Djakarta Warehouse Project began its journey in 2008 as merely a club event that took place in Jakarta's renowned Blowfish club called Blowfish Warehouse Project. Starting from 2010, the festival has been held annually in the month of December as a one-day festival until it expanded into a two-day festival in 2014.

The festival upholds one of the most consequential values that Indonesia possesses; diversity. A wide spectrum of sub-genres under the dance music category are given a platform through the multiple stages in the festival, one of them being the bird-shaped main stage called 'Garuda Land' inspired by the country's coat of arms, Garuda Pancasila.

Throughout its nine editions, some of the world's biggest acts have graced the stages of Djakarta Warehouse Project including Steve Aoki, Carl Cox, Skrillex, Tiesto, Diplo, Major Lazer, Martin Garrix, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren, Axwell x Ingrosso, and DJ Snake, amongst many.

In 2015, Djakarta Warehouse Project was crowned 'The Best EDM Festival of 2015' by EDM Sauce. In 2016, the festival saw more than 20,000 travellers from 39 countries around the globe over the course of two days.

The festival has also hosted the Asian debut of Barcelona's Elrow touring concept in 2017 with its very own special stage and spectacle of colours. In the same year, hip hop acts made their debut at the festival as the entire 88rising clan and Desiigner descended to the festival.

In 2018, the festival is set to make a triumphant return for its 10th Anniversary Edition entitled DWPX on 7,8, & 9 December 2018 at GWK Cultural Park, Bali.

Now with under two days to go before Djakarta Warehouse Project's historic tenth edition hits Bali, Indonesia, organisers Ismaya Live have added to the excitement with some final additions to their burgeoning lineup.

Having turned heads with its first two announcements that saw the likes of The Weeknd, Alesso, DJ Snake, and Porter Robinson added, DWPX now completes the rundown with a raft of new international and local acts, solidifying it reputation as the #1 electronic dance festival in Asia.

First up is masked man of mystery and one of house music's continually rising stars, Claptone. With countless hits to his name and having exploded onto the scene with his infectious remixes back in 2015, his set at DWPX is highly anticipated. Another currant titan of the genre, Jax Jones, also joins the billing today, together with one of the most in-demand DJ duos in the industry, Gorgon City. With countless hits to their names and years of DJing experience under their collective belts, these party starters are not to be missed.

EDM mainstays KSHMR, Showtek, and Bassjackers will also be descending on DWPX's new home at Bali's GWK Cultural Park, showcasing their unique brands of big room house to the adoring crowds. Trap heavyweight and Diplo protege Troyboi, will be joining in with the fun too with his first set on Indonesian soil. With anthems including ‘Afterhours' and ‘On My Own', this performance looks set to be a festival highlight.

Capping off the international headliners at this year's event are multi-genre DJ trio Kris Kross Amsterdam, who have made a name for themselves in The Netherlands and beyond for some of the most energetic and diverse sets around. They join the likes of Goldfish & Blink, w.W, Crisis Era, and countless up-and-coming local acts that together will be making DWPX one to remember.

With the festival now close to selling out, Ismaya Live are urging fans to head to www.djakartawarehouse.com for the last remaining tickets.

Bali + Dance music + Happy people = ONE AWESOME PARTY !!!

The Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival, more frequently referred to as The Java Jazz Festival, is arguably the biggest jazz festival in the southern hemisphere, and is one of the largest gatherings of jazz fans and musicians all over the world. It is an annual event occurring every March since 2005 when over 47 thousand people attended, and it has just been growing in size and popularity ever since. The festival has established Java as the Asian capital of Jazz music. The event aims to promote jazz music from Indonesia and all over the world, and also aims to promote Indonesia as a country and a travel destination.

Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival has not only become one of Indonesia's finest jazz festivals, also one of the most prestigious & largest in the world.

While the majority of artists have come from Indonesia, there is also a heavy focus on international jazz music, and renowned artists such as Jamie Cullum, Incognito, Craig David, and even the likes of Santana, James Brown and Stevie Wonder have all performed as either feature artists or special guests amongst thousands of established and esteemed jazz performers. 2017's festival showcased more than 150 jazz musicians, with 60 daily shows held over three days on 14 different stages. As it is such a huge event, it depends heavily on enthusiastic volunteers, corporate sponsors and individual donors to continue it's successful run.

