Anquan is the solo project of Australian-born musician Andrew Hartwig, vocalist and guitarist for noise rock band Leavings. Based in Southeast Asia since 2017, Anquan has longstanding interests in the meeting of Eastern and Western cultures, the coalescence of noise and harmony, and the relationship between form and intuition. Anquan’s first LP, Moving Continuity, was released in 2022.

Aris Huzaimi is a passionate musician, educator, and performer. He holds a degree in music performance, majoring in Western percussion, under the tutelage of Max Riefer. Aris has been in the industry since 2014 and performed on numerous projects and festivals, both local and international. Notably, Aris has performed at the Sound Bridge Festival (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023), showcasing his commitment to the art form. He was honored with the People’s Choice Award at the Malaysian Percussion Festival (2017), reflecting his dedication and talent. He has collaborated with a lot of professional musicians, groups, institutions, and organizations such as Bernhard Wulff, Dennis Kuhn, and Johannes Fischer, Freiburg Percussion Ensemble, Mannheimer Schlagwerk, and Lubeck Percussion Ensemble. Inspired by the works of Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, and Tō ru Takemitsu, Aris actively engages in free improvisational music, bringing unique interpretations to the stage.

Three electronic musicians come together to deliver the expansive sounds of modular, drone and harsh noise. BA’AH’s modular synthesis creates a wide palette of emotive sounds from serene ambience to aural oppression. SLAUGHTER TABLE brings an incendiary approach to cleaving open the guts of multi-textured harsh noise. NAEAN uses an electric upright bass through effects to forge a sonic cosmos of dystopian horror. Collectively, they rearrange your genetic code and pre-conception of sound. Ear plugs provided.

Black Zenith is Brian O’Reilly on electronics and Darren Moore on drums. They draw influence from the electroacoustic music tradition and noise music as well as the foundations of abstract video art and deep groove, polyrhythms and dub music. Their music is gestural, textured and rhythmic, using modular synthesisers, electronic effects and percussion as pathways to create an evolving improvised dialogue.

Brian O’Reilly works within the fields of electro-acoustic composition, sound installations, moving images, noise music, and a contrabassist focusing on the integration of electronic treatments and extended playing techniques. Brian attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago focusing on sonic art, kinetic sculpture and analog video synthesis utilizing the Sandin Image Processor. He pursued graduate studies in Electronic Music Composition at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Media Arts and Technology program, where his collaborations with Curtis Roads began with the project “Point Line Cloud” which won an Award of Distinction at Ars Electronica in 2002. He also has received several international residencies and commissions including invitations to work as a guest artist at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Germany, the SH Festival in Shanghai, KLEX Festival, LUFF – Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival, All Tomorrow Parties festival curated by Autechre and Signal Culture in New York. Brian plays modular analog synthesizer and generates visuals in the duo Black Zenith and contrabass & electronics with the noise-jazz group Game of Patience. Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer at LASALLE’s College of the Arts School of Contemporary Music, focusing on electronic music composition, visual music, and creative music-making techniques through the use of improvisation.

Chia Cheng Kok is an accomplished percussionist and a key figure in the Malaysian music scene. Since 2005, he has served as the Acting Principal for Percussion and Timpani with the National Symphony Orchestra Malaysia. In 2020, Chia expanded his passion for percussion by founding a dedicated percussion store with the slogan “For All Things Percussion,” offering a wide range of percussion instruments and accessories to musicians across the region. Chia is the founder of the National Symphony Orchestra’s Percussion Ensemble and has garnered international recognition by winning the prestigious Winter Guard International Competition (WGI) in 2017 and 2019. Chia is deeply involved in both community and professional performances, lending his skills to high-profile productions such as “Harry Potter,” “Final Fantasy,” “Disney Live Show,” and more. Chia has also worked as a substitute player for the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) and has taken on the role of conductor for percussion ensemble festivals in Singapore, Japan International Music Festival, Asian China Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre Orchestra.

Christoven Tan, is a contemporary artist with a passion for constant redefinition of viola performance and the artist, himself. Christoven researches contemporary performance practice alongside a visual arts practice. In 2019, Christoven exhibited at the Singapore Affordable Art Fair( Louisa Violet photography- Young Artist Prize ), at North Dakota State University ( Juried-Memorial Union Gallery ) and held his first solo exhibition-performance in Singapore at Temengong 18/20(Glimmer).  Christoven has served Artist-in-Residency at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2018. Christoven has commissioned viola works from composers Siting Jiang,  Goh Toh Chai, Alicia Joyce de Silva, Joyce Beetuan Koh, Hoh Chung Shih, Chong Kee Yong, Yii Kah Hoe and Kelly Tang. In 2021, Christoven formed a collective called, weird aftertaste. WEIRD AFTERTASTE is an artist-driven new music collective that aspires to being a sustainable platform for today’s best contemporary concert work.

