ASIYA Festival 2024 Proves Music Can Unite Everyone Beyond Language

Last Oct. 12 and 13, ASIYA Festival, or the Asian Music Festival & Conference, was held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Organized by KARPOS, the same mastermind behind Wanderland Festival, ASIYA Festival brought together musical artists from all over the region: Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore for a weekend of live music performances and conferences.
“We started [ASIYA Festival] with the main goal of bringing opportunities for music export to our Filipino talents because we noticed there are not many platforms for them to be able to attain those opportunities,” KARPOS CEO John Uy told The Beat Asia in an exclusive interview.
“The vision was for it to be a hub for Asian and even global music professionals to meet and collaborate [on] potential partnerships. Those are the two things that we are aiming to achieve with ASIYA,” he added.


Composed of two parts, festivalgoers had the chance to watch their favorite bands and artists in the Music Festival, and listen to global industry leaders' insider tips and insights in the conferences. John shared that the festival was meant to showcase Filipino talents to the music-loving public and to international delegates.
“Since [the] majority of international delegates are here already for the conferences, we wanted to show them what we can offer to their markets as well,” he added.
This isn’t KARPOS’ first rodeo, however, having organized the Wanderland Music and Arts Festival every year since 2013 – only postponing for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But those who have attended both may have noticed that while these two festivals have music at their core, they also offer different experiences.
“For Wanderland, it’s purely about celebrating the community and the art, not really just music. Although the core is still live music, we [also] aim to celebrate our community of ‘wanderers,’” John revealed.
“With ASIYA, the focus really is more about the music, the music industry, [and] how we can improve and better collaborate with our neighboring countries to showcase Filipino talent.”
What Goes Into Curating a Lineup?
And showcase Filipino talent they did. Ensuring a seamless flow of music, the venue featured two stages: Philippine Spotlight (or Original Pinoy Music (OPM) Stage which showcased all Filipino talent) and the ASIYA Stage (for all the international acts that came to town). Under the Philippine Spotlight were Gabba, Flu, Ysanygo, Jose Miguel, Reese Lansangan, UDD, Urbandub, Zild, Juan Karlos, and BINI.
On the other hand, the foreign acts that graced the stage were Numcha, Babychair, Imase, Colde, 9m88, Balming Tiger, Salasa, Shye, and Hyukoh & Sunset Rollercoaster.
With such a diverse lineup, we (and festival fans too!) were curious about how festival organizers curate a lineup. John revealed that in general, it starts with booking artists that they’re fans of.
“We start there because we need to start somewhere. If it’s too broad, it’s harder to curate. So we asked the whole team for their suggestions: ‘What are they currently listening to?’ Specifically for ASIYA, since we’re only tackling Asian music, we tried our best to make sure different Asian countries are represented,” John said.
“[Then] we create a short list of acts from those countries and then listen to them and see if they have potential to grow in the Philippines as well. But in terms of Filipino artists, the main criteria is if they are ‘music-export’ ready, meaning if they can put on a good show in these different types of festivals that they might have a chance to play in,” he added.

Another factor to consider was genre, ensuring a variety of performances across both stages. Even for the OPM stage, John said that they wanted to give the delegates a chance to see the range of what “Filipino sound” is.
For headliners, however, it was more challenging. The KARPOS CEO said that it also depends on their touring schedule and the first headliner for ASIYA should best represent Asia. Fortunately, “Hyukoh & Sunset Rollercoaster” was already on tour, and they’ve already held successful tours in the United States and Europe.
“[For the] second headliner, BINI is interesting because, to be honest, I never thought I would book a P-Pop act. It’s a different market from what we do at KARPOS and Wanderland. But BINI was able to find a way to cross different types of segments. I don’t really consider [them] as just P-Pop now; [they’ve become] a whole brand which everyone in the nation really admires and supports,” John shared, adding that the girl group greatly represents the current music landscape in the Philippines.
“I believe [BINI is] music-export ready. That’s the reason why, when we were doing the negotiations, I told them that it has to be a live band, proper live music. It was my first time seeing them [live] as well, so I was very excited.”


Day 1 and Day 2 of ASIYA Festival
What the ASIYA Festival lineup brought to festivalgoers was a fun weekend full of exciting – and sometimes intimately chill – performances that brought good vibes to everyone in the room. Gabba kicked off Day 1 with his instrumental rock performance that brought pure vibes to the festival. With everyone in a great mood, the Manila-based musician delivered a strong start to the weekend.
First to light up the Asiya stage was Thai indie singer-songwriter Numcha with her hits, “Keep Cold” and “Dirty Shoes” which had people dancing and bopping. Filipino pop-folk musician Reese Lansangan then had everyone feeling all “the feels,” as she sang “What Is This Feeling?” and “Home.



