MONO 56 | Merzbow

For almost five decades, Tokyo-based artist Merzbow has held the undisputed position as the iconic forefather of noise music. His work, which catapults listeners into a compelling cosmos of sound, has grown to represent one of the most fully realised and utterly personal projects to emerge in contemporary sound. Merzbow's concerts are the stuff of legend. They exist as near-transcendental experiences where body and ears are consumed by an indescribable mass of noise. His music is a full-spectrum eruption, a pyroclastic cloud within which unknown pleasures lie. It's a rendering of sound at its deepest, densest, and most profound.

Merzbow is joined by fellow vibrationalist and lightning strike survivor Lawrence English. Known for work that tests the very edges of harmonic ambience and low-energy sound pressure, his live performances evoke unerring speculative atmospheres, a dense and physically affecting sonic fog.

MONO is the IMA's experimental sound program curated by Room40. Since 2006, MONO has brought sonic experimentation and boundary-pushing performance to Brisbane/Meanjin. MONO turns 20 in 2026.