This month, we welcome Agus NW. aka Hewodn, sound artist, instrument builder and multi-instrumentalist from Indonesia, who’ll be appearing at SPIL for the first time! Selamat Datang! Rogan Kahale Tinsley, composer and musician currently based in Seattle, USA, is back for another SPIL session! Local performers on the bill, including established dancer Rithaudin Abdul Kadir; contemporary trance performer Kien Faye; and SPIL’s regulars, Yii Kah Hoe (dizi/suling/xiao) and Yong Yandsen (tenor sax), joining as special guests. What an interesting lineup! Please join us and bring your friends! See you at the Percussion Store!

Date & Time: Sunday, 21^st September 2025
Time: Doors open @ 8PM
Venue: Percussion Store
Add: A-01-03 LG Floor, Dataran Cascades, No. 13A, Jalan PJU 5/1, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Admission by donation: RM30
For tickets: 012 919 8031 (WhatsApp)

More info:

[email protected] 
www.klexfestival.com
www.facebook.com/groups/klexfest

Instagram: @klexfestival

#klexfest #klexspil #seriousplayimprovlab #percussionstore #improvisedmusic #freeimprov #freejazz

Founded in May 2014, SERIOUS PLAY IMPROV LAB (SPIL) is the music series of KLEX Festival. It is an art laboratory focusing on music experimentation and improvisation. SPIL provides a platform for musicians from various backgrounds to collaborate and present a new collective expression through improvisation. Over the years, many local and international artists have initiated experimentations and collaborated in the SPIL series, enriching the region’s experimental and improvised music scene.

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS:

Agus NW. aka Hewodn is a sound artist and builder of instruments, who has created many works using traditional bamboo instruments — from wind, string, to percussion (drums). He has also explored sounds from stone and rontal palm leaves (a type of palm tree). He has created works of movement and sound at Malaka Art Festival, Bantengan Nuswantoro in Batu, East Java, Bandung Art Festival, and has been actively involved in many other festivals across Indonesia. He has also conducted numerous workshops in various cities, focusing on sound exploration and the revitalization of nearly extinct sound instruments, especially those made from bamboo.

Kien Faye is a contemporary trance practitioner and performer whose work is deeply rooted in the rich traditions of Javanese and Malaysian trance cultures. His performances are imbued with ritualistic elements, incorporating whip, water, flowers, kemenyan, candles, and mantras to create offerings that connect the stage, himself, the audience, and the surrounding environment. Trained under Tony Yap (Australia/Malaysia) in psycho-physical practices and Agus Riyanto (Indonesia) in Bantengan (bull trance), Faye has developed a unique artistic identity that blends traditional trance practices with contemporary performance art.

Rithaudin Abdul Kadir graduated from the Department of Dance, Faculty of Creative Arts, Universiti Malaya. With more than 20 years of experience in the field of dance, he has traveled to Indonesia, Australia, Germany, Iran, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam to share dance knowledge. He works as a producer, curator, artistic director, choreographer, dancer, movement coach for film and theatre. He also works part-time as a lecturer at Universiti Malaya and University of Wollongong Malaysia; and is also Vice President of MyDance Alliance Malaysia. In addition to the field of dance, he is also experienced in the field of theater arts, costumes and tatarias, lighting designer and prop master.

Rogan Kahale Tinsley is a composer, ethnomusicologist, and sound artist currently based out of Seattle, Washington, USA. He specializes in fusing contemporary jazz and classical music with indigenous practices. He has performed alongside acts such as Esperanza Spalding and Allen Stone, and he has opened for acts such as Tony Bennett and Kansas. Rogan has also performed his works in venues such as the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center and at Stanford University. Currently, Rogan travels in the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band, as well with his own 18-piece big band, the Imagine Jazz Big Band.

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.

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.