I can attest that this year’s AXEAN Festival is the best one yet! The lineups are crazy good and talented; the crowd is massive and lively; the vibe is incredibly immaculate. The fact that AXEAN Festival is getting more eyes (and ears) over the years is incredibly hopeful and optimistic for the state of the music industry in Southeast Asia and beyond.
I am not a definite insider nor know a bunch of the kitchen’s secrets, but as a listener and arguably closer-by observer (and helper), I know well enough that they are cooking!
Dabbling in the music scene is fairly new to me. Though I had been living in different cities and attended several gigs in each, I was nowhere closer to peeking at what happens inside. I have been more of a book and literary scene guy. Working at Jimbaran Hub and helped the AXEAN Festival break that door for me. And it has been exciting, and I grew to love the scene so much!
But First, Personal History As A Music Listener
I put this section as a toggle so I won’t automatically subject you to my personal experience of being a music listener! So, you can skip this, but would love you to stay around and learn what makes my ears tick!
Not that I have a ‘boring and stale’ musical experience. I have loved exploring genres of music since I was a kid. My complex upbringing gave me a lot of multicultural exposure, at least musically. My father loved classic rock, especially after playing Qur’an murattal after every fajr prayer. I have grown to love Deep Purple, Queen, The Eagles, Bee Gees, Edane, Aerosmith, and a lot more 70-80’s rock bands while I prepped for school every morning.
In school and internet cafes, a lot of Top 40s since I went to a school in the center of the small town. All of my peers thought Top 40s were Jakarta-adjacent, which made them cool. In the afternoon, I listened to a lot of campursari playing from my neighbor’s stereo, accompanying the dry wind, sticky machine oil, and sweat. Sometimes, I slept through in an open field when my grandparents asked me to accompany them to watch wayang (shadow puppet) and gending (Javanese percussion show) on the weekend.
As my father grew more religiously conservative, the rock diminished. The songs in our home became solely nasyiid harakah, with Shoutul Harakah, an acapella group from Bekasi, singing songs of the jihadist movement, a prominent music figure in our home speaker. The lack of string instruments, the emphasis on percussion and vocal harmonization are the charred monochrome chalk that colored my teenage days. I went and listened to softer (and funnier, somewhat dangdut-er) nasyid like Launun, Fatih, Gradasi, and Justice Voice. Even created my own acapella nasyid group. Released 2 singles. Won a few regional competitions, right before national exams.
But like all blooming teenagers, we rebelled. Though forbidden, my high school acquaintances brought hardcore metal, dream pop, K-Pop, and hip-hop to the dorm. I have brushed up on Secondhand Serenade, Paramore, Owl City, Bring Me The Horizon, SNSD, even a fucking laughably epigonic Cherrybelle. Somehow, each has their own hardcore fans in that fairly small dorm building. Yet, I was right in the middle of it all.
My most formative years in terms of musicality were my university years in Yogyakarta. It was a decade of a blooming indie music scene. Gigs were many from talented musicians. Campus bands united to create their own gigs and festivals. Banda Neira, Efek Rumah Kaca, Barasuara, Frau, Mondo Gascaro, Deredia, Olski, Melbi, and a myriad more. Lots of them are still in my most-played. Since then, I have always been looking for new music. Though not as religiously.
Regarding AXEAN Festival 2026
Years later, comes AXEAN Festival. I admit, Southeast Asian artists aside from Indonesia were (tbh, still are) not many in my favorites. But thanks to this festival, I got to explore more artists and see them perform. True what they say, music unites us. Even though I don’t understand their lyrics due to the language barrier, music is the universal language.
Take that, Noam Chomsky!
This year’s AXEAN Festival is particularly shining mainly because of two things, in my opinion: bonkers diverse lineups and a lot livelier crowd. This year’s covers everything, from groovy to jazzy, dreamy to headbanging-y. And the crowd—there were more of them, understood the vibes assignment, and had a tireless pair of feet. Like I said, the best one yet. It will definitely be a work to top this up next year.
There were a few bands that made it into my playlist due to their performance and music. Don’t get this wrong, all the lineups were GREAT with an uppercase G. Several just leave a lingering impression on me much later, a week after the festival and possibly forever. Here are them with no particular order.
ALYSON
This preppy-looking band from Phillipines dabbles in city-pop genre, and their performance was…flirty? I think it’s apt to call them flirty. They look like how they sound: extremely smooth. What made me fall in love with them—aside from my admiration towards city-pop genre in general, is that they sang Utha Likumahuwa’s Sesaat Kau Hadir at the end of their set! That’s my go-to karaoke song!
