EMC x Mixmag Asia Present The Gathering 2025: A collaborative cultural exchange in Bangkok this December
On December 10, 2025, EMC and Mixmag Asia present The Gathering 2025, a two-part cultural exchange program designed to deepen collaboration, connectivity, and knowledge-sharing across Asia and Australia’s independent and underground music ecosystems. Taking place across two events in Thailand this December, The Gathering brings together artists, community leaders, creative businesses and cultural innovators from across the region for cross-border exchange and relationship-building.
Part One: The Gathering Artist Retreat (5–9 December)
An invite-only retreat held at Karma Studios in Chon Buri, The Gathering Artist Retreat brings together 14 artists from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Mongolia, and Thailand. Across five days, participants will engage in immersive collaboration, cultural exchange, co-creation, and shared creative exploration—providing the optimal environment to cultivate long-term artistic and creative partnerships.
2025 artists for The Gathering Artist Retreat will be announced on EMC and Mixmag Asia’s socials on Thursday 4 December.
Karma Studios, Asia’s premier residential recording complex, has hosted many Billboard No. 1 records and major film soundtracks across Hollywood and Bollywood. With world-class facilities it offers a sanctuary for deep creative work where the world’s top songwriters and producers escape the noise to create in total privacy. Independent artists across the region rarely access spaces of this calibre, facing barriers that privileged and major record label acts don’t. The Gathering’s use of Karma Studios represents a deliberate act of access, equity, and recognises that independent scenes deserve the same world-class infrastructure to create the work that shapes this region’s cultural future.
Part Two: The Gathering pop-Up Exchange (10 December)
On 10 December, The Gathering continues to a one-day exchange bringing together a curated group of 80 music, cultural, and community leaders from Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Held at Siwilai City Club in Bangkok, the event is intentionally built around reciprocal exchange rather than panels or traditional conference formats. This is where regional insights, cultural movements, and the nuanced challenges facing independent ecosystems are shared directly between the people shaping them.
Session 1: After the Gathering: Artists in Conversation
Amira Waworuntu (Managing Editor, Mixmag Asia) facilitates this conversation with artists from The Gathering Artist Retreat—representing Australia, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mongolia and Thailand—following five days of collaborative music-making to process what they’ve learned. This open forum brings together producers, improvisers, traditional instrumentalists, composers and vocalists to discuss the nuanced realities of their respective music ecosystems, the shared challenges that transcend borders, and the unexpected discoveries that emerged through collaboration.
This is not a panel to observe but a conversation to join, inviting the audience to contribute their experiences and questions about building sustainable creative exchange across the region.
Session 2: Building Platforms That Last—Lessons in Infrastructure and Adaptation
Arun Ramanathan (Director, Mixmag Asia) and Jane Slingo (Director, EMC) facilitate a conversation with Jan-Willem van de Ven (Managing Director, ADE) and Meindert Kennis (Music Industry Strategist and former Co-Director, ADE), examining what Asia’s emerging platforms can learn from ADE’s three-decade evolution—and what needs reinvention.
Arun Ramanathan (Director, Mixmag Asia) and Jane Slingo (Director, EMC) facilitate a conversation with Jan-Willem van de Ven (Managing Director, ADE) and Meindert Kennis (Music Industry Strategist and former Co-Director, ADE), examining what Asia’s emerging platforms can learn from ADE’s three-decade evolution—and what needs reinvention.
As Asia develops its own industry gatherings and cultural exchange models, this session explores the infrastructure, policy frameworks, and industry relationships that enabled ADE’s growth from 300 delegates to a 600,000-person cultural institution. With Wonderfruit marking its 10th anniversary the following day, the conversation asks how Asia’s distinct community structures, regulatory environments, and cultural contexts demand different approaches to building enduring platforms that serve both industry development and grassroots culture.
Siwilai City Club
Located on the fifth-floor rooftop of Central Embassy, Siwilai City Club offers panoramic city views across indoor–outdoor spaces, cabanas, and open terraces—an environment designed for connection and meaningful conversation. Its fluid social architecture provides the ideal setting for cross-border dialogue to unfold organically, with further connection continuing into the night at Siwilai Radical Club Bangkok.
A New Infrastructure for Cross-Border Collaboration
Through a deliberate curatorial focus on regional relevance, community-building, and collaboration potential, The Gathering places independent artists and businesses at the centre—prioritising grassroots cultural leaders over multinational structures. This is not networking theatre. It is a purpose-designed platform for building sustainable creative economies, strengthening independent networks, and shaping the future of Asia-Australia’s music and cultural ecosystems.
The Gathering Pop-Up Exchange is a curated event with attendance by invitation. If you are interested in attending, please complete this form: Register your interest to attend
For media inquiries:
Pip Dalton
pip@emcaustralia.org | +61 404 186 702
pip@emcaustralia.org | +61 404 186 702
About EMC
EMC is focused on building a thriving, independent, electronic music ecosystem through programs, events, initiatives, storytelling, supportive day-to-day actions and advocacy. Founded in 2012, EMC has hosted 12 conferences, close to 100 music and cultural events and four international exchanges. EMC Website
About Mixmag Asia
Mixmag has a 40+ year history and an unparalleled level of trust within the music industry. Since debuting in Asia eight years ago, Mixmag Asia has been the leading media delivering on-the-pulse stories about music, artists, parties, festivals and trailblazing topics linked to electronic music and club culture across the region. Through its access and influence in the industry, Mixmag Asia connects brands with engaged and passionate audiences around the world through game-changing digital delivery and audience activation. Mixmag Asia Website
Disclaimer
EMC and its initiatives and projects are supported by the Australian Government through Music Australia & the NSW Government through Sound NSW. The Gathering 2025 is also supported by the Victorian Music Development Office.
