Featuring Chris Sim and Ian Lee

YOOHOO~~ In a shophouse, with co-founder of PK Records Ian Lee who heads up production, we discover something called "Geylang bleed". But also what keeps him going, in an industry where the balance between passion and money is a notoriously unforgiveable struggle—"the sustainability of working solely in music unfeasible". As the heart and soul of PK Records, the label takes on artists with authenticity—I wrote this song because I'm f***ing sad, not because I want 20k streams.

In the same week, we tag along for photographer Chris Sim's photo shoot with ambient musician Kin Leonn to see how Chris works and why he stays invested in the music scene, prioritising what he learns from the people he meets over any material gains. As for how North East Social Club came about (since 2018), co-founder Chris says it stemmed from "a place of annoyance", to do things the way they wanted and to present the bands that they wanted to see live but organisations didn't want to work with for varied reasons.

This series was commissioned by Esplanade Offstage for Baybeats, the alternative music festival presented annually by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.