I remember I was seventeen when I first started my term in Stage 4. Back then we were known as Stage 4 Productions. We were a group of twenty or so year olds struggling to make our mark in society. When I first joined, we were housed at Jalan Pemimpin along with a friendly catering company. They graciously rented part of their space to us. Very humble it was. A small warehouse area and an office space that, when put together, was probably the size of a HDB flat’s bedroom. Back then we were dealing with brands such as Outline and Martin. These brands were like the Levis and Luis Vuitton respectively during that time. I was so new then and I was still studying at Ngee Ann. I needed cash and Stage 4 allowed for the flexibility and income. I still remember how Dharmesh (D) taught me how to set up the sound system at a void deck birthday party. He would run the cables and patch them talking me through it step by step. He was one month my senior, up till date he lays claim to that honour. Nothing registered during the first set up. All I knew was that I wanted to learn. Hungry I was without a doubt.
Over time, D and I became the tag team partners. Henry, the only full-time staff at that time, would be the logistics and brains behind the operations. Everything from what to purchase, what was needed, what to service, what to pack was in his charge. Slowly but surely D and I picked up the skills and took on bigger responsibilities. We had the privilege of working with some of the best individuals that I know of till date. We had muscle men like David who could execute a set up all by himself without whining or shying. There were many who were pivotal to the growth of the company but I shall not name them for fear of missing out anyone along the way. For those who have been, their memories will tell them who they are. Continuing, D and I picked up valuable skills along the way. He became inclined towards lighting while I took a great deal of interest in audio. We were doing very simple events back then. Our core business came from mobile discos for birthdays and weddings. We had events for puberty ceremonies, naming ceremonies and even sixty year old birthdays. It was a norm that if we did the birthday of one person, we would naturally be the AV support for his wedding, his children’s birthday and so forth. Along the way I got fascinated by audio and its wonders. I revelled in the fact that audio posed so many challenges. That was one reason why my thirst for knowledge never died. I was always experimenting and looking out for more things to learn and I started learning audio through simple DJ mixers. The weekends were packed with events. With David and Henry running from place to place for set ups while D and myself would be sound guys or DJs at the events. Well, being a DJ has had its perks, its ups and downs. But I will blog about that on another occasion. It was a party every weekend. Of course, all those were followed by back aches and scratches on the hands and body here and there. The annoying part is that you only discover where you were injured when you’re in the shower. The touch of mere H2O irritating the affected areas. I still remember once how David and myself were placing a speaker onto a stand when the speaker dropped. Since we were setting up near a stage, the speaker dropped on the stage. Being the proactive individual I was my instant reaction was to protect the speaker and hence I went for it. Well, bad call. The speaker hit my fingers and crushed it on the stage. I ended up having a large blood clot that lasted for weeks. Consolation was that my boss allowed me to sit in front of the van for the rest of the day because I had an injury.