Many Indonesian artists are featured, and over the years, some of them have accredited a portion of their popularity to the festival presenting them. Famous Indonesian acts who have previously performed have been Sandhy Sondoro, Raisa, Barry Likumahuwa and Krakatau. Many of these musicians call Java their home, due to it's high status in the world of jazz music.

The festival takes place at the JIEXPO centre in Kemayoran, Jakarta, and is hosted by Java Festival Production, who also host events such as the Java Rockin'land, Jaca Soulnation and Soundsfair. They have been successfully organising music festivals for over 12 years, since the initiation of the Java Jazz Festival, and have become established festival organisers in the process of running the event.

For the duration of the festival, many local bars and cafes try to cash in on the smooth jazz vibes by hosting jazz nights, live performances, and jazz programmes as part of the Java Jazz on the Move standings. This also includes performances from a number of artists in the run up to the opening day of the festival to build up the hype and to set the town into a jazz fuelled atmosphere.

Due to some criticisms that the festival was too “poppy” in 2016, 2017 saw the return of a jazz heavy lineup with the aim to educate people to love jazz. One of the directors, Dewi Gontha, stated that people “should learn that there are many genres within jazz” and that jazz combines with many other genres in response to the criticism, but reassured everybody that there would be a stronger focus on jazz values to reconnect with those who felt that the festival was moving in a more mainstream direction.

The world of Jazz is often eclipsed by pop and rock music which steals the global spotlight, but in places like Java, much like New Orleans, jazz music still steals the spotlight, and will do for many years to come. The golden age of swing may be a style that many associate with the past, but with such huge and important events in the modern music scene, artists are proving that not only is it a style that isn't dead yet, but it will continue to grow, develop and thrive in new and exciting ways, both as a core style and as a tastily influence on many other genres. Attendees to the festival should hang up their sneakers in exchange for their dancing shoes, and should expect a huge wall of bright, uplifting, happy sound filled with horns, saxophones, and energy, and can expect to see some big household names and find some new up and coming local talent. More information can be found on the official festival website (http://www.javajazzfestival.com) including lineup announcements, ticket sales, links to local hotels and information about the organisers. For any fan of jazz or swing music, this is one event you must add to your bucket list.

In 2019 Java Jazz Festival will happen on dates 1.2.3 March.

Kekal are a heavy metal and electronic fusion band which formed in 1995 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is still operating, although under slightly unusual circumstances.

Kekal was one of the first heavy metal bands from Southeast Asia to make an impression on the international music market, and they have left an impression on the global metal scene.

While considered heavy metal by most, those with a more refined ear for heavier music will tell you that Kekal are an experimental band who mostly produce black metal, progressive metal and avant-garde metal, but who also incorporate a range of influences from diverse genres such as ambient, jazz fusion, electronic and progressive rock. While starting out as a more stereotypical example of a metal band, the group have refined their sound over time into something more experimental and electronic to keep up with the ever changing sound of the metal market, and have even gone as far as using electronic autotuned vocals on top of black metal riffs. For those who like to indulge in a bit of metal music, it is interesting, technical, and extremely virtuosic in moments.

The bands first official demo was supposedly recorded in band member Jeff Arwadi's bedroom on a Foster X-28 4-track tape recorder and a $2 karaoke microphone, yet still after going into circulation managed to catch the attention of several record labels in the metal scene outside of Southeast Asia, and soon the band were sent several record deals. Their first album, “Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams” was self produced and released in 1998, and was released on two record labels allowing the band to gain an international recognition across Europe and the USA. Despite one member leaving the band, they released their second album “Embrace the Dead” the following year. There was a fair amount of dissatisfaction with their second album due to the fact that the band members felt pressured to try to appeal to a more mainstream audience, and so their third album “The Painful Experience”, actually titled after the singer's endurance of the recording of the second album, raised the band back up to their reputation of being experimental and anti-mainstream.

in 2006, the founding member of the band, Jeff, decided to move to Canada which left the rest of the group in a purgatory state, and fans questioning whether or not the group had gone their separate ways, however the band decided to endure and carry on, although only as a studio project, releasing “The Habit of Fire” in 2007 to critical acclaim. In 2009, officially all of the members left the band, although the name would still continue, just without any members. Jeff announced he was leaving the band, and many fans thought this was the end of Kekal's musical career.

