Home-grown Hydeout aims to be S-E Asia's answer to Coachella

Rapper A$AP Rocky (left) and electronic act DJ Snake will play at Hydeout next year.
Rapper A$AP Rocky (left) and electronic act DJ Snake will play at Hydeout next year. PHOTOS: BLADI, DJ SNAKE

Rappers A$AP Rocky and Gucci Mane, electronic acts DJ Snake, Myrne, San Holo and Sam Feldt, and pop singer Rita Ora are among the first wave of acts announced for Hydeout, a multi-genre music festival making its debut here in April next year.

To be held at The Meadow at Gardens by the Bay over two weekends - on April 10 and 11, and April 17 and 18 - the star-studded, homegrown festival is being pegged as South-east Asia's answer to California's Coachella music festival.

Speaking exclusively to The Straits Times, Hydeout executive producer Chan Wee Teck, 48, says: "We looked at what was lacking in the spectrum of music festivals held here, and we also took references from both international and regional shows... We're looking to build Hydeout as a Coachella for the region."

But unlike Coachella, which is held over two weekends with the same line-up each week, Hydeout will have different acts for each of the four days.

Mr Chan says more top international, regional and local acts will be unveiled in the lead-up to the festival and that there will be "contemporary names" popular on streaming services.

The data-driven curation of music acts was done using tools such as Spotify, YouTube and Google Trends to assess each act's social media presence and relevance.

"It was insight-driven because we wanted to make sure the acts and the names resonate with our audience - not just here, but in the region," says Mr Chan.

"What differentiates us from other festivals is that we're not terribly concerned about the genre, we're just bringing in the latest sounds."

He leads a collective called HydeNSeek Entertainment that has run large-scale festivals locally, regionally and internationally.

While all of the acts announced so far have played here before, the festival marks the first large-scale performances here for A$AP Rocky, Gucci Mane and Rita Ora, who will perform across several stages around The Meadow.

DJ-producer Myrne, who is among the local acts featured, will also produce an anthem for the festival.

Mr Chan says the festival grounds will be transformed to make the experience immersive.

"Music is a key part of the experience, but we want it to be a social playground that allows you to capture moments at the event... The goal is to build Hydeout as an iconic music destination."

The organisers are expecting 15,000 visitors a day.

Ticket prices start at $138 a day, with registration for early-bird tickets open now at www.hydeout.sg

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 09, 2019, with the headline Home-grown Hydeout aims to be S-E Asia's answer to Coachella. Subscribe