Greetings from Lagu Timur Sessions: one year in and already the sound of a new generation
Lagu Timur Sessions brings the sounds of the Moluccas, Papua, NTT and Sulawesi to the world stage. Lagu Timur is not a strictly defined genre but an umbrella term for music from the eastern islands. A sound in which island vibes, rhythm and a strong regional identity come together. In South-East Asia and the Pacific this music has been trending for years, and through the Moluccan and Papuan communities in the Netherlands Lagu Timur is now conquering Europe too.**
For the first time they tell their story behind Lagu Timur Sessions publicly, with us!
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In 2025 three Moluccan DJs, Brian Parera, Miguell Kaidel and Lasharo, joined forces to capture this energy in Lagu Timur Sessions: raw, unrehearsed live sessions inspired by a Boiler Room-style setting. No scripts, no explanations, just playing and recording. Purely from feeling. What began as an idea born of a love of music, language and rhythm grew at lightning speed into a platform with millions of views on social media and an ever-growing international fanbase.
The first Lagu Timur Session went online on 31 January 2025. Three lads with a shared vision started something that soon turned out to be bigger than they could have imagined. What began as intimate sessions grew into a movement that resonates within the Moluccan community in the Netherlands and far beyond. The music connects islands, but also generations. Younger listeners hear themselves and their identity reflected for the first time, while older generations recognise echoes of the past.
Lagu Timur Sessions is more than music alone. It stands for recognition, pride and visibility. Artists come together around their shared love of lagu-lagu, translated into the present: raw, contemporary and deeply rooted in culture. Without translation, without explanation, but with impact. It is precisely that authenticity that makes it so powerful.
This development does not stand alone. Within the community, Lagu Timur Sessions calls to mind earlier musical movements. In the 1960s Massada also started from within their own circle. Their breakthrough in 1978 marked a new sound in which Latin rock and jazz fused into a recognisable percussion-led sound. What was then innovative arose, just as now, from cultural roots, a sense of community and the conviction that music does not have to adapt in order to be heard.
That this moment is happening now is no coincidence. The six-part concert series New Wave in Concert starts soon at the Ziggo Dome, bringing together artists such as Ronnie Flex, Lil Kleine, Frenna, Jonna Fraser, Idaly and Lijpe. Like them, Brian, Miguell and Lasharo are creating a wave of sound that makes something long alive within the community visible to a wider audience. The moment the first Lagu Timur Session went live marks just such a turning point.
First Lagu Timur Sessions #1 | Miguell Kaidel & Lasharo | Pica Pica, Jang Ganggu
Lagu Timur Mendunia – Lagu Timur to the world!
For Miguell Kaidel this movement is personal too. After the pandemic he decided to focus entirely on Maluku and his cultural roots. After a long period of global distance he sought out that connection. As a DJ and artist, the realisation grew that there was something here that deserved more attention. Together with Brian and Lasharo the idea arose to create the live sessions, not only for themselves but for DJs and artists from the Moluccas.
Lagu Timur Sessions shows that Moluccan music is not a genre of the past but a living, evolving sound. The sessions spark awareness, make the similarities between islands felt, and invite people not only to follow trends but to recognise them in their own surroundings.**
Bookings keep coming in, also outside the Lagu Timur spectrum, and this year several artists from Maluku will come to the Netherlands. The hope is that artists from here and from there will find one another and create new music together. Music that connects people.
Perhaps that is the greatest strength of the first year of Lagu Timur Sessions: it does not try to prove that it matters. The community did that long ago.
Finally, Museum Maluku congratulates Brian Parera, Miguell Kaidel and Lasharo on this first year of Lagu Timur Sessions. In a short time they have set something in motion that reaches further than music alone. What they have built touches on identity, community and cultural continuity. As carriers of culture we see the value of this movement and carry it forward with conviction. Museum Maluku will keep supporting them as this sound develops further and continues to claim its place in the world.