Gam Zuei 甘水 makes experimental sound through no-input mixing. Strongly influenced by the late Taiwanese noise veteran, Dino, Gam Zuei shapes sound and lets them develop, creating a distinctive style by controlling feedback loops within his mixing board. Currently based in Taipei, Taiwan.

Huang Ching Yi is an improvisation and classical violinist based in Taipei, Taiwan. Developing possibilities through combining classical music and improvisation, she brings together instrumental music and sounds from different eras, cultures, and regions to create new forms of expression.
 In the experimental and underground scene, she mostly engages with music through collaboration. For her, improvisation is centered around listening, observing, and responding to a musical structure through dialogue, which creates a sense of awareness and a diversity of textures and sounds.

John Long is an active performer, composer and teacher with over thirty years of experience in the music industry. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues across the globe, including the Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Tokyo Dome. John’s arranging and playing can be heard on the album “Tuk Tak” by Zahid Ahmad. John also features as a sideman on Siels’ latest album “Moment of Movement” and as a soloist on the album “I Think of You”, (a collection of compositions written by the late King of Thailand). John’s most recent performances have been with the “Serious Play Improv Lab” (SPIL) and are featured on their debut album! John has held teaching posts in the private sector (UK), and international schools. He has led an award winning youth Jazz orchestra and many of his former students have gone on to study at the top music colleges and universities in the UK, and have also gone on to pursue successful careers in creative arts and education. John currently resides in the fabulous city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, KOK Siew-Wai started out as a video artist, now active as a vocal improviser and artist-curator/organiser. Siew-Wai has shown her works, curatorial video projects and performed in Asia, Europe, Australia, Canada and USA, including the allEars Improvised Music Festival (Norway), Asian Meeting Festival (Japan), CTM Festival (Germany), Hanoi New Music Festival (Vietnam), Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival, Nusasonic (Indonesia), Playfreely (Singapore), amongst others. In 2023, Siew-Wai was commissioned to perform in “Karantena del 3 #millionsmissing”, a dance-sound-installation performance with 20 dancers, conceived by choreographer Kristine Nilsen Oma, as a solo music improviser, in Bergen, Norway. Her video text + vocal improvisation performance piece “Language of Self” (2011/2014) is in the collection of He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen, China. In music, Siew-Wai is interested in improvisation and the exploration of vocal expressions with the human voice.

Kozma Philo Liu 劉堅白is the cosmic guitarist from Taiwanese psychedelic rock band Dope Purple, channel influences from hard rock, noise and psychedelia with a particular emphasis on sounds from the Japanese underground, into a spiritual drone.

Lee Si Yuan is a percussionist hailing from the heart of Subang Jaya. He initially began his journey as a contemporary drummer at the age of 8 before transitioning to classical percussion during his highschool years. Since then, he is deeply ingrained as a ‘Contemporary Classical’, having performed in SPIL since 2023. Si Yuan graduated with a Bachelor of Classical Music from the Institute of Music, UCSI University. During his enrollment, he was also involved in the percussion-piano duet STRIKE with fellow peer Cheah Pei Ny which debuted with Erin Graham’s Interface in 2021. He was also Music Director in the university concert production of Green Tea : The Musical. Si Yuan is currently a freelance percussionist based in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, having been involved in various ensembles such as Kuala Lumpur City Opera, KLPAC Symphony Orchestra, KLPAC String Orchestra, Philharmonic Winds of Malaysia, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and Orkestra Traditional Malaysia. He is currently Asst. Section Leader in the KLPAC Symphonic Band and Percussionist in the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

Lin Hsiao-Feng, a Taiwanese musician and improviser celebrated for his avant-garde style, is a virtuoso of woodwind instruments, particularly the bamboo flute. Over the past decade, he has frequently collaborated with artists around the world to produce unique mini concerts that integrate music with poetry,  dance. Blending traditional music with contemporary improvisation, Lin has consistently captivated and delighted audiences both at home and on the international stage. Recognized as a rising star in New Taipei City’s music scene since 2017, Lin has relentlessly pushed the boundaries of musical expression and is the Artistic Director of Lin’s Culture. Lin was honored with the ‘2024 World Flutist of the Year’ and ‘Best Asian Recording’ by the World Flute Society for his album Cadenza21, which also earned nominations at the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music (GMATAM), and World Entertainment Awards. He proudly represented Taiwan at the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, joining other distinguished artists to showcase its rich artistic heritage.

