Artists exciting us in 2024 / March

As we've proudly mentioned before, the Asian scene is thriving. Among the plethora of talent spread across the region and diaspora, we keep on excitedly unearthing more and more names that may not be too familiar to some but are definitely worth your attention.

In the spirit of sharing, Mixmag Asia will be featuring a number of arguably under-the-radar artists who are currently making exciting noise in — and freshly out of — their respective scenes.

Prepare to expand your playlists.

Madctrl’s music experiments with Eastern aesthetics along with organic and psychedelic elements, layering low-pitched dark ambient with dynamic broken beats. His debut EP ‘止境 Zhi’ blends modern, atmospheric sounds with intelligent drum’n’bass textures. Having already dropped a handful of releases in the past few months, he continues to incorporate those elements into more techno and dark progressive styles with his singles. The producer-slash-drummer is also a co-founder of VNWAVE, a collective based in Hong Kong's industrial district that aims to foster the local underground dance music culture.

Jamaican-Japanese DJ Nasthug got her start at the age of 19, taking Tokyo’s scene by storm. Her unique blend of genres includes dancehall, juke, jersey club, hip hop, and even a SpongeBob funk remix, all meld together into a fiesta of fun. Her recent official Spotify female empowerment playlist is a solid place to start to get a feel of her vibe. Earlier this year, she kicked off her debut global tour with stops in Seoul, Hong Kong, and across China set for March and April — we highly recommend not missing her behind the decks.

Multiple international grant-winner, sound artist, experimental producer, and DJ Noni-Mouse also makes and plays music for the club. After piquing our interest by making her Boiler Room debut last year, we featured her latest garage-inspired track ‘2 Big’ on the February edition of Mengzy Selects. The single joins a growing catalogue of releases on labels such as Krunk Kulture and boxout.fm Recordings - and the producer promises an exciting “UK breaks-meets-Urdu” remix of Pakistani singer Natasha Ejaz coming next month. With a move to London planned later this year, we’re excited to see what fresh turns Noni-Mouse’s career will take in a new city.

We’ve been keeping tabs on Dita since her early days DJ-ing in Jakarta before now settling in Bali. With a decade of experience under her belt, she’s on her way to becoming a household name not only in Indonesia — her nuanced sound has graced the stages of Wonderfruit Festival plus numerous venues across Australia which she toured extensively in the final months of 2023. With a penchant for proto-house, disco, 90’s breaks, Balearic, and more, Dita’s fun-loving demeanour is always a pleasure to witness whether live from behind the decks or on screen. Having shared line-ups with cult favourites like Erika de Casier, CC: Disco!, DJ Boring and more, the INTERRUPTED collective founder is also a key resident at Potato Head Bali plus the newly-opened KLYMAX, handpicked by DJ Harvey himself. Let's just say we'll definitely be seeing and hearing more of Dita — sooner rather than later.

Collective and event series FULLHOUSE can be credited for tipping the Osaka club scene towards a fresh-sounding future; the man fuelling a multi-genre and high-energy trajectory is none other than Ryota. Making noise for the musical pivot of his hometown, his recent hometown set for Boiler Room at the end of 2023 has only added more eyes on the Osaka scene, and no less in Tokyo too. Being noticed for his effortless orchestration of eccentric energy behind the decks, he’s been signed to Untitled Group’s Proxy Agency and has a debut China tour in the pipeline. There’s a more than high chance you’ll be seeing him in Australia and Europe soon too. Even Yung Singh shared this with us about the breakout artist: “Ryota is one of the most electric DJs I’ve ever seen. Ever since I saw him play in Osaka in 2022 I've rarely come across a DJ who not only destroys a dancefloor like him but is more deserving of a bigger platform to showcase their talent.”

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