explore Forget pop songs and EDM bass drops – local DJ Jean Reiki tells Benita Lee why Events Bars Clubs Weekly sessions it’s cool to love ethnic-infused electronic tunes. every Wednesday 1. Bastille Day Road Party every Friday 2. M.O.B. with Lincey & Tinc every Saturday 3. Go White or Go Home: TGIW more 4. Jack’s Hit: A Smack My Beach Up Takeover Clubs 5. Shogun: Transfix 2014 Bars More events Nearest MRT

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Nightclubs & Bars RSS First published on 30 Jun 2014. Updated on 1 Jul 2014. TOS Twitter Ethnic electronica is the name of Jean Reiki’s game. By day, she’s a full-time TOS on Facebook private tutor for kids (after she ended her MOE bond as a primary school Maths and English teacher); by night, she spins at cool DJ gigs and Latest issue produces her own exotic-sounding music. Embracing her image as a strong, proud female DJ, Reiki stands out with her willingness to experiment, instead Competitions of pursuing a successful music formula and sticking to it, like so many others of her kind do. She’s unreservedly proud of her Asian heritage, seeking out Win a pair of tickets to Utter 2014 Win a set of limited edition Tiki glasses and an invite to acts from the region and beyond for inspiration, and firmly standing by her a Tiki party at CJ's Bar at Quaich brand of eclectic tunes. ‘There’s an untapped potential of Asian-infused Win a weekend staycation package with spa treatment electronica by Asian artists in this part of the world,’ she laments. ‘In the for two at Marina Mandarin Singapore West, they see our culture as novelty. They’re infusing Chinese elements Check out more into their music and borrowing heavily from Chinese imagery in their names, graphic artworks and write-ups.’

The 30-something self-taught beatsmith (otherwise known as Jean Tay) is one of the pioneering female DJs in Singapore, starting out by collecting vinyls as a hobby (at one point she had over 2,000 records), then gradually acquiring advanced DJ gear and taking up an online class for music production. She’s got a one-track mind, fiercely zeroed in on creating tunes she loves, never mind what’s going on with mainstream producers.

Reiki started off DJing in the bedroom, compiling lists of unknown songs and handing them out to friends. Her first ‘proper’ gig was at Phuture in 1999 –

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com admittedly, she was terrified and too nervous to even invite all her friends. But it was a turning point for her DJ career, and she began receiving more invitations to spin elsewhere. In the years since, she’s played regular gigs at Catalunya and LUSH 99.5FM, mixing up everything from house and techno to trap and dubstep, and lectured twice at the yearly FFF Girl DJ Bootcamp. Want more?

You could call her a music vigilante with integrity, someone who’s intensely Singapore's 50 best new restaurants & bars (Part 8) Top 3 jazz spots in Singapore passionate about the value of quality tunes, and shies away from the Singapore's 50 best new restaurants & bars (Part 7) ‘dumbeddown’ bubblegum pop that is commercial music nowadays. ‘I could Best rooftop bars in Singapore easily play all the top songs and get myself a lot more gigs, but I don’t want Avalon vs Pangaea Interview: Stefan Ravalli, bartender to listen to all this rubbish,’ Reiki exclaims. ‘Imagine listening to the same K-razy K-pop parties in Singapore stuff day in, day out. You’d get so bored!’ Case in point: when a transsexual Five alternative sports bars in Singapore at a gay club requested for a Madonna song, she refused…and got an Time Out Singapore Awards 2010: best clubs and bars eyeful of boobs in her face. Instead, her favourite artists are names like Best grope-free dance nightspots for girls Bassnectar, DJ Krush, Fever Ray, Om Unit and the like.

Sure, she confesses she has to compromise (just a smidge) on her love for obscure tunes and keep up with music trends (although she still imposes her distinct style) for DJ gigs, but when it comes to producing, all bets are off.

‘I don’t focus too much on dance material, because it’s so disposable. Trends nowadays change so fast! I’d rather push for the more ethnic, electronica side of things,’ Reiki says. Try and associate her with any female celeb DJ (ahem, Paris Hilton), and she gets riled up. ‘My number one challenge is to have some sort of individuality and not give in as much as possible to the kind of hype that I don’t feel for. If you go with the trends to try and gain fans, you’ll only get the fickle-minded ones, which means you’ll always have to keep up with whatever’s being released. I don’t think this is the way.’

Essentially, she’s in it for the long haul, so sticking by her guns and keeping the quality of music up to her standards is the most important thing to Reiki. ‘Getting recognition and having the crowd come up to me and say they really enjoyed my music because it was different…that’s probably the most rewarding part of DJing for me. Some DJs say free drinks is the best part, but personally, I don’t drink. I’d rather you convert the drinks to my pay!’ she open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com laughs. ‘As long as the crowd enjoys it and sweats it out to the music, I’m happy.’ Cookie policy

Jeanreiki - Chang'e

Jeanreiki - Junction

Last November saw the release of Reiki’s debut two-track Mindport EP (plus a hidden song that you could unlock after downloading the album), which was self-funded and took about two months to produce. Bordering on the abstract (none of that lovey-dovey stuff), the songs offer a unique range of ethnic beats and uncommon melodies – ‘Chang’e’ was inspired by China’s third lunar orbiter and the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, and ‘Junction’ came to her in HK while standing at (of all places) a traffic light junction. ‘Our culture tends to talk so much about love, but I think it’s sappy and overrated,’ Reiki explains. ‘Electronic music is such a good platform because it highlights different moods.’

Since then, she’s been busy playing gigs, most recently collaborating with local act SA trio for a 30-minute live web show on Stageit in June, where Reiki layered electronic samples over the instrumental band’s improvisational tunes blended with tracks from Mindport. As for the rest of the year, she’ll be on the lookout for more collabs, gigs and EP releases, so keep an eye on this one. open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com Jean Reiki is Tanjong Beach Club for Jack’s Hit on 27 Jul.

By Benita Lee

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