Yes No Wave Music

A touring showcase of music from Indonesia represented by the Yes No Wave Music label run by the interdisciplinary artist and producer Wok the Rock. The tour will feature live performances by Gabber Modus Operandi, Rani Jambak, and J. "Mo'ong" Santoso Pribadi and will be presented by Send + Receive Festival, Winnipeg; Music Gallery, Toronto; Debaser, Ottawa; Art in the Margins, Montréal; and Western Front, Vancouver.

Based in the Javanese cultural hub Yogyakarta, Yes No Wave Music is an online label and platform to nurture Indonesian artists and promote their activities internationally. Founded by Wok the Rock in 2007, the label is run with a DIY ethos to build a post-capitalist alternative to music industry norms. All music on the label is free to download, distribute, and even remix, reflecting the Indonesian social value of sharing communal resources, and the necessity for artists to develop their activities in spite of nominal government support and funding. In 2010, Wok and Timothy O’Donoghue initiated the monthly concert series Yes No Club traveling throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. He subsequently co-curated Nusasonic in 2018-2022. These efforts fostered the international success of artists such as Senyawa, Gabber Modus Operandi, Raja Kirik, and Asep Nayak.

Since moving to Yogyakarta to study graphic design as a teenager, Wok’s cultural activism has continued to grow over the past two decades. He co-founded art space Ruang MES 56, curated the Biennale Jogja XIII in 2015, and organized numerous community art projects. This informs his unique interdisciplinary practice of crossing boundaries of music and visual art.

Curated by Aki Onda and Wok the Rock.

Gabber Modus Operandi is the duo of DJ/producer Kasimyn and artist/fashion designer Ican Harem, based in Bali, Indonesia. The group was founded following a fad staging at an underground punk concert in Denpasar, Indonesia. Their experimentation began with an obsession for the energy and intensity of Jathilan, gabber, dangdut koplo, ebeg, funkot, Chicago footwork, grindcore, and noise dance cultures, and the community parties in Indonesia’s smaller cities.

Johanes “Mo’ong” Santoso Pribadi is an experimental composer and instrument builder born in Bangkok, Thailand and raised in Java, Indonesia. Mo’ong started his studies in Western classical music with a major in double bass, but later returned to his roots to explore the wisdom of Javanese folklore and music Nusantara (“the music of Indonesia”). Mo’ong has been involved with a variety of national and international multidisciplinary projects within modern dance and theatre, contemporary puppet theatre, installation art, performance art, and independent film. He is the initiator of Limbah Berbuny, a project focused on creating musical instruments from found objects and junk; and is a member of the experimental music duo Raja Kirik.

Rani Jambak is a composer, producer, and vocalist of Minangkabau descent from Medan, Indonesia. Through electronic music and soundscapes, Jambak’s work explores ecology, identity, and the socio-cultural relationship between humans and their ancestors. Her practice has also involved collaborating with Indonesian environmental organizations PPLH Borok and Orangutan Haven on ecological sound projects.

Wok The Rock is an artist, curator, music producer, and cultural activist born in Madiun, Indonesia, and based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Working across the fields of contemporary art, design, and underground music, Wok’s practice focuses on experimenting with collective space. In addition to running the non-profit online label Yes No Wave Music, Wok curates the experimental music concert series Yes No Klub, is a member of the Yogyakarta-based artist collective Ruang MES 56, and is a founder of the Indonesia Netaudio Forum.

Aki Onda is an artist, composer, performer, and curator based in Mito, Japan, and is currently Curator-at-Large at Western Front, Vancouver. Their works are often catalyzed by and structured around memories—personal, collective, and historical. Crossing genres and disciplines, they have been active internationally in art, film, music and performance.

The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs. While plans for a full building upgrade to facilitate access for wheelchair users are still underway, all events in the Luxe are made available virtually via high-quality livestream. Further details about accessibility at Western Front can be found here. Please feel free to contact Western Front directly at [email protected] or +1 (604) 876-9343 for specific access requests in advance of your visit.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Western Front, 303 East 8th Avenue, Vancouver, Canada