With theater as the main focus, Lin Tzu-Ning is interested in cross-border and experimental performances. In 2019, she started to explore experimental music performances in the form of human voice. Lin now focuses on the relationship between voice and body, and between sound and becoming language, about raw sensuality, symbolism, and logical thinking. She also involved in ensemble improvisation focusing on communication and connection with other people’s sound.

Loke Xiaoyun sings and plays the piano, the flute, and the Sape. She also has a deep interest in different aspects of music and was involved in different academic research projects in music education, music sociology and ethnomusicology. Trained as a classical musician, Xiaoyun first dipped her toes in atonal vocal improvisation when she was a member of Merle Noir. She draws inspiration from nuances in different ethnic singing styles for her performance. Xiaoyun worked with different artists from disciplines, such as dance, visual works, and performance art. Apart from performing, Xiaoyun is a music educator with students from different age groups and is currently in training to be a Dalcroze Eurhythmics certified instructor.

Intriguing, under-the-radar, molecular, visceral, and dangerous, Tim O’Dwyer and Dirk Stromberg appear once again with devastating consequences. The duo can be described as if a Xenomorph had a favourite music, it would be Lore of Ghosts. Angular, abrasive, yet sharp, clean and deadly. Bebop on Meth. Tim O’Dwyer is an avante-garde saxophonist, composer, and soundpainter. For 35 years, he has been a musical pioneer in Australia, Asia and Europe with seminal projects including bucketrider, The Make It Up Club, The Tim O’Dwyer Trio, ELISION Ensemble, CHOPPA Festival of Experimental Music, and as a Fellow of the Academy of the Arts of the World in Cologne. Dirk Johan Stromberg performs extensively as an improviser. His collaborations have drawn him to work with various musicians, artists, dancers, writers and composers in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. He creates and develops new instruments to find the best physical manifestation of his musical process. He focuses on tactile-agile instruments that enable him to work with and respond to different artists in many styles.

MAB 189 is a self-taught modular synths enthusiast & a meme creator focusing on electronic music from Melaka, Malaysia.  Currently a practitioner of non-music music, his preference is observing the banality streams of everyday life & draws the inspiration from it by making the modular synthesizer as an extension for listening & performing.

Otomo Yoshihide moves between free jazz, noise, improvisation, composition and the unclassifiable with a generosity that opens up the possibilities for expression in all of the constellations with which he’s involved. He spent his teenage years in Fukushima, about 300 kilometers north of Tokyo. Influenced by his father, an engineer, Otomo began making electrical devices such as a radio and an electronic oscillator. In junior high school, his hobby was making sound collages using open-reel tape recorders. This was his first experience creating music. Soon after entering high school he formed a band that played rock and jazz, with Otomo on guitar. It wasn’t long, however, before he became a free jazz aficionado, listening to artists like Ornette Coleman, Erick Dolphy and Derek Bailey; and hearing music, both on disk and at concerts, by Japanese free jazz artists. Especially influenced by alto sax player Kaoru Abe and guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, Otomo decided to play free jazz. In 1990, Otomo started what was to become Ground Zero. Until it disbanded in March 1998, the band was at the core of his musical creativity, while it underwent several changes in style and membership. Since Ground Zero, Otomo has embraced minimal improvisation, film music and the jazz/big band conceptions of his New Jazz Quartet/Quintet/Orchestra. https://otomoyoshihide.com/en/

Reverse Image (Y’ng-Yin Siew) is a sound artist from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She builds her works using a hybrid of analogue and digital tools, with which she explores the intersection between repetitive motifs and moments of discontinuity. Her debut album, “The Silence That Does Not Exist”, was released in mid-2023, and her fiery intense electronics project called Fallen Sun had its “Beyond the Flat Earth” album released in early 2024. In mid-2024, the “Tokokawa” album of avant-electronics was released as a collaboration between Reverse Image and Thomas Bey William Bailey. She had co-run the Xing-Wu Records label from 2007-2009, and curated the Mirror Tapes label from 2010-2011″

Accomplished Taiwanese pianist, composer, and curator Shih-Yang Lee works primarily in improvised music. As a performer, he has toured widely in Europe and Asia. He has collaborated with dance productions and founded music improvisation ensemble Ka Dao Yin to win prestigious awards, such as the Taishin Art Award, Golden Melody Award, and the Golden Indie Music Award. As a curator, he is known as a leading organizer for the burgeoning improvisation scene in Taiwan.