We started growing rapidly. Our inventory doubled and we started investing in more intelligent lights, speakers and equipment. We set our foot into road shows with companies such as SingTel. These were events that were contracted to us by event companies. Slowly we started digressing to the non-Indian market. Of course, we were still very much dependant on the Indian industry and we have never forgotten that till date. We were still doing private events but only, not as much. Our marketing for such events dropped and I was asked to handle the mobile disco aspect of the company. I would handle quotations, meetings and programme line-ups for any mobile disco event that came along. We never went in search of the mobile disco events but only executed those which came our way. Along the way I became more confident at spinning. I was under the tutelage of the resident DJ at Asoka. After I became more confident at the console my boss would make me spin at every event he hosted. Without fail, I will be next to him when he is hosting. Believe me when I say that for an unknown host, my boss was a staple for any events. Most customers would request for him to be the MC for their events. He was funny, witty, and knew how best to entertain the guests. We had this simple concept to every event that there should not be any fast numbers during dinner or pre-dinner. Upbeat numbers were always reserved for the dance floor. Pre-dinner was only instrumentals while dinner was accompanied by slow ballads or anything melodious and popular. This was how my boss liked it, and this was how I liked it. It seems too weird to me, to have fast moving songs playing in the background while dinner was going on. There was opposition to this by guests, without a doubt. Some of them wanted fast numbers right from the start. Well, it seemed to me then that if he or she had such a clue as to how music should flow in a party, then they should’ve have just told us the order of songs to be played right from the start. I remember how also, that my boss would ‘deliver’ me to the venue and I would set up the system myself while he heads back home to change for hosting. So there I would be setting up the console, speakers and lights myself. During these periods, D was in the army, hence I was handicapped. When D was around we used to have so much fun setting up. We would do everything right. I mean EVERYTHING right. But yet, there will not be any sound in the speakers. We sit and scratch out heads to such a point that we exhaust all other alternatives. We call Henry and we will get screwed. We call boss, well, we still get screwed. Most of the time they are busy with other events and do not like to be disturbed. So we would keep trying everything else and finally realise that somewhere along the way some equipment would be fooling with us, either the mixer or in most cases the compressor. Honestly a headache when you know your event is starting in about thirty minutes.
These are just some of the memories that I keep with me. During this phase we had already moved into Mactech Building and were doing events with MediaCorp production houses. There came about one big break after another. We did Lock Up concerts, Dark Keys, Oli 96.8 etc. One special event for me was Oli’s ‘Inimai 24’. It was a 24 hour concert and live programme held at Sentosa to commemorate Oli’s first year anniversary since being converted into a 24 hour channel. I was spinning that night. The console was high above and gave me a nice top view of the crowd dancing on the field below. Barely with experience, I had over a thousand crowd gyrating to the Indian music that I was laying out. It seems pleasant right now but the shivers I felt back then could have spiked on the Richter scale. Those were some breaks that Stage 4 had, propelling us to doing bigger events. We kept expanding into the non-Indian market while still trapping waters in the Indian arena. I tell you now that it was a whole lot of work. It was amazing how we were gifted with some of the finest individuals that I have ever come across thus far. They can work tirelessly for 36 hours and still continue going strong. At this juncture I have to express my greatest respect for the fellas who I have worked with.
I worked full-time with Stage 4 at one point. We had already moved into our next premise at Jalan Tenterram by then. I remember how I got my first off after fourteen days of non-stop working. By non-stop I mean late nights with a few hours of rest in between and then back to event. I would go home at about 3 am after an event and will have to report back to work at 9 am the same day. Mind you as well, I was not doing some office job and working late. I was out carrying equipment and getting myself mentally and physically drained. This was life at that time. My second off came after thirteen consecutive days of non-stop working. Non-stop working in the same fashion as dictated earlier. The third off day, came after another thirteen days of arduous work as well. I was exhausted, aching and cursing at my plight. I was probably about 21 or 22 years old then. This was also the period when Stage 4 started moving into trussing and video equipment. So now, we not only do Audio and Lights but also Trussing and Video. Our crew size became bigger and we were handling more than we could. But every show was executed with finesse. We knew that we had each other’s back and that we would get the event done well and good. Along this way, I became more proficient in DJing and Audio engineering. I would spin part-time at Asoka and was getting audio advice from the one person I know who is good at it, Lava. DJ Sara became mentor for Disc Jockeying while Lava became the sound guru. I had the best to work under and I have been blessed. It was during this time also, we executed Stage 4 Counts Down. The first Indian new year countdown party in Singapore. It was held at Fort Canning and produced by D and Vishnu. Boss was the executive producer, naturally, and Sam and Lava were in an advisory position. It was months of hard work and preparations for the guys. Lucky me I was serving the nation wearing green. But of course, having been around with Stage 4 for so long, how could I miss our own event? I was spinning at the party. I cannot find the mot juste for what I experienced that evening.
