So after months of rumors and false alarms it’s finally been confirmed that iconic indie bar and music venue Cosmic Café at RCA will be closing next month. In the eight years that the venue has been open at RCA it has grown into one of the leading venues in town to catch live music and has played host to some of the best parties and gigs of recent years.

 

The final international act to grace the inside of its concrete walls will be the US Indie rockers Cloud Nothings on June 20, while the management have confirmed that there will be a final night party (details to be confirmed) on June 28.

The slightly ramshackle venue has played host to leading international acts such as The Oh Sees, Mac DeMarco and most recently Postiljonen as well the crème de la crème of the local scene, such as The Jukks, Greasy Café, Singhtoe Numchoke and Yellow Fang, to name just a few.

It’s also been a popular choice with many of the leading club nights from the molam sounds of Isaan Dancehall to the cheesy pop of Trasher parties.

The good news is Cosmic is not dead, just relocating. The exact new location is still to be confirmed, though it will be somewhere in Ekkamai. We spoke to owner Kong Suvarnapradib, who also runs Moose and the currently closed Sonic, about the reasons for quitting and the plans for the future?

When and where is it moving? 
Kong: It’s been eight years since Cosmic Café started at RCA. We know the crowds we get are good, but it’s become a little too static and steady. We can’t really grow where we are so we decided to move. The original plan was to move to a space underneath Moose on Ekkamai Soi 21, so we terminated the contract at RCA. Unfortunately, we now can’t get that space so we’re now looking for a new choice, but still in Ekkamai. We can confirm we’re going to open for sure but it just depends on when we can find the new spot.

Are you going to change anything about the space or the vibe?
Kong: We definitely want to keep the same vibe but focus more and more on international gigs which can be from our team or other organizers (like Popscene, Have You Heard? and Zudrangma). It will be similar to what we have done before but there would be more international acts and less young local bands.  

What’s been your favorite night, best experiences at the original Cosmic?
Kong: There are so many, of course, but two nights made me so happy. One was Cosmic Café Café, where we had Thai comedians like Thep Phongam performing with The Jukks and old classic Thai band Chatri. That was really cool. The other would be the Motown party where I got acts like YKPB, Singhtoe Numchoke, Tul Apartmentkhunpa and Old School Band jamming together on stage performing only Motown. It was great.