As a brand that connects all 10 countries of Asean and their various cities, airasia has brought together more than 700 million people in the region, celebrating our differences and similarities.
This ASEAN day, the airasia play team hit the road to take our guests on an audio journey through Southeast Asia. Presenting Sounds of Asean, a music project with a line-up of tracks featuring five songs from five cities - Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Singapore, each track is based on field recordings and features audio bites from these eclectic destinations.
Pictures takes from Warner Music Malaysia
For this project, airasia enlisted Malaysian indie synth-pop artist Sam Lopez (aka lost spaces) to visit these cities, mingling with the locals, embarking on adventures, capturing the sounds and sampling the vibes of Asean along the way.
Inspired by the heritage buildings, hawkers, jeepneys and tuk-tuks, train announcements, temple bells and even local cats, Sam has created the Sounds of Asean for airasia, an audiovisual experience that brings the listener (or viewer) closer to the rest of Asean, allowing them to immerse themselves in the region’s rich, intricate tapestry. This project features a full playlist and an upcoming travelogue series on Sam’s guide to his favourite places in each of these cities.
“Bangkok is one of my favourite cities, I call Kuala Lumpur home, Singapore is just so well-planned and walkable. I love Jakarta’s music scene, and this project also brought me to Manila for the first time! Before this project, I’d never thought about how different yet ‘same same’ we are in Southeast Asia, and it’s been fun to work on this project and come up with these tracks. I hope the vibes of each city inspire more people to get out there and explore the world,” said Sam.
Citybells (Manila)
Manila was filled with history and culture which I had never experienced before as I was visiting there for the first time. The cathedrals were majestic and the people were so friendly. I decided to make the track with church bells in mind, having sampled the bells of the Manila Cathedral.
Garden Futurama (Singapore)
Singapore felt like a blend of a garden utopian city with beautiful futuristic city planning and connectivity. I loved their MRT lines, being able to travel from one side of the city to the other within minutes
NADA KOTA (Jakarta)
In Jakarta, I managed to travel to one of the oldest parts of town and it felt like I was in a mini art and music festival at Kota Tua. Stumbling upon so many buskers and artists that were performing in the middle of the area, I wanted to have more of a live instrument beat for this track.
Initially, I wanted to track live guitars but then opted to approach the song with my signature synths and pads. I also sampled some angklung, an Indonesian musical instrument, and used that as the main melody and built it around the song.
I also managed to meet up with some friends in Jakarta and they showed me around the art scene at M Bloc Space, which was so cool. It made me feel like I was in an “Indo city pop” music video.
GOLD RIVERS (Bangkok)
Check out the full music list on Youtube by local pop musicians Sam Lopez！