After all this came about Boom Box AV, a subsidiary of Stage 4 AV (S) Pte Ltd. There was a name change for Stage 4 and Boom Box was a company incepted to cater to the mobile industry. Again, I was allowed the opportunity of handling that company. The experience managing that company was tremendous. However, due to certain academic ambitions of mine, we had to drop it soon after. By this time, Stage 4 had moved into its current place at Toh Guan. We are now at a point where mobile disco events are the last thing on our minds. We have treaded into equipment such as concert series speakers and LED walls. We are engaged by top brands and large organisations to be the contractors. We built a strong client base that gives us a bulk of our events while adhoc events take up the remainder of our time. A highlight for me, personally, during our tenure at the current premises was ‘Vidiya Vidiya Deepavali 2007’. The Deepavali countdown show at Race Course road that happened three days after ‘Utsav’. Three days of set up for that event with about two hours of sleep in between. The incessant rain and winds spoiled every aspect of our set up. The desperation and exhaustion that came along running around and climbing the truss again and again. At one point I was asked a favour by one of the organisers to hang a picture at the top of the truss. It was one of those pictures that Indian homes have outside their doors to ward off evil. So there I went climbing up the truss to hang that little picture so that we may be released from the torment of the tumultuous rains. Problems were there but the relentless spirit of the crew held everything together. That event showcased over forty intelligent lightings, a benchmark that has not yet been reached by another local Indian event. Not even by the countdown event in 2008.
All along, there was blood, sweat and toil. The toil of polytechnic students like D, myself and many others. If I am who I am today, Stage 4 was one major contributor. The feel of dollar notes in my hand along with the dirt from the equipment taught me the value of hard work and money. The skills acquired has not left me ever since. I still remember how to patch an entire system with little difficulty. Some may perceive this as blowing one’s own trumpet but I see this as my gratitude. A man who doesn’t have gratitude doesn’t have anything at all. This blog hardly captures my nine years of memories with the company but for now, this would do it. Also, of late, I have been asked questions such as, “Is stage 4 still around?” I hope the LED wall at Thaipusam had answered that question.
Regards,
Mugi K
P.S. I left out names for the sole reason that I have not sought permission from the respective individuals for placement of their names on my blog. For those whose names have been mentioned, they have been mentioned in good-faith and in no manner that shall be detrimental to their reputation or whatsoever. I apologise if I may have caused discomfort to anyone along the course of me expressing my opinions and thoughts.
Over time, D and I became the tag team partners. Henry, the only full-time staff at that time, would be the logistics and brains behind the operations. Everything from what to purchase, what was needed, what to service, what to pack was in his charge. Slowly but surely D and I picked up the skills and took on bigger responsibilities. We had the privilege of working with some of the best individuals that I know of till date. We had muscle men like David who could execute a set up all by himself without whining or shying. There were many who were pivotal to the growth of the company but I shall not name them for fear of missing out anyone along the way. For those who have been, their memories will tell them who they are. Continuing, D and I picked up valuable skills along the way. He became inclined towards lighting while I took a great deal of interest in audio. We were doing very simple events back then. Our core business came from mobile discos for birthdays and weddings. We had events for puberty ceremonies, naming ceremonies and even sixty year old birthdays. It was a norm that if we did the birthday of one person, we would naturally be the AV support for his wedding, his children’s birthday and so forth. Along the way I got fascinated by audio and its wonders. I revelled in the fact that audio posed so many challenges. That was one reason why my thirst for knowledge never died. I was always experimenting and looking out for more things to learn and I started learning audio through simple DJ mixers. The weekends were packed with events. With David and Henry running from place to place for set ups while D and myself would be sound guys or DJs at the events. Well, being a DJ has had its perks, its ups and downs. But I will blog about that on another occasion. It was a party every weekend. Of course, all those were followed by back aches and scratches on the hands and body here and there. The annoying part is that you only discover where you were injured when you’re in the shower. The touch of mere H2O irritating the affected areas. I still remember once how David and myself were placing a speaker onto a stand when the speaker dropped. Since we were setting up near a stage, the speaker dropped on the stage. Being the proactive individual I was my instant reaction was to protect the speaker and hence I went for it. Well, bad call. The speaker hit my fingers and crushed it on the stage. I ended up having a large blood clot that lasted for weeks. Consolation was that my boss allowed me to sit in front of the van for the rest of the day because I had an injury.
