Artists exciting us in 2025 / May

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.

Bacolod-based DJ m4r1w4r4 is one that stands out with sets that orbit around dubby rhythms, acid textures, and far-reaching world sounds. Deeply influenced by internet digging culture, he has a knack for unearthing overlooked gems, turning them into eclectic, mood-responsive sets for gigs at clubs, garden bars, or beachside joints. Whether he’s dropping mixes for Onyx Radio and Bangkok Community Radio, touring islands with the BCHC crew, or curating alt-events like playground and slowsundaysss, m4r1w4r4 is steadily building a more inclusive and exploratory scene—and low-key shaping the future of underground sound in the Philippines.

Rainsoft is a Shanghai-based musician exploring the space between ambient introspection and techno-driven evolution. Each composition of hers balances serene stillness with movement, carrying a quiet emotional pull and a touch of the spiritual. Lately, she’s released ‘Nature Resonance’ on South Korea’s Oslated—a release that sonically conveys an “understanding of nature, light, energy and beauty”—plus was featured on the label’s ‘Beautiful Facts’ compilation. Her textured, meditative tones have also graced Shanghai’s byyb radio, Canada’s Canaanite Records’ mix series, and the stages of South Korea’s Prompt Festival.

With a palpable passion for music and attention to detail as a DJ and budding producer, it’s fair to say that Seoul-based rom is destined for great things. Last year, along with collaborator BAAWLA, rom released ‘ANTICLIMAX’ on Quality Goods Records—a two track EP featuring trap, halftime, and breaks influences. Earlier this year, the pair—calling themselves ‘R&B’—dropped a super-charged bass Edit Pack that did rounds in the Seoul underground scene with hype reworks of tracks by James Brown, JUSTICE, Ivy Lab, and more. R&B are currently working on a second edit pack which will feature edits of Korean tracks only. Also in the pipeline for the Spin Da Up crew member this year are releases on VAs via VINIOR and Rave Underground. May 31 will see rom and BAAWLA throw a b2b battle at Seoul Community Radio featuring their favourite local DJs, so keep your eyes peeled for that. In a city where bass is still relatively marginal, rom and his peers form a new generation of DJs and producers that are pushing UK sounds to new heights.

Singaporean, London-based multidisciplinary artist Suki Quasimodo’s latest EP earlier this year, ‘DATURA 01’, is hauntingly stellar. The first in a three-part audiovisual series “soundtracking tenderness in a restless world” blends atmospheric calm, abstract, bass-heavy rhythms, and dark dub with cinematic soundscape, all enhanced by her visual practice, which weaves striking imagery with subterranean sonics. That release alone earns her a place on this list, but there’s more. She’s fresh off her latest tour with stops in Japan, China, Singapore and London, and is currently prepping for a part in a 12-piece guitar-led drone ensemble in a church in Covent Garden (as one casually does). We’re eagerly anticipating the two next chapters of ‘DATURA’—and frankly anything she touches right now.

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