SINGAPORE - Rappers A$AP Rocky and Gucci Mane, electronic acts DJ Snake, Myrne, San Holo and Sam Feldt, and pop act Rita Ora are among the first wave of acts announced for Hydeout, a multi-genre music festival making its debut here in April next year.
To be held at The Meadow at Gardens by the Bay over two weekends on April 10 and 11, and April 17 and 18, the star-studded, homegrown festival is being pegged as South-east Asia's answer to California's Coachella music festival.
Speaking exclusively to The Straits Times, Mr Chan Wee Teck, 48, executive producer of Hydeout, says: "We looked at what was lacking in the spectrum of music festivals held here, and we also took references of both international and regional shows...we're looking to build Hydeout as a Coachella for the region."
But unlike Coachella, which is held over two weekends with the same line-up each week, Hydeout will have different acts for each of the four days.
Mr Chan says more top international, regional and local acts will be unveiled in the lead-up to the festival, adding that there will be "contemporary names" popular on streaming services.
The curation of music acts was driven by data, drawing on tools like Spotify, YouTube and Google Trends to assess their social media presence and relevance.
"It was insight-driven because we wanted to make sure the acts and the names resonate with our audience - not just here, but in the region," says Mr Chan. "What differentiates us from other festivals is that we're not terribly concerned about the genre, we're just bringing in the latest sounds."
Mr Chan leads a collective called HydeNSeek Entertainment that has experience running other large scale festivals locally, regionally and internationally.
While all of the acts announced so far have played here before, this will be the first large-scale performances for the likes of A$AP Rocky, Gucci Mane and Rita Ora, who will perform across several stages spread out around The Meadow.
DJ-producer Myrne, who is among the local acts to be featured, will also be producing an anthem for the festival.
Mr Chan says the grounds of the festival will also be transformed to make the experience immersive. "Music is a key part of 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," he says.
The organisers are expecting 15,000 visitors per day.
Ticket prices will start at $138 per day, with registration for early bird tickets open now via www.hydeout.sg.