We started growing rapidly. Our inventory doubled and we started investing in more intelligent lights, speakers and equipment. We set our foot into road shows with companies such as SingTel. These were events that were contracted to us by event companies. Slowly we started digressing to the non-Indian market. Of course, we were still very much dependant on the Indian industry and we have never forgotten that till date. We were still doing private events but only, not as much. Our marketing for such events dropped and I was asked to handle the mobile disco aspect of the company. I would handle quotations, meetings and programme line-ups for any mobile disco event that came along. We never went in search of the mobile disco events but only executed those which came our way. Along the way I became more confident at spinning. I was under the tutelage of the resident DJ at Asoka. After I became more confident at the console my boss would make me spin at every event he hosted. Without fail, I will be next to him when he is hosting. Believe me when I say that for an unknown host, my boss was a staple for any events. Most customers would request for him to be the MC for their events. He was funny, witty, and knew how best to entertain the guests. We had this simple concept to every event that there should not be any fast numbers during dinner or pre-dinner. Upbeat numbers were always reserved for the dance floor. Pre-dinner was only instrumentals while dinner was accompanied by slow ballads or anything melodious and popular. This was how my boss liked it, and this was how I liked it. It seems too weird to me, to have fast moving songs playing in the background while dinner was going on. There was opposition to this by guests, without a doubt. Some of them wanted fast numbers right from the start. Well, it seemed to me then that if he or she had such a clue as to how music should flow in a party, then they should’ve have just told us the order of songs to be played right from the start. I remember how also, that my boss would ‘deliver’ me to the venue and I would set up the system myself while he heads back home to change for hosting. So there I would be setting up the console, speakers and lights myself. During these periods, D was in the army, hence I was handicapped. When D was around we used to have so much fun setting up. We would do everything right. I mean EVERYTHING right. But yet, there will not be any sound in the speakers. We sit and scratch out heads to such a point that we exhaust all other alternatives. We call Henry and we will get screwed. We call boss, well, we still get screwed. Most of the time they are busy with other events and do not like to be disturbed. So we would keep trying everything else and finally realise that somewhere along the way some equipment would be fooling with us, either the mixer or in most cases the compressor. Honestly a headache when you know your event is starting in about thirty minutes.
These are just some of the memories that I keep with me. During this phase we had already moved into Mactech Building and were doing events with MediaCorp production houses. There came about one big break after another. We did Lock Up concerts, Dark Keys, Oli 96.8 etc. One special event for me was Oli’s ‘Inimai 24’. It was a 24 hour concert and live programme held at Sentosa to commemorate Oli’s first year anniversary since being converted into a 24 hour channel. I was spinning that night. The console was high above and gave me a nice top view of the crowd dancing on the field below. Barely with experience, I had over a thousand crowd gyrating to the Indian music that I was laying out. It seems pleasant right now but the shivers I felt back then could have spiked on the Richter scale. Those were some breaks that Stage 4 had, propelling us to doing bigger events. We kept expanding into the non-Indian market while still trapping waters in the Indian arena. I tell you now that it was a whole lot of work. It was amazing how we were gifted with some of the finest individuals that I have ever come across thus far. They can work tirelessly for 36 hours and still continue going strong. At this juncture I have to express my greatest respect for the fellas who I have worked with.
