With an impressive collection of clubs across the cities and high profile bookings from Afrojack to Kaskade invading Shanghai last month, Sino Group has set the stage for a huge 2016. Already rising UK house star Hot Since 82 played Fusion on February 3. MYST will welcome Brazilian house and techno favorite Alok on February 20 and three-time DJ Magazine’s number one DJ, Tiësto, on February 23.
“For many years, Tiësto didn’t play clubs. For his first club show in Asia, he chose MYST,” raves Sino Group marketing director Rachel Tong.
Although their Shanghai empire features clubs of their creations (MYST, Fusion, Diva, Phebe) and a growing number of assets they have purchased (M1NT, M2, Linx), Sino Group remains shrouded in mystery.
A subsidiary of the Fujian-based Noah’s Ark group, Sino Group began their Shanghai assault a little over two years ago with the creation of MYST. Despite already having a presence in the city with the Hengshan Lu fleshpot Phebe, the company spent months transforming the old JJ’s on Yan’an Lu into MYST because “we wanted to do something that had an international connection.”
“I travel a lot to big cities like New York, Sydney and Madrid, where they have a lot of entertainment,” Tong explains. “We thought it was time for Shanghai to be like that. Right now Asia is the heart of the world, China is the heart of Asia and Shanghai is the head of China, so why can’t we be more like these cities?”
Although MYST made its debut on DJ Magazine’s Top 100 Clubs list last year, Tong recalls the struggle of the early days. “We didn’t have any references, which was a problem,” she recalls with numerous agencies in America turning them down.
However, at a time when shows in Shanghai by Top 100 DJs were rare, Sino Group succeeded through old fashioned hustle. Tong credits early bookings of Steve Aoki, Ferry Corsten and Redfoo of LMFAO for turning the tide.
“Now agencies know who we are and that there actually is a market in Shanghai where people really enjoy this music,” Tong says. “We’ve become more international.”
High-profile bookings from deadmau5 to Paul Kalkbrenner are now the norm and are spread across Sino Group’s vast clubbing empire.
“We understand you can’t have two MYSTs because not everyone likes EDM,” Tong explains. “We have Chinese clients, international clients and ABC clients who all want different things. So if one MYST can’t provide for the market, we try to open more clubs to cater to these other markets.”
While MYST takes its cues from Las Vegas trends with its international bookings, Linx provides a space for Chinese high rollers to be close to visiting stars like B.o.B. M1NT continues to be a Bund destination, while Diva and Phebe caters to aspiring high rollers looking for a hedonistic time.
Meanwhile Sino Group has high hopes for its Xintiandi based club Fusion, which has already hosted the likes of Nicky Romero and Matthew Koma. Although smaller than MYST, Tong describes Fusion’s customers as “pioneers in the party scene.”
“Honestly, while we get a lot of respect from our normal customers, some people in the creative industries don’t really respect us. They think we are very commercial,” Tong notes. “So we said, ‘Alright, look at what we’re going to do with Fusion. It’s still going to be very professional, but we’re going to get a lot of really good, skillful DJs.’”
While the last two years haven’t always been rosy, with Tong pointing to 2014’s Top 100 DJs Festival and the closure of The 7th Floor as missteps, Sino Group has big plans for the year.
There’s an added emphasis on building up its themed parties and plans to hold a contest for local DJs, where the audience-anointed winner will be offered a three-year contract.
“We want to create a stage for talents in our business,” Tong explains, noting that their resident DJs have been invited to prestigious clubs like Space Ibiza.
“We want to show local DJs in China that it’s not a dream to perform in Ibiza or other international stages,” Tong says. “You can do it if you work on it.”
> Alok: Feb 20, 10.30pm, RMB150. MYST, see event listing.
>Tiesto: Feb 23, 10.30pm, RMB380-580. MYST, tickets. See event listing.
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We're giving away a pair of tickets to Alok. For your chance to win, e-mail win@urbanatomy.com with the subject 'Alok' by Feb 18.
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