Malaysia-based trio band, babychair, then lit up the ASIYA stage with a chill set that had us bobbing our heads, eyes closed as we savored a mixed Johnnie Walker drink. Their fun hits such as “All Day All Night,” amped up the room even more!
Flu, the four-piece Filipino funk band, kept the party going with “’93” and “Manila Bay.” One of the biggest surprises of the night was when they performed “I’ll Be Mine” and invited Numcha onstage to sing with them!


For his Manila debut, J-Pop artist Imase got the crowd jumping, and while we confess that we couldn’t sing along nor understand, the TikTok viral musician brought impeccable vibes with him! Once again, we were reminded of how music transcends language, and it has the power to bring everyone together.
(Formerly Up Dharma Down) UDD brought Zoya along to perform electronica, synth-pop, and house music. While it may have been a shock to fans of their older music, we found their new music refreshing! Seoul-based Colde then brought easy-listening K-Pop music to the festival, showing how K-Pop can be different from the girl and boy groups that everyone associates with the genre.



OPM rock legends Urbandub took to the stage with their classics such as “Evidence” and “Frailty.” Energy in the room was at an all-time high when they played “First of Summer.” The audience went wild!
Last but not least, South Korean indie-rock bank Hyukoh and Taipei-based romantic-pop band Sunset Rollercoaster capped the day with a bang! Their joint performance got everyone dancing off the last shreds of their energy. It was all worth it, however, and everyone left in high spirits.

Expectations were up for Day 2 as the first day of ASIYA Fest set the bar high. Genre-fluid sibling duo Ysanygo lifted the crowd as they took to the stage first, performing “Sunny When I’m With You,” among others. After, Taiwanese singer-songwriter 9m88 launched the ASIYA stage for Day 2 with “Aim High,” and she had everyone singing – and even, dancing – along!
Jose Miguel, Filipino Jazz singer, kept the crowd’s energy up and we couldn’t help but relate to his biggest hit, “5 Star Overthinker.” We get you, Jose Miguel. Japanese singer-songwriter Salasa, who hails from the Shonan region of Kanagawa, brought heartfelt tunes to the ASIYA stage.




Then it was time to hear from Zild whose “darkwave homage” music amped up the audience. Jumping and rocking, the crowd shouted along to his songs. Independent singer-songwriter Shye, who hails from Singapore, belted out indie-pop and alternative rock tunes that got everyone swooning and banging their heads all in one set!
Chart-topping musician juan karlos serenaded the audience with his biggest hits, “Buwan” and “Demonyo.” South Korean music collective Balming Tiger hyped the crowd up even further with their pumping beats and through-the-roof energy! “Buriburi,” anyone? And an unforgettable mosh pit experience!




Finally, it was time for the finale by Filipino P-Pop girl group BINI who gave it their all with “Cherry on Top,” “Karera,” and “Salamin, Salamin.”
Our personal favorite was the group’s grungier, rock take on their biggest hit, “Pantropiko.” The live band really brought the radio hit to a new level! Between taking videos and dancing to their wildly popular choreography, the audience just couldn’t decide what to do, on top of singing along and paying attention to their bias – oh the struggle of Blooms!

Future of ASIYA
With the success of ASIYA, we couldn’t help but wonder what’s next for the music festival. The KARPOS CEO candidly said that there are no plans yet.
“It’s hard to do something like this, to be honest, without much support. After we finish this [festival], we’ll build a proper case study and lobby the government or new sponsors to help support us. Hopefully, we are able to continue,” John revealed.
Still, the two-day high from the Festival won’t go away any time soon; it was a great festival. As an organizer, John shared his insights on what makes a festival successful: “For me, personally, I don’t normally look [at] the lineup anymore. Number one would be the location. A good example is Fuji Rock [Festival], one of my favorite festivals of all time. It’s hard to get to, but when you get there, it’s really just so beautiful to see. It’s relaxing."
“Second would be amazing live music. I have zero expectations; I just want to come to discover new music. And third, it’s really F&B. Because you’re going to stay there for the whole day, so you have to have a proper selection of good food and drinks,” he added.
Lastly, however, John stressed that good festivals are made even greater by the people who attend them. He shared that for Wanderland, the ‘Wanderers’ create the whole vibe. “Without them, I don’t think our festival would be special. The people you attract are very important; the community that you’re building,” John ended.
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