20 artists unite for Malaysian mental health music festival Expresi

Written by on 10/12/2021

Eskpresi Malaysia virtual performances mental health An Honest Mistake Imran Ajmain

Twenty artists are coming together for the Malaysian online mental health music festival, called Expresi, taking place this weekend (December 11-12).

Expresi – which translates to ‘expression’ – features a 20-act bill that includes hardcore act Patriots, singer-songwriter Reza Salleh, punk band Hacktick!, pop-punk band An Honest Mistake, pop singer Imran Ajmain and more.

Expresi is a free festival and can be viewed either as a Zoom meeting – billed as ‘front row tickets’ – or via livestreams on the Alam Bunyian YouTube channel or the Discord of organisers Malaysia Independent Interconnection. Performances begin at 4pm each day – find the full line-up below and sign up for the Zoom meeting here.

In their 30-minute slots, the artists will not only perform but also share about their own mental health struggles. They will be joined by psychiatrist Dr. Aida Harlina of Hospital Serdang, who will be giving a talk titled ‘Bring Me The Horizon’ on the second day of Expresi. Producer Reuben Samuel of Mile High Sounds, who has worked with Yuna, Zee Avi and Junji Delfino, will speak about the power of audio on mental health on the first day.

Expresi was organised by indie music collective Malaysia Independent Interconnection with the support of mental health organisations 1Moment4Them, Befrienders KL and Mental Illness Awareness & Support Association Malaysia.

According to Moja Husni, member of indie synth pop band Late Night Frequency and an Expresi organiser, social enterprise 1Moment4Them will offer Malaysian musicians online therapy sessions at a reduced rate in conjunction with the festival. These sessions with a professional clinical psychologist will be available to Malaysian musicians at RM50 a session, as opposed to the usual charge of RM150.

Expresi will also be raising funds for mental health support for musicians through 1Moment4Them, Moja said on Twitter. The public is invited to donate as much or as little as they want towards the cause by transferring funds directly to the non-profit organisation, though no details have been shared on how the funds will be used as of yet.






The line-up for Expresi is:

Day 1

Amrita Soon
We Are Becoming Ghosts
Glistening Wheelchair
Empty Page
Alien Lipstick Fire
Cha.koy
Math Class
Fazz
Patriots

Day 2

Leaism
Wani Ardy
Reza Salleh
Human Cloud (SG)
Sid Murshid
Angqasa
An Honest Mistake
Brendan De Cruz
Modread
Hacktick

The post 20 artists unite for Malaysian mental health music festival Expresi appeared first on NME.


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