The newly opened club caters to the country's underserved music community by offering local musicians opportunities to hone their craft and showcase their talents
Since Zaran Vachha and Alfredo Castillo founded music events agency Collective Minds in 2017, they often found themselves faced with numerous stumbling blocks when it comes to finding suitable venues to hold their concerts.
Even as seasoned event promoters—Vachha and Castillo have over 44 years of experience between them—they are always faced with issues such as sky‑high costs or the lack of a central location. “We’ve always talked about having a space for musicians to develop their craft, simply because there’s no space in Singapore that really services the arts industry,” laments Vachha.
So late last year when the duo heard about the availability of such a space, they jumped at it. Together with technical production director David Toh and designer Teo Yeow Chuan, they established the 222 Arts Club, a 5,000 square feet space located in the Bras Basah district.
The space was conceptualised as a “blank-canvas” venue that allows creative collaboration and a cross-pollination of ideas. It is available for rental to various creative entities—even beyond the music sector—for different purposes. For performers, “we tried to make the set-up as modular as possible. Even the stage is collapsible for events such as fashion shows”, says Toh, a council member of The Music Society, Singapore.