Artists exciting us in 2025 / February

Asia's underground scene continues to flourish, a testament to its boundless creativity and ever-expanding influence.

With a treasure trove of talent scattered across the region and its diaspora, we’re thrilled to keep discovering fresh faces that might not be on your radar—yet.

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.

Get ready to mark those calendars and upgrade those playlists and —you’ll thank us later.

Once named by us as a “Jakarta-based music geek who relishes in obscurity”, Fyahman (real name Gembira Putra) lives up to his reputation as a bass music aficionado, blending UK garage, jungle, techno, and beyond while championing Indonesia’s underground scene since the late 2000s. A founding member of the 24/7 collective, the city’s first dubstep and grime collective, he later helped shape leftfield label Dead Pepaya, landing his track ‘Hasan Club’ on Spotify’s ‘Club Culture’ playlist in mid-2024 alongside Shanti Celeste and Joy Orbison. He’s shared the stage with Ikonika and Central and is a regular on radio shows—he now curates his own on norrm titled Percs & Benefits, focusing on percussive-driven, bass-oriented sounds. Check out his Mixcloud—he’s definitely got experience under his belt, but is always evolving and ready to take his fresh sound beyond his home turf. He’s also hinted at a new single and EP for later in the year.

Few in drum’n’bass are shaking things up like gyrofield. Hailing from Hong Kong and now studying in Bristol, self-proclaimed e-girl and cat lover Kiana Li delivers dystopian, industrial beats laced with psychedelic twists. Her 2023 project ‘Flower Burial’ blends house, techno, ambient, and acid jazz with an air of melodramatic mysticism, proving she’s not here to follow formulas. Last year’s ‘These Heavens’ picked up by XL Recordings is just as sonically explorative and otherworldly. With her sound constantly evolving, gyrofield will definitely keep us on our toes.

One of the most active DJs and promoters to emerge in Hong Kong’s post-Covid underground, JFÜNG is the main man behind bass outfit Dark Metaz. As its name implies, Dark Metaz events focus on the grittier end of the aesthetic spectrum across genres like dubstep and drum’n’bass; Goth Trad, Hamdi, and The Glitch Mob count among the acts Dark Metaz has brought to the city in the past couple of years. As a selector, JFÜNG is known to stay true to his dark ethos, though he is increasingly venturing out from his bass roots, such as on his recent tribal techno set at 宀 with Hysteria Temple Foundation—a set he is considering uploading for posterity. The next couple of months will see JFÜNG grace a number of undergrounds gigs in his native Hong Kong, but the thing we’re most excited for is the “experimental” debut EP “in between leftfield dubstep and tribal techno” that he’s been working on which is set to drop before the summer season. And on the promoter side of things? He’s working hard to bring back Ivy Lab for another Dark Metaz booking “and more”, he promises.

For those tapped into Shenzhen and Taipei’s underground, red-haired renegade Sulk needs little introduction. A resident at OIL and PURE G, he’s a selector with a fiercely unpredictable approach, calling his sound “unpredictable” even for himself. But make no mistake; every transition is razor-sharp, every shift masterfully executed and his knowledge and respect for the scene is apparent. Rooted in early EBM and techno, Sulk’s sound pulls from all corners—dancehall, baile funk, IDM, footwork, jungle, new wave, and beyond—melding seamlessly into his boundary-pushing sets. They’re always chaotic; they’re always incredible. A few of his recent mixes are turning heads far beyond his usual stops in China, Taiwan, and Japan, and a recent support for Objekt and CCL at FINAL was unmissable. He hosts the Platonic Intimacy show with Yinan on underground station Baihui and helms Silicon Kure at OIL—a night dedicated to forward-thinking sounds, set to mark its seven-year milestone this April.

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