Please check out their latest album, After Ours (2026) on streaming platform. My favorite songs in the album are TALAGA (feat. Paprikka) and 24/7 LOVE & CARE.
Olsam
This eccentric ‘qasidah‘ groove band from Depok played at the private AXEAN Festival opening. They catch my eyes with their 80’s all-white orkes attire, and my ears with their ahlan wa sahlan. With the combination of ketipung and guitar, they nailed the particular inflection that is apparent in orkes genre. They describe their music as De Eerste Progressive Orkest Kult, which roughly—I think—translates to prog-orkes? Their music is refreshing to my ears, their act is joyful, full asolole if you will. Here’s to being newly inaugurated warga adat Olsam!
I love Saling Sapa and Kegiatan Paling Enak from their latest album, Irama dari Gang (2026). Get your hot kopi tubruk, wear your singlet and sarung, and play this album on a treble-heavy cheap sound system on blast for full and immersive experience!
Clever Moose
Their music reminds me of hijaz mediterranean jazz and such, yet they themselves said that what they played as ‘middle-eastern genre bending’ music. It’s true though, sometimes they have psychedelic motiv, sometimes they dabble in rock, or shoegaze-adjacent fuzz.
Since they are mostly instrumental—with a few ad-lib here and there, it might not have the enjoyment that people usually find in their music. I do enjoy them, though. I love Dhabab Dhini, their latest single and Nata’alaq kalnajm from Mediterranean Fuzz (2024).
BABON
If you ask me how to portray western frontier genre, along with dry wind and tumbleweeds, mixed with Indonesian falvor, I’ll recommend two things: Buffalo Boys, a 2018 film directed by Mike Wiluan, and Tropical Desert (2025) an album from this band. But, like how Buffalo Boys conveys a narrative of the evil of colonial oppression, Tropical Desert brings a message of ecological crisis through instrumental.
I perceive that the stylistic choice is deliberate. Since music is apparent in nature, it’s how creatures color time. It doesn’t have a ‘prescriptive’ language, hence doesn’t need one to put it as lyrics. Though, I actually love the lyrical one, Pesan dari Gurun (feat. Frau), aside from Sawduzt.
Drizzly
I bet, at least 30% of the people who saw them perform fell in love. The other 70%, might got their insulin spiked. What can I say, they have the sweetest musicality amidst the esoteric and the jolt of many bands lined up for the festival. With all-woman member, they have a strong grasp and character for a band who is doing dream pop. Their music is unabashedly feminine, emotionally mature and yet playful.
I am definitely going to play I Would Never… (feat. Mocca) and If I Know Each Other Well Enough on loop just to feel butterflies flutter in my stomach.
Basajan
I already love Basajan before the festival. Their priangan psychedelic groove have been accompanying me working, writing, and reading for months since I know their existence in the late 2025. They are genius in what they are doing, they know how to weave an ambience and knit an out of body experience through music. I don’t know what kind of acid or aci1 they use while making music, but it’s definitely working for me. Seeing them live is a magical, mystical experience.
Now that I am fanboy-ing the shit out of Basajan, I need people to check out more of their album Bewara (2026). I love all the songs in there, but Wilujeng and Nadoman linger longer in my ears. Groovy!
1 Aci, or starch is the base material for a lot of Sundanese snacks, that is usually also popular across Indonesian archipelago. Namely, every food items that starts with ci-. Not to confuse with town or city names that starts with ci-, which derives from cai, means ‘(body of) water (way)’ in Sundanese. Vastly different etymology.
MRCH
100% hetero cis-male who watch MRCH live on AXEAN Festival fell in love. Guaranteed.
Oh, the music? Right, her music reminds me a lot of shounen anime opening somehow. It’s energetic. It’s whole. For the weebs, I can recommend MRCH if you like YUI or yama. Can’t understand a thing yet, I haven’t learned Korean. But for her, I might?
She just puts out an EP, 상생관계 (2026). From the EP, I love 텐텐 and 둥근노래. Do not ask me what the lyrics meant. I haven’t been up with my Korean studies yet.
Feral Stripes
One of the liveliest acts I have ever seen! Though garage music or post-punk is rarely made it into my playlist, their music deserve the attention. Though ideologically punk—apparent from their lyrics, they are meticulous. Every project has a narrative building and concept. The riffing and the cymbal trashing becomes a part of a bigger storytelling they bring along.
Listening to Silicone Opera (2025) is like listening to any Gorillaz’s. My favorite of theirs are Run Run Run, a fairly new single and Simon Fraud from the album.
I hope I am still around for next year’s AXEAN Festival. Truly, it’s a joyful things!
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