Takkak Takkak

Takkak Takkak is a new duo project by the Berlin-based Japanese screwball producer Shigeru Ishihara (aka Dj Scotch Egg, waqwaq kingdom, scotch rolex) and the Vilnius-based Indonesian junk multi-instrumentalist J. Mo’ong Santoso Pribadi (one half of Raja Kirik). Each artist is known and loved for their solo, idiosyncratic productions. Together they fuse their joyous and challenging sound worlds through a strong mutual interest in each other’s artistic expression.

The name Takkak Takkak is a nod to onomatopoeias in drum cultures and vocal percussion found throughout Asian cultures. It echoes the artists’ love of polyrhythms and explosive trance-inducing dance musics, which they slather with unabashed doses of low-end beats, screaming vocals, and wild energy – with a good joke brewing underneath. Gleefully subverting instruments from DIY junk instruments to slapdash electronic hacks, they bend notions of the traditional and the contemporary by pulling from their knowledge of asian traditional and underground musics, multiplying these with inspirations the world over to create passport-free music that you feel like you might have heard before, but can’t tell where and when.

Their namesake debut album, out 7 June 2024 on Nyege Nyege Tapes, is an impressive balancing act: Takkak Takkak navigate their cross-continental palette with not only knowledge and skill, but a refreshing level of humor. This makes their music as infectious as it is fearless - it's experimental, sure, but Pribadi and Ishihara are having a blast, and they don't care who knows.