Snow Moon is a collaboration between Taiwanese pianist Shih-Yang Lee and bamboo flutist Hsiao-Feng Lin with Malaysian saxophonist Yong Yandsen and Australian percussionist Darren Moore. The group effortlessly merges Western and Eastern musical elements, creating captivating acoustic landscapes. With its experimental approach and rich blend of instruments, Snow Moon delivers a unique sonic experience, inviting listeners to explore a realm of otherworldly soundscapes rooted in the diverse talents of its contributors.

Try-Try is an experimental duo featuring Mira and Lica who translates their personal experiences into cohesive structures that are brought to life through melodies and soundscapes. Their collaboration seeks to blend artistic expression with music, forming unique auditory environments that reflect their creative journeys. LICA (Alica Han), is a multidisciplinary artist from Taipei, has collaborated with diverse creators, fostering collective empathy through intuitive sound and body expression. She founded the music group SUNDIALL and the MAKE IT NOISE project, while actively engaging with Taipei’s punk collective SUCK GLUE BOYS, organising experimental music events. MIRA (Mari-Louise du Plessis), a South African-born experimental pianist, has collaborated with various Taiwanese experimental performers, including Alica Han, and showcased their collaborative work INTERPLAY across Taiwan. Her latest album, EMERGE, draws inspiration from Jon Renzella’s woodcut artwork. Try-Try aspires to work with a variety of performers across multiple disciplines, aiming to create a distinctive blend of contrasting experiences. By integrating different art forms and perspectives, they strive to forge meaningful connections that enhance the emotional and creative depth of their work, inviting participants into a unique and evolving artistic journey.

Tyler Bennett is a bassist, sound artist and improviser. Tyler studied jazz performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and is now active across East and Southeast Asia. His current practice employs speaker arrangements, no-input mixing, acoustic feedback and bass guitar. Through a multimedia and cross-stylistic approach, Tyler aims to open up novel spaces for sonic dialogue and expression.

Yii Kah Hoe is a Malaysian composer and music improviser. Yii has been recognized as one of the major voices among Southeast Asian composers of his generation. His music has been widely performed in Asia, America, and Europe. Yii won the National Outstanding Educator Award 2018 presented by the Private Education Cooperative of Malaysia. In the fall of 2015, and in the spring of 2023, Yii was the Scripps College Erma Taylor O’Brien Distinguished Visiting Professor at Scripps College in Claremont. Yii was a Fullbright Scholar in Residence from August 2022 to June 2023 while working as a composition professor at Washington State University. Yii was the festival director of Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival 2009, the festival director of SoundBridge festival (2013, 2015), the president of Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers (2014 – 2016) and a senior lecturer at SEGi College Subang Jaya, Malaysia since 2000.

Ying-Hao Lee was born in 1980 in Kaohsiung with a classical music background in strings. He has started to explore music improvisation in 2016, collaborating with numerous musicians and artists in Taiwan.

Yong Yandsen is a free jazz and improvised saxophonist from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Yandsen has released albums through XingWu and Herbal Records in Malaysia, Utech Records (USA), Dream Sheep (Italy), and his solo debut on vinyl through Doubtful Sound (France). He has played at allEars Improvised Music Festival (Norway), Asian Meeting Festival (Japan), Mosaic Music Festiva, Jazz in July (Singapore), amongst others. Yandsen, together with Darren Moore and Brian O’Reily, form the improvised trio Game of Patience. Hungry Ghosts is his trio with European musicians Christian Meaas Svendsen and Paal Nilssen-Love. In 2022, the Big Foot quartet was formed with Akira Sakata, Seo Takashi and Darren Moore. Yandsen is the co-founder of a Malaysian record label, LaoBan Records, focusing on releasing contemporary improvised music. He is also the co-founder of Khatulistiwa, a local venue for experimental and improvised music.

Born 1986 in Osaka, Yuji Ishihara is a drummer, percussionist and improviser. In 2006, Ishihara’s desire to play freely led him to form The Freeform Improvising Group Featuring Tutan The Khamuns which played widely in the Kansai area. More recently, his focus is on developing an idiosyncratic style on the drum kit exploring techniques around ideas of scratching, hitting, rolling, and repelling. While actively supporting various bands and musicians, he also releases his own solo and leader projects.