DJ Kasimyn and MC Ican Harem make up the explosive duo Gabber Modus Operandi, creating hybridised high-intensity dance music. Their relentless and trance-inducing sound draws upon influences spanning modern rave, punk, metal, experimental noise and traditions like the Javanese dance jalithan & Dangdut Koplo. Their recent album ‘HOXXXYA’ offers a kaleidoscopic vision of their world, and was very well received critically. They’ll be joining us at Rewire 2020, for what is shaping up to be a must-see performance. Check out features on them from Resident Advisor and Bandcamp Daily, as well as a stream of ‘HOXXXYA’ below.
Resident Advisor’s Nyshka Chandran wrote a brilliant piece on Indonesia’s small, esoteric and culturally fascinating experimental music scene, in which she explored the folk traditions that inform and inspire it. The hypnotic rhythmic styles of these traditions can be found in the thundering beats of Gabber Modus Operandi, whose music is best understood through their enigmatic live performances. On their performing style, MC Ican Harem says: “I see what the crowd is feeling, then I act … If people are blankly staring, I’ll do some silat [Indonesian martial arts] and make them afraid. If they look friendly, then I become an animal. I want the audience to feel the same as us.”
GMO were also featured in Bandcamp Daily, as DJ Kasimyn touched on the motivations for having a sonic palette so diverse. “The beauty of [making our music] is the limitation, either the references or the execution that make us us, we can stop anywhere when it’s too Western or too Eastern, we are in the middle of it… In the end, in really simple terms, we just want to make the music that feels like home.”
Dive into the manic world of Gabber Modus Operandi, with their album ‘HOXXXYA’ here: