Takahara Suiko will be the first ever Malaysian to get into the Red Bull Music Academy!

MUSICIAN and up-and-coming actor Takahara Suiko (also known as The Venopian Solitude) has made history as the first Malaysian musician to be selected for the Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA), set to take place in Montreal this year. She is set to be one of seventy artists handpicked from almost 3,500 applicants across the globe to attend the academy this coming September.

“I can’t believe I was chosen from thousands of people around the world,” she stated upon receiving the coveted spot. “It almost feels like one of those ‘Nigerian prince’ email scams! It feels so surreal.”

This bright name in “experimentertative” music has turned heads for the past number of years — mainstream audiences are familiar with her hit single “Tenangkan Bontot Anda”, while others such as GUMBALL have compared her to the likes of Bjork. Takahara has put out one full-length studio release to date, titled Hikayat Perawan Majnun in 2014, and numerous EPs and collaborations online.

As part of her upcoming two-week stint at the academy, Takahara will have access to lectures and sessions focused on music-making in Phi Centre — a well-known contemporary art gallery, cultural centre and performance space in Montreal, Canada.

The academy will also be working with its alumni in presenting a five-week festival of concerts, club nights and public talks in Montreal.

Takahara was formerly-signed to Kasi Gegar Entertainment, and we last told you about her on “Janji“, a collaboration under the 25 Rasul project which saw her and Altimet collaborating on a track about an Islamic prophet for one heck of a groovy jam.

If you’re wondering what sort of instruments she plays, Takahara once revealed to Star2 that her arsenal includes toilet rolls, books and cardboard boxes.

But her best asset is probably her voice. Displaying a rather ethereal quality, it is often looped, distorted and sampled, such as in album cut “The Leading Reaper”, available on Hikayat Perawan Majnun.

You can hear more of her new music in her latest release Kereta Merah, a concept EP which hauntingly reinterprets the Malay nursery rhyme “Bapaku Pulang Dari Kota”. There’s a lot more exclusive material from Takahara on Bandcamp, and all of them can be streamed for free on Bandcamp if you’re not the paying type.

In the meantime, make sure to read up on her based on our past coverage, send over your well-wishes, and congratulate her for her success!

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Check out The Venopian Solitude’s other works on her and Bandcamp as well! Information and pictures from this article were sourced from RBMA, Juice, Esplanade Singapore and Star2.