Arts
Kok Siew-Wai is a vocalist, festival organiser, and video artist from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For the past 10 years, Siew-Wai has been the organiser of KLEX, an independent Kuala Lumpur experimental film and music festival. As a musician, Siew-Wai frequently performs as a vocalist in the free improv scene in KL and she's performed and curated film programs all over the world. Siew-Wai is a fantastic performer who brings a really strong presence to group she plays with. I've been lucky to see her play many times on my trips to KL. I last saw Siew-Wai perform at KLEX 2019 as a trio with Burkhard Beins on percussion and Yuen-Chee Wai on guitar, and you can find a link to a video of that performance in the show notes. Siew-Wai went to university in Buffalo, New York, and by chance found herself studying with Tony Conrad. Buffalo's arts community and Conrad's teaching had a significant influence on Siew-Wai's work, so that's where we start our conversation. Quick reminder to share, rate, review, and subscribe if you're enjoying the show. Also to check out Sonic Vortex, which is a big compilation of noise and experimental music from South-East Asia released by the Mindblasting label. You can find one of my tracks on there, as well as a music by previous podcast guests ASU (USA), Indra Menus, and SIN. Final plug for the Pancawala split, which is one of my tracks along with DJ Miko, Coffee Faith, Dissonant, and BRRR. I also have a new Anquan release on the way, so I'll talk about that a bit more next week.Links for Kok Siew-WaiSiew-Wai's Wordpress site: https://koksiewwai.wordpress.com/Siew-Wai's performance with Burkhard Beins and Yuen Chee-Wai at KLEX 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCoKCIe2d68Kok Siew-Wai, Nadya Hatta, Cheryl Ong, Riska Farasonalia at Nusasonic 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzKJC0yvQEcKLEX festival official website: http://www.klexfilmfest.com/KLEX Facebook group: https://web.facebook.com/groups/klexfest/ Sonic Vortex Vol. 1 (compilation of South-East Asian noise and experimental music): https://mindblasting.wordpress.com/2020/01/25/sonic-vortex-volume-1/Pancawala split (Coffee Faith, Dissonant, BRRR., DJ Miko, Anquan): https://mindblasting.wordpress.com/2020/01/01/pancawala-split/Concrescence Records YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqKkFOv5-FOVTTbl0oojrfw