Live Music Bar Owner and Musician, Ian Tan Engineers Gig Music Hall with Design and Discipline
- Amanda Virrey
- Mar 21
- 11 min read
There’s something about being a musician that drives one to envision many things, one after another. It may be due to the complexities that one endeavors to harmonize uniquely or one’s receptiveness to inspirations that prompt one to create a string of award-winning music.
For Ian Tan, being the bassist and a songwriter of the popular Filipino band, Freestyle, birthing masterpieces flowed through him organically and continuously. This flow has thus led him to fulfill his dream of building an enhanced version of his first music studio, one where he could host local musicians to perform in a state-of-the-art music hall and offer a cozy space to diners, serving them with flavourful dishes that are made with fresh produce from local farms.
This dream of our featured visionary did not come easy, yet he saw those difficult experiences as mathematical equations to solve with an intention to uncover the right answers, create a better version of it and expand to other avenues where he could connect with people who share his vision, like his new live music bar, Gig Music Hall.
So, we sat with Ian Tan inside Gig Music Hall to uncover the motivations, designs and disciplines he has applied onto his hospitality business.
What was your inspiration behind GigMusic Hall?
It's really a long journey. Back in 1998, I built a small business. It was a Gig Music Studio. I started really small in a 15 square meter studio room, where I hosted the musicians to rehearse. I created a recording studio to facilitate art and recording from digital to physical media. After 26 years we're here now in a big place. We're now incorporating food, live events, artists performances, together with great dishes in a bigger space where we can accommodate parties, events, and concerts.
What made you skip from the recording studio to something as grand and multifaceted as a restaurant and bar with live bands?
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