They’re crazy, catchy, and legendary—and most of them have never performed in Poland before. This year’s OFF Festival features a bold lineup of East Asian artists, with can’t-miss acts from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and more performing throughout the festival weekend.
Each year’s OFF Festival lineup is filled with the most noteworthy alternative bands and artists from around the world. 2025’s edition will be yet another opportunity to discover some of the best music from different continents, with a number of excellent Asian bands performing at the Experimental Stage on August 2. Our latest announcement also features a stellar Polish band that draws inspiration from the Japanese music scene.
Wednesday Campanella
“An interesting and unforgettable experience”; “One of the best concerts I’ve seen in my life.” These are just some audience reactions to this Japanese trio’s 2018 debut at the OFF Festival. Wednesday Campanella has since gone on to play at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw, and record with Chvrches, garnering rave reviews for their live shows and a string of EPs and LPs. They return to Katowice in August with a new batch of explosive J-pop, hip hop, EDM—and a new lineup. Suiyōbi no Campanella (their orginal Japanese name) is still helmed by Dir.F and Kenmochi Hidefumi, who founded the act in 2012. They were joined in 2021 by the singer, model, and designer Utaha. Giver her a listen on Wednesday Campanella’s most recent effort, Pop Delivery, released last summer—and then come see her live at the OFF Festival.
envy
For over three decades, these rock veterans have played their own impressive blend of post-hardcore, screamo, and post-rock, bucking trends and weathering lineup shakeups. They’ve released dozens of albums and singles. They’ve performed alongside the likes of Mogwai, Jesu, Thursday, and Deafheaven, and inspired countless guitar bands in their native Japan and beyond. They’re coming to the the OFF Festival on the heels of their newest record, Eunoia, which critics have called the most impressive release in the band’s history. Even if that’s true, Envy—by the band’s own admission—shows its true face live. “The best part of Envy is the live show, so if we come near your town, please come over,” they urge in interviews. This isn’t a band you say no to.Hypnosis Therapy
Word is this band has a limitless amount of energy, and they’re on a mission to share it with the world. It’s said they want to lead a movement that swims against the current and redraws borders. One thing is for sure: the Korean duo Hypnosis Therapy, which has garnered rave reviews everywhere from SXSW to MixMag, is debuting in Poland with a show at the OFF Festival. “We want to reach people who are looking for something new,” say rapper JJANGYOU and producer Jflow. Their three records—Hypnosis Therapy, Psilocybin, and their latest, 2024’s Raw Survival—are a hard-hitting blend of rap and electronic music. The duo make quite an impression in the studio—and an even bigger one live. They’ve been called “crazy as hell” and Korea’s most unruly hip-hop duo. We can’t wait to hear what you’ll call them after their OFF Festival set.
Mong Tong
These veterans of myriad metal, art, and noise-rock bands finally joined forces to breathe new life into Asian myths using the sound of experimental electronic music. Taiwan’s Mong Tong is an electrifying duo that’s equally captivated by the island’s mythology, conspiracy theories, and the occult as it is by 1960s and ‘70s psychedelic sounds and video games, to which they’ve compared their tracks. Drawing on a Taoist ritual, they take the stage blindfolded in order to cut themselves off from external stimuli and immerse themselves in a world of their own. “The effect can be dizzying,” writes the arts and culture site The Quietus in a review of their live shows.
Hinode Tapes
Hinode is Japanese for “sunrise”: the band’s members see it as a new musical opening. “Tapes” comes from their love of long, improvised forms. In lieu of titles, the tracks on their 2022 debut are labeled with a sequence of number, like old radio recordings. Hinode Tapes is the brainchild of Piotr Kaliński—a.k.a. Hatti Vatti of the project titled Nanook of the North—who says his main source of inspiration is Japanese ambient music and the intersecting improvised jazz scene.
