As We Slowly Disappear: Tan Boon Liat Building & October Cherries
A Vinyl Listening Session & Retrospective
As Tan Boon Liat Building nears the close of an era ahead of an impending collective sale, two parallel histories converge for a single evening. Both the building’s industrial shell and the fuzz-laden grooves of 1970s psych-rock outfit October Cherries share common soil—emerging from the same transformative decade, anchoring local memory, and gradually slipping from contemporary sight.
Hosted within Journey East, this listening session brings together music, spatial history, and archival sound. With October Cherries drummer Richard Khan present in the room, the needle drops on original pressings that once echoed across Singapore's dance halls, clubs, and living rooms before finding listeners as far as Europe and South America. It is an intentional pause to listen closely to what the city leaves behind.
Archival Spotlight: October Cherries & Richard Khan
Cutting against the grain of the 1970s regional music landscape, October Cherries absorbed garage rock, funk, psych, and pop into self-produced records that reached well beyond Singapore’s borders. Drummer Richard Khan joins the session to share firsthand reflections, context, and stories behind the recordings as the original vinyl tracks are played live.
Opening Keynote: Calvin Chua (Spatial Anatomy)
Calvin Chua is an architect and urban strategist whose practice investigates aging urban infrastructure, overlooked socio-spatial histories, and the possibilities of adaptive reuse. Following his 2024 publication Singapore Strata Malls: A Retrospective for the Future, Chua opens the evening with a reflection framing Tan Boon Liat Building within Singapore’s broader arc of urban transformation, collective memory, and spatial inheritance.
Programme Partner: Journey East
Since 1995, Journey East has occupied a distinct niche in Singapore's design landscape, housing curated collections of restored mid-century originals, reclaimed wood furnishings, and contemporary home design. As a longtime tenant of Tan Boon Liat Building, the showroom provides an intimate backdrop centered on character, craft, and objects meant to endure.
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