New Bar Tokyo Sing Song Will Bring Surprise to Newtown Nights
Just when you thought Newtown had seen and done it all, a new project is set to take on unexplored cultural frontiers.
Just when you thought Newtown had seen and done it all, a new project is set to take on unexplored cultural frontiers: Tokyo Sing Song. Even though the nitty gritty details are shrouded in secrecy, we can tell you that on October 11, a late-night bar will open in a King Street basement. Featuring Japanese-style cocktails and a vending machine selling underwear, it'll be informed by a Tokyo aesthetic, but every month, a different curator will be running the show.
Their plans will be kept a mystery up until the moment they happen. All we know is that, four nights a week, sometime between midnight and final drinks, performances will occur. They're promising to "excite, confuse, frustrate and stimulate", but there are strictly "no set times, no theme, no rules".
The first curator to don the Tokyo Sing Song mantle is Melbourne-based artist, lighting designer and "advocate of pyjamas as semi-formal pleasure wear" Duckpond, in collaboration with interior designer Michelle Leslie of Curious & the Specimen. If you've ever experienced the Big Day Out's 'Lilypad' or MONA's Dark Faux Mo, you've interacted with Duckpond's work.
"I was thrilled to be invited to join the project by my friend Michelle," he told us. "We've worked together to make the space suitably insane for late night voyeurs ... I'm very excited to collaborate with Sydney's next generation of party practitioners and bring together many different styles and philosophies into a very intimate confined space. Since it's a basement with a very late licence, we're not constrained by tiresome concepts like daylight, and we're looking to create an environment which will no doubt have more split personalities than Yuri Pavlov's favourite hamster."
Japanese aesthetics have long been an influence on Duckpond's work. He explains, "I've always been inspired by Japanese neon, squeaky toys and the dress and culture of Japan, from traditional all the way through to the very modern." Back in 2002, he even created a Japanese version of the Lilypad, "where we had Japanese dancers and performers doing tea ceremonies and calligraphy lessons."
When I ask him for hints as to what we can expect from his stint at Tokyo Sing Song, he's reluctant to spoil the surprise. "Well, I can't tell you what to expect, as that would be non sequitous. The drink menu sounds suitably amazing, and there is a great representation of many styles of music, performance and personality awaiting to engage and entice our loving visitors. Aside from that, I'm ready to be just as surprised as you!"
Tokyo Sing Song opens to the public on Friday, October 11. Find it in the basement of 145 King Street, Newtown.
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