Despite this, in 2010 the band announced that they were working on a new album. Although all of the members of the band had officially left, many former members, including Jeff, were all contributing, and in 2011 they released their eighth album, suitably titled “8”. Despite not being a conventional band and operating mostly as a studio project, the band still functions today and has released new material under their new circumstances.

The band have had many influences over the years, and considers itself “street progressive” which suggests that they have an edgier, punk-like feel which is more reminiscent of The Mars Volta instead of typical progressive bands like Dream Theater. The band themselves have quoted their influences as mostly heavy metal bands from the 80s, such as Iron Maiden, Helloween and Sodom, although due to their diverse and experimental style, elements from music such as A-ha, Björk, Outcast, Massive Attack and Depeche Mode are also present in their music, even if only as fluctuating influences. They are also a heavily christian band, and although this has had an influence on their lyrics, the band claim that they are not an example of Christian metal.

The band, since the beginning, has had control over their music, production, and artwork, giving them the power to create exactly what they have envisioned and to be completely independent, which is very reflective in their cutting edge sounds. Despite having a questionable future, we hope to see more of their experimental sounds gracing our speakers in the future.

Slank are a very long running and very successful rock band from Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. It was founded by some teenagers in a street alley called Gang Potlot in 1983, and as of 2017 they have released 22 studio albums, 4 live albums, 3 international albums and been featured in 3 movie soundtracks. They sing in both English and Indonesian, and have become very well known in the Indonesian music scene and as a result have become an influence for many Asian rock bands such as Dewa who formed as a result of their inspiration.

Slank have a very classic rock sound, somewhat reminiscent of bands like The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and Def Leppard. There are a lot of big drum beats, distorted and driving guitar, melodic yet assertive lyrics and bluesy instrumental solos, reminiscent of many iconic 80s rock groups. Although their sound has become somewhat more refined over time, they have stuck very strongly to their roots and kept their music fun, upbeat, and full of energy.

The band started it's life under the name Red Devil, however after deciding this sounded slanderous and rebellious, possibly due to Indonesia's religious rich culture, they changed their name to Slank. It took seven years until their first album, “Suit Suit…hehehe”, was released with high success, becoming a smash hit and an inspiration for many other bands. “Suit suit…hehehe” and their following two albums, 1991's Kampungan and 1993's “P**s”, gained awards from BASF Indonesia as the best selling albums on BASF tapes, and subsequently, their fourth album, 1994's “Generasi Biru” went multi-platinum, gaining them several top ten places with multiple songs. Since then, they have been going strong, sometimes releasing more than one album a year to commercial success, and have increased their profile and toured all over the world. In 2005, Slank became the first icon of MTV Indonesia.

Despite several band member defections due to internal tension and personal issues, the band has undergone several lineup changes over the years, but have still maintained a strong presence in the Indonesian rock scene throughout. They have, on several occasions, caused political controversy in Indonesia, but have still managed to keep going regardless of these problems.

2009's “Anthem for the Broken Hearted” was Slank's first English language album, and came as a result of travelling to the USA. It was produced by Blues Saraceno, a virtuoso guitarist who has worked with Poison, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker from Cream and Ziggy Marley, as well as an established producer in Los Angeles. Abdee Negara from Slank quoted “If you want the world to see what you want to say, you better to go the highest mountain. And for music, the highest mountain right now is in the USA”, and so they set forth to conquer the English speaking rock scene. Although releasing several songs in English, this has been the only album entirely in the English language from the band so far, and it is reflective of the classic style that the band is known for despite being crafted for a more westernised ear.

in 2009, the band was invited to play at the world renowned Java Jazz Festival. The band, not very experienced in Jazz, were surprised, but after being challenged by Peter F Gontha to perform in a jazz setting, rearranged their most popular hits into a jazz style to create a jazz/rock fusion to much success. The show was described as a “once in a lifetime experience”, and hasn't been replicated since.

Slank also have a cult following from their years of hard work on the Indonesian rock circuit. Dedicated fans of the band refer to themselves as “Slankers” and have a reputation for being completely devoted to everything that the band does and stands for, and range from all ages from children to adults.

It takes a lot of guts to have a classic rock band with classic rock ideals in a heavily religious setting like Indonesia, but Slank have proven that it is possible to succeed. If their previous career is anything to go by, we can expect hard rock music from them long into the future, no matter what life throws at them.