I worked full-time with Stage 4 at one point. We had already moved into our next premise at Jalan Tenterram by then. I remember how I got my first off after fourteen days of non-stop working. By non-stop I mean late nights with a few hours of rest in between and then back to event. I would go home at about 3 am after an event and will have to report back to work at 9 am the same day. Mind you as well, I was not doing some office job and working late. I was out carrying equipment and getting myself mentally and physically drained. This was life at that time. My second off came after thirteen consecutive days of non-stop working. Non-stop working in the same fashion as dictated earlier. The third off day, came after another thirteen days of arduous work as well. I was exhausted, aching and cursing at my plight. I was probably about 21 or 22 years old then. This was also the period when Stage 4 started moving into trussing and video equipment. So now, we not only do Audio and Lights but also Trussing and Video. Our crew size became bigger and we were handling more than we could. But every show was executed with finesse. We knew that we had each other’s back and that we would get the event done well and good. Along this way, I became more proficient in DJing and Audio engineering. I would spin part-time at Asoka and was getting audio advice from the one person I know who is good at it, Lava. DJ Sara became mentor for Disc Jockeying while Lava became the sound guru. I had the best to work under and I have been blessed. It was during this time also, we executed Stage 4 Counts Down. The first Indian new year countdown party in Singapore. It was held at Fort Canning and produced by D and Vishnu. Boss was the executive producer, naturally, and Sam and Lava were in an advisory position. It was months of hard work and preparations for the guys. Lucky me I was serving the nation wearing green. But of course, having been around with Stage 4 for so long, how could I miss our own event? I was spinning at the party. I cannot find the mot juste for what I experienced that evening.
After all this came about Boom Box AV, a subsidiary of Stage 4 AV (S) Pte Ltd. There was a name change for Stage 4 and Boom Box was a company incepted to cater to the mobile industry. Again, I was allowed the opportunity of handling that company. The experience managing that company was tremendous. However, due to certain academic ambitions of mine, we had to drop it soon after. By this time, Stage 4 had moved into its current place at Toh Guan. We are now at a point where mobile disco events are the last thing on our minds. We have treaded into equipment such as concert series speakers and LED walls. We are engaged by top brands and large organisations to be the contractors. We built a strong client base that gives us a bulk of our events while adhoc events take up the remainder of our time. A highlight for me, personally, during our tenure at the current premises was ‘Vidiya Vidiya Deepavali 2007’. The Deepavali countdown show at Race Course road that happened three days after ‘Utsav’. Three days of set up for that event with about two hours of sleep in between. The incessant rain and winds spoiled every aspect of our set up. The desperation and exhaustion that came along running around and climbing the truss again and again. At one point I was asked a favour by one of the organisers to hang a picture at the top of the truss. It was one of those pictures that Indian homes have outside their doors to ward off evil. So there I went climbing up the truss to hang that little picture so that we may be released from the torment of the tumultuous rains. Problems were there but the relentless spirit of the crew held everything together. That event showcased over forty intelligent lightings, a benchmark that has not yet been reached by another local Indian event. Not even by the countdown event in 2008.
All along, there was blood, sweat and toil. The toil of polytechnic students like D, myself and many others. If I am who I am today, Stage 4 was one major contributor. The feel of dollar notes in my hand along with the dirt from the equipment taught me the value of hard work and money. The skills acquired has not left me ever since. I still remember how to patch an entire system with little difficulty. Some may perceive this as blowing one’s own trumpet but I see this as my gratitude. A man who doesn’t have gratitude doesn’t have anything at all. This blog hardly captures my nine years of memories with the company but for now, this would do it. Also, of late, I have been asked questions such as, “Is stage 4 still around?” I hope the LED wall at Thaipusam had answered that question.
Regards,
Mugi K
P.S. I left out names for the sole reason that I have not sought permission from the respective individuals for placement of their names on my blog. For those whose names have been mentioned, they have been mentioned in good-faith and in no manner that shall be detrimental to their reputation or whatsoever. I apologise if I may have caused discomfort to anyone along the course of me expressing my opinions and thoughts.
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i read it, eyes moistened .. Only you can pen the words this beautifully .. :)
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ReplyDeleteWell...those were years that are worth remniscing. But too much to say considering 9 years. The summary doesn't do justice.
ReplyDelete