Juno Mamba champions Asian-Australian creatives on new EP ‘Flowerdrum’
Juno Mamba
Juno Mamba, the breakout Filipino-Australian producer and live performer, joins forces with emerging Indonesian-Australian artist Rino for Flowerdrum – a high-impact EP out today on Australian label Mushroom Music.
The project is rooted in identity with an aim to champion their Asian heritage and create the kind of creative community they lacked in their youth. By collaborating with Asian creatives across music, photography, and visual art, Flowerdrum is a cultural statement as much as it is a sonic one.
Their collaboration began with a one-off chance meeting in Melbourne. Childhood parallels emerged and their initial connection translated into the music, and what was originally meant to be a single track grew into a project with its own identity.
“We want younger producers to feel there’s a community here. It’s not about being hyper-specific to Filipino or Indonesian culture – it’s about being broad and inclusive, and building a space where Asian artists can thrive in this scene.”
Juno Mamba
The project arrives off the back of a huge year for Juno Mamba – touring his live act with New Order and Kiasmos, plus his debut UK and European tour this autumn, with shows in London, Paris, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. This year he’s already released a run of collaborative singles with Mild Minds (Foreign Family/Ninja Tune), edapollo (Seb Wildblood’s all my thoughts), and Paris (Mushroom Music).
For Rino, Flowerdrum follows the EPs on Seb Wildblood’s all my thoughts, and Rob Da Bank’s Silver Bear Recordings imprint. Classically trained in Geneva, Rino moved from alternative rock to electronic music, performing at Singaporean indie festivals. He draws on his diverse musical background to explore a spectrum of emotional responses to electronic music.
Creative trust birthed Flowerdrum’s opening track ‘Meant2Be’ – the only track written entirely together in the studio.“It honestly felt like we were just playing around with no intention other than just having fun,” says Rino. For Juno Mamba, it became “the emotional DNA of the project.” That instinctive flow carried forward into ‘Citrus’ and flowed into ‘All I Need’ which channels their teenage obsessions with indie rock and ambient crossovers. Closing cut ‘Let Go’, reimagined from an old Juno Mamba demo into a UK bass-influenced club track, expands the sonic and emotional scope of the EP.
Flowerdrum signals the beginning of a wider artistic vision. A platform for Asian-Australian voices in creative fields, Vietnamese-Australian Rel Pham shaped the visual direction with his digital surrealism, and Chinese-Australian photographer Jordan Coles, with the pair’s images being inspired by Wong Kar Wai’s palettes.