Philippines

Nonplus

Nonplus© Brendan Goco
Maia Reyes, aka Nonplus, is a sound and visual artist from Manila. As one of the few consistent female sonic experimenters and DJs in the male-dominated Manila electronic music world, Nonplus has been earning her scene cred since the 90s.

Reyes first emerged as part of the underground hip hop platform Blow Up da Spot, and was involved in Subflex’ experimental and unpopular sounds in the naughts. 

Nonplus’ work is a global montage of sensibilities, drawing on strange tonal and rhythmic vocabularies to produce new cultural hybrids and intentional sonic anomalies. Sound processing and composition play a key role in her live performances and DJ sets.  

Another core element in her practice lies in her approach to sampling, as she makes use of them beyond their ontological status—treating them as a part of history, Nonplus dives deep into genres from the past by manipulating and shaping them to produce a multiplicity of meanings.

Together with Caliph8, Nonplus formed a project focusing on music production and live performance centered on improvisation and sound manipulation. Nonplus is one of the curators of the live experimental performance platform Modified Signals, and co-founder of Subflex in Manila.