THE HISTORY OF EATMEPOPTART

Eatmepoptart celebrates its 18th Birthday this month, but, how did it begin?
Adrian Wee (weelikeme) shares the origin story of the party.

Hello. Some of you might know me as Adrian, and some of you might have seen me occasionally at an Eatmepoptart event, either pacing around the room, or behind the decks looking hardworking mashing buttons, as weelikeme. I’m not the best at social things, so it’s likely some of you might not have noticed me at all.

This month Eatmepoptart celebrates our 18th birthday with a huge show featuring our residents. A part of me feels some pride of how far we came, and another part thinks, “how the hell did we get here?”

The little journey we took to get here was neither planned, nor was it expected. Like how most stories start, our beginnings was a little tale of idealism, naivety, and a murder mystery! Okay, not so much of murder lah…

Back in 2004, I have been working at clubs as a DJ dishing house, techno and trance bangers every week. Although I was still quite a newcomer with a few years of experience under my belt, I was already starting to feel jaded with the club gigs. I really enjoyed DJing. But something was amiss- the parties were full of vibes, but, the all-night jumping and the excessive booze, it had to mean something more, right? I craved for a night with music that connected with our souls and tapped into our deep memories- something that could spiritually unite a whole room and conjure up waves of emotions.

Together with two other friends Jah & Zaidi, we zeroed down on music that connected to us the strongest. Music that would invoke memories of joy, frustrations, first loves, heartbreaks, and everything else that came with being a wide-eyed teenager trying our best to grow up and belong. The direction we eventually concocted consisted of plenty of 90s Britpop, alternative rock, indie, shoegaze, power pop, electronica and Grunge- a fitting soundtrack of our teenage years.

Coming up with a name took a bit of time. After a few brainstorm sessions, we ended up with ‘Eatmepoptart’ or ‘Poptart’- for some reason that felt just the right balance cool and fun, and maybe a little sprinkle of naughty.

We started small with a month-long mid-week series at a few bars and called it ‘The Massive Midweek Mayhem Tour’. After this little test-run, we stumbled into a divey place called Mad Monks Bar. It had a tiny DJ console, a small dancefloor, outdoor seating, and a pool table. Perfection. ‘Poptart – Give Me Indie Or Give Me Rash’ kicked off the proper club show on 16 October, 2004. Our friends, and their friends, turned up and we had a great time throwing out a soundtrack filled with the likes of Pulp, Blur, Nirvana, Ride, Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy.

It was a pre-Facebook and Instagram era. To get the word out, we had to put up posters and drop flyers in places where we thought the cool people hung out- record stores, fashion outlets and cafes. The word, eventually, did spread and by turn of that year, we had queues snaking around the building. Club kids, band kids, hipsters, scenesters and forgotten friends, suddenly all turned up!

Mad Monks rebranded in 2005 and changed their name to Home Club, where we continued our parties there for another two more years, together with a few notable guest appearances at Phuture (at Zouk’s Jiak Kim spot), Baybeats and Mosaic at The Esplanade. We were getting quite a lot of attention for being a club night and focusing on music you don’t usually hear at the clubs. It was also a great phase for indie & rock music with fresh music from bands like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, hogging the charts every other week. The new wave of Britpop & the recently-coined Indie Sleaze, was the go-to music of that generation, and filled up our peak-time playlists. For once a month, and sometimes a bit more, we now had a place we can let loose at and felt like we truly belonged.

Poptart grew into something really special to me. This party felt different from everything else I’ve ever done. The monthly gatherings had this love, energy, and connectedness that is so strong and so real.

In 2009, we started our residency at The Butter Factory- a quirky spot at One Fullerton, and then in 2011, we found ourselves at Velvet Underground at the Zouk Jiak Kim.

The spaces that Poptart resided mostly revolved around the clubs I was working at during that time. Although they were pretty great nights, still involved some form of compromise in order to please the club owner overlords. After a few years of juggling this, I realised that we needed full autonomy of creativity and direction in order for Poptart to really flourish. It really needed less business, and more community. After leaving Zouk, I took a leap to fully run Poptart independently. So, much to the disdain of my folks, with no job security and $7 in my bank account, I decided to go solo and run Poptart by as an independent company.

*Sobs at Eatmepoptart’s 15th Birthday, Esplanade Annexe Theater, 2017.* Photo: Colossal Photos.

After rebranding to officially call it ‘Eatmepoptart’, our next phase included residencies at Kyo, Cherry, Phuture (this time at Zouk Clarke Quay), Kinki and Hard Rock Cafe. We rung up a team of creatives to organise the shows, a new-look line-up, and inserted other like SG bands and brand new concepts- from our ‘live’ series with acts like Subsonic Eye, Sobs, Jasmine Sokko, Disco Hue, to a festival Local Motion (organised with 4 Fingers), and new nights Electric Feel (80s) and Rebel Yell (classic rock, hair metal).

*Local Motion, Fort Canning, 2017.* Photo: Dawn Chua.

Covid hit us hard. We couldn’t do anything that involved crowds and Twitch streams were not exactly capturing the spirit, the two years were excruciatingly painful. We ended up shutting the office, disbanded the team, and went silent. At many points over the two years of pain, it really felt like the end.

Post-Circuit Breaker, Eatmepoptart restarted and rung in some fresh changes. Alongside our current concepts Never Lose That Feeling and Electric Feel, we expanded and introduced new nights- Whatever & The Kids Are Alright, celebrating the pop-spectrum. Led by a new-look DJ team that included KiDG, Fantastic Dinosaur, YA5TH and Candice B, for the past two years, we throw some major parties at kickass venues Projector X, Hard Rock Cafe, and Moonstone.

*Eatmepoptart 17th Birthday at Projector X Riverside, 2022.* Photo: Ashok

Whatever the changes we encountered, our values have always remained constant: we aim to connect with everyone in the room through music, and always do our utmost best to ensure everyone has a great time at our shows. The crowds have always defined us and made it possible for us to do what we do. No matter what your background is, no matter how you wear your hair, to us, you are the most perfect and the most fabulous people we could ever ask for. We truly appreciate your hearts and your support. We love you so much!

*Halloween at OverEasy, 2023*. Photo: Colossal Photos

Looking forward, our time might be limited (Getting older means longer hangovers and more backaches!), but we are still looking to expand our community and welcome new faces. Starting in January 2024, we will kickstart a new weekly residency in the Ruby Lounge at The Projector Cineleisure- where, along with our signature nights, we plan to introduce new parties flirting with genres like house, electronic and techno.

Can’t wait for that, but in the meantime, come celebrate a special Eatmepoptart’s 18th Birthday with us on 16 Dec at The Projector Cineleisure!

Adrian / weelikeme

All of us at Eatmepoptart would like to thank our partners, venues, and artists, everyone whom we have worked with,
and most importantly, all of you who have supported us in one way or another over the past 18 years.
We wouldn’t be here without your love and support.

Eatmepoptart’s 18th Birthday happens on 16 Dec at Projector Cineleisure across two rooms.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

THE HISTORY OF EATMEPOPTART

by Adrian Wee