Batavia Collective: Inside Jakarta’s Jazz Rebels Redefining Indonesia’s Soundscape

PUBLISHED September 18th, 2025 12:18 am | UPDATED October 20th, 2025 07:00 pm

Jakarta is loud. It’s humid, unpredictable, full of contradictions, and somewhere between the chaos and the groove, Batavia Collective was born. For those unfamiliar, the Jakarta-based trio – Elfa Zulham (drums), Doni Joesran (keys), and Kenny Gabriel (synth bass) – has been turning heads across Southeast Asia’s underground music circuit. Jazz-trained, club-raised, and 100% live, Batavia Collective’s music is as much a product of their city as it is a rebellion against its noise.

Their latest EP, CODED, released under Syndicate Singapore, is a potent culmination of everything they’ve been building towards: an improvised, analog-heavy fusion of broken beat, ambient textures, and post-club melancholy. But before we get into that, let’s rewind a bit.

Jakarta as Muse

In our interview, Elfa and Kenny described Jakarta with a mixture of exasperation and affection. They cited the traffic, food, and chaos as central to the city’s identity, and inevitably, to their own. Kenny described the city as hectic, while Daniel noted how it constantly tests one’s patience.

This chaos, however, mirrors their musical ethos. Batavia Collective doesn’t use setlists or backing tracks. Their shows are built in real time, responding to the energy of the room. Elfa likened their approach to that of DJs, constantly adapting to the crowd, while playing as a fully live band. The result is unpredictable, but grounded in groove, much like the city that shaped them.

Even their name is rooted in place. “Batavia”, the colonial-era name for Jakarta, hints at the historical and cultural density that informs their sound. Every track is a timestamp of city life: frenetic, heavy, fleeting. Tracks like “Senopati Shuffle” nod to nightlife districts, while deeper cuts reference local legends and social movements.

And it’s not just the soundscape of Jakarta that bleeds into their music, it’s the spirit. The trio finds inspiration in the chaos, using the unpredictability of the city as a metaphor for their own improvisational method. And in doing so, they channel Jakarta’s chaotic spirit into something deeply rhythmic and expressive.

Three Minds, One Pulse

Elfa, Doni, and Kenny come from formal jazz training but found their chemistry in the freedom of the club. Their music, often described as experimental jazz or electronic fusion, sidesteps neat categorisation. Think Squarepusher meets Sun Ra at a basement rave in South Jakarta.

And like any close-knit group, creative friction is part of the process. “We used to argue on stage,” Kenny laughs, “like, really yell at each other mid-show. Now we use in-ear monitors so we can cue each other quietly. It changed everything.”

Touring has only strengthened that bond. From Wonderfruit to Art Basel Hong Kong, the trio has jammed with a Mexican vocalist, a Jarana player (Mexican traditional guitar), an Indian synth player and a Japanese violinist. “One time in France,” Daniel Adisumarta, their manager, recalls, “they pulled other musicians up on stage, none of it rehearsed. It was wild.”

Their influences span continents and genres. “We grew up listening to everything. Hip-hop, gospel, funk, soul, UK broken beat, Detroit techno,” says Kenny. “But jazz was our foundation. And from there, we started bending the rules.”

Live, Not Looped

What sets Batavia Collective apart from many other electronic acts is their commitment to live performance. No backing tracks. No safety nets. Just gear, guts, and groove. Each show becomes a one-off moment: beautiful, imperfect, human.

“Mistakes are part of it,” Elfa says. “Some of our best tracks started as mistakes on stage. Daniel would record the set, and later we’d build a song around a 30-second jam that wasn’t even planned.”

Their philosophy embraces spontaneity. This ethos shines in their stage presence. Explosive one moment, meditative the next. Each show is a negotiation between the musicians, the space, and the crowd.

“We usually get there early,” Kenny said, “just to feel the vibe and know what to do. We read the room, then we play.”

Decoding CODED

Which brings us to the new EP. CODED is four tracks of distilled emotion, from the heavy, heady pulse of “Rush” to the meditative unraveling of “Signs,” featuring Singaporean experimental vocalist weish.

“‘Signs’ was just a demo at first,” Kenny explains. “We didn’t plan vocals. But weish came in and transformed it. Her voice didn’t just sit on the track; it haunted it.” The result is a ghost ballad built for post-club introspection, a standout on an already exceptional release.

The band never re-recorded the track after receiving weish’s vocals. “We didn’t use a click or metronome, so we couldn’t overdub,” Kenny explained. “It just became the final version.”

The EP plays like a live set: an arc of tension, release, and return. From the bruk energy of “Rush” to the ritualistic layers in “Ring the Bells” (featuring Kamga), each track adds another facet to the narrative. “We wanted to simulate a live experience in a studio format,” Elfa noted.

Dream Collabs and Dancefloor Philosophy

So what’s next? Besides a tour across Hong Kong, Mongolia, Singapore, and France, Batavia Collective has a dream list: Thundercat, Mark Pritchard, Shabaka Hutchings. “We love the idea of expanding the trio into a collective, even just for one show,” says Elfa.

When asked what they want audiences to take away from a show, Kenny was candid: “We make sure that the audience have the feeling that they are happy or they forget about everything. That’s the whole thing.”

And when they’re not making music? Basketball is their shared off-stage obsession. “My life is just music and basketball,” Kenny said. “If I get tired of writing music, I watch NBA. Twice a week, we play.”

Introducing Indonesia’s Sonic Disruptors

For a band just three people deep, Batavia Collective is building something much bigger. A sonic language rooted in Jakarta but fluent in global rhythm. They’re not just representing Indonesian jazz on an international stage; they’re rewriting what that even means.

By rejecting both tradition and trend, Batavia Collective creates a middle space. One where Indonesian identity is expressed through electronic chaos, jazz improvisation, and a kinetic kind of soul. And if CODED is any indication, they’re only getting started.

Whether you catch them in a sweaty basement club or a sun-drenched festival stage, one thing’s for sure: Batavia Collective isn’t here to replicate the past. They’re here to remix the future.

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Check out Batavia Collective’s mix for City Nomads via our Mixcloud or follow them for their latest happenings on Instagram: @batava.collective