DJ Jordan Adam

Honestly, it started almost by accident. Bangkok is my second home — I have been coming here for over 25 years. On a visit a few years ago, I played a DJ set at a private party, playing what I always play: old school R&B and Hip Hop. That one set led to conversations with bar managers and people in the room who wanted to know more. One thing led to another, and over the years I found myself playing at bars across the city. For the last few years I've been doing Songkran events around Sukhumvit, which gave me a real feel for the market.

What became clear to me was that this music had an audience here that wasn't being served in a dedicated way. Bangkok has incredible bars, incredible clubs, and some genuinely world-class DJs who all touch this music in their sets. But there wasn't a specific branded event built entirely around it. I'm not saying nobody plays this music here. What I'm saying is there was no home for it. No consistent, credible night where this was the whole point.

I thought the time might be right for a one-off party, with the intention of running it every couple of months if the response was there. So before booking a venue or selling a single ticket, I launched an online community just to gauge interest. Within a month it had grown to thousands of followers, and the inboxes were full of people asking where and when.

When we went on sale on 20 May, the early birds sold out in the first 24 hours. Half the general admission was gone within the first three days. We have since sold out of general admission entirely, with only a couple of table bookings remaining. I'll be honest, I was not expecting that kind of response. It tells you everything you need to know. People want a place to go where they can reconnect with the music, relive the memories, and have a proper night out without any of the modern-day noise getting in the way.

Authenticity. That is the short answer.

2010 is now 16 years ago, but it marks the end of what I consider the golden era of this music. The 20-year window from 1990 to 2010 produced some of the most dynamic, culturally significant music ever made in R&B and Hip Hop. If you think about 1996 and 1997 alone — the releases that came out of those two years, the artists who were at the peak of their powers and at the centre of mainstream culture — it was an extraordinary period.

After 2010, the sound shifted. Not better or worse, just different. And if I didn't draw a line somewhere, then where does it stop? Old school is relative. What feels old school to me might not feel old school to someone else. The cap keeps us honest. It keeps the experience consistent. And it is what makes this night mean something rather than just being another playlist.

The difference is depth. Anyone can put together a playlist of 90s and 2000s hits. What makes a night like this work is the knowledge behind it, the curatorial instinct, the way the music is sequenced and delivered, and the energy in the room that comes from a DJ who genuinely lives inside this music rather than just borrowing from it.

Between the DJs on this lineup there is well over 120 years of combined experience in this music. Every one of them was selected on one basis: they have to know this music inside out. Not just the hits. The deep cuts, the B-sides, the rare stuff, the moments that made rooms erupt in 1998. That knowledge is not something you can fake on the night.

And then there is the MC. El Rafa has been handling microphones for over 25 years. Bangkok will get a real taste of how we used to do it back in the day. That combination of DJ knowledge, MC credibility, and a crowd that genuinely connects with the music is what creates something that feels different. Something that feels real.

It tells me the audience already existed. They just had nowhere to go.

This was about connection, not conversion. Build something people feel before you ask them to buy anything. This music is deeply tied to memory and emotion. People don't just like these songs — they have a relationship with them. People were reminded of who they were when this music was playing, what they were doing, who they were with. I built it around those feelings, and the community responded.

Leave the attitude at home. There is none of that here.

This is a friendly room. A community room. We are welcoming absolutely everybody — no division, no hierarchy, no nonsense. Just people who love the music, coming together to celebrate it. That spirit of solidarity and shared experience is what made these nights special in Sydney all those years ago, and it is what we want to bring to Bangkok.

Walk in and expect to feel like you stepped back in time. The sounds, the culture, the vibe, the way the DJs are playing, the way the MC is working the room. It is going to feel like something you have not experienced in a long time. And the crowd coming to this event is exactly the crowd you want to be in a room with — a sensible crowd, up for it, people who do not go out every weekend but who want a place that is actually built for them. That is what this event is.

A monthly event. A recognised name in Bangkok nightlife. The go-to spot for anyone who loves this music and wants something real.

I also want it to be a platform for Bangkok's finest DJs who rarely get the chance to play a full old school set. I have already been in contact with some well-known names in the Hip Hop and R&B space here, and when I asked if they wanted to do a strictly old school set they jumped at it. That tells you something. The hunger is there on both sides of the decks. Everybody adores this music.

And beyond Bangkok, I am already thinking about bringing this back to Sydney. If Old School & Chill can become the event that gave Bangkok's best DJs a stage and introduced the city to something it did not know it was missing, then we have done our job.