At her most bracing, Wanton Witch comes out swinging with very big electronic sounds that assault the senses. But even when it’s unrelenting with colossal drums and violent synths, which is frequently, it’s also packed with flourishes, transitions, and diversity. It’s not uncommon for power drum sections to give way to soaring orchestral melodies. And her releases just as frequently feature introspective and spacey songs constructed from similar palettes. Her work rarely sits still and is defined by a need to keep moving, one eye always trained on what’s ahead around the next corner.

Wanton’s music could described as deconstructed club, all wrapped in icy trance synths and widescreen drum kits. But global club may be an equally proper way to categorize it, as she draws on sounds from around the world. Depending on the context, she easily glides through everything from Mexican 3ball to Indonesian Muslim holiday music, often subtly incorporating traditional Bornean instrumentation like gongs, flutes, or kendang drums. It’s individualistic but engages with the related movements of our time. Her outlook aligns with other Southeast Asian artists ensuring their roots are part of this globalized conversation but not solely defined by them. “There are incredible Asian producers putting out and pushing their highly artistic, grassroots-influenced music, shaping the global experimental club scene.”

Wanton splits most of her time between Berlin and Bangkok now, but it was here in Krung Thep that she first carved out a community for herself after leaving rural Malaysian Borneo. It wasn’t particularly easy though, combining an expression of her identity as a trans woman with cutting-edge sonics, neither of which had a home in nightlife at the time, let alone a combined space. “The electronic scene was dominated by 4×4 tech house and nothing else,” she says, so they started their own thing in the form of the LGBTQ electronic music collective Non Non Non. At first, it was usually just the same people supporting each other in these small little circles, but that’s started changing recently. “Thailand’s alt/underground scene has always been behind and it still is. But it’s a lot better now because of the younger generation who are more exposed to things and more accepting. Now we’re creating our own spaces, expressing our art, and providing fulfilling experiences. We’re taking over globally.”