Inside Malaysian Shoegaze with heavëner

On our side of the world, Malaysian underground music can still feel slightly out of reach, which makes heavëner all the more compelling. They’re part of a scene that’s been growing quickly, but what makes them stand out is how personal and carefully shaped their songs are — dreamy, melancholic, and rooted in the realities of where they come from.

Built by Maro, Faidil, Zik, and Zahir, the Kuala Lumpur band’s debut album, Through the Fractured Sky, turns weather, geography, and lived experience into something tender and widescreen. Across the record, monsoon seasons, humid air, rain-soaked roads, and the emotional distance of being spread across Malaysia all become part of the music itself , alongside a deep sense of melancholy inherited from traditional Malaysian music.

In this interview, we talked about how the band came together, the local shoegaze scene, and the way place, climate, distance, and tradition shape both their sound and their perspective.

Malaysia sits on the equator, and that environment naturally influences how we write music. Living in a multicultural society makes us more sensitive to what we see and feel.The climate also plays a role—it’s tropical, with monsoon seasons instead of four distinct seasons. Because of that, we often express emotions through weather.

How did heavëner come together as a band, and what brought each of you into the project?

heavëner is our first proper band, except for Faidil. In March 2023, Maro was looking for band members to start a dream pop/shoegaze project, as he already had a few demos but had never played in a full band. He found Faidil through Twitter, as he was known in the hardcore scene and had been in another shoegaze band, Hazing Line. Zik was already jamming with Maro, and Zahir joined after our first show and has since become an essential part of the band.

We initially started just to jam, release music, and hang out, but we ended up receiving really positive feedback and found ourselves becoming part of a growing local shoegaze movement. At first, we leaned toward 2010s shoegaze like Whirr and Nothing, but over time we developed a deeper chemistry and began reflecting our personal experiences through our own perspective.

We might not be the typical washy, droney shoegaze band, but we believe this project works because of the honesty we share in creating music together. We’ve made a pledge that heavëner will always be Maro, Zik, Zahir, and Faidil.

What first drew you to shoegaze, and how did you each connect with the genre?

Maro: For me, it’s the way whispering vocals blend with loud ambient noise. It feels like sending out a confession while not really wanting to be heard at the same time. That really reflects my personality—I’m quite shy and quiet.

Faidil: In 2023, while I was doing my degree, I was looking for people to play simple music with and build something from a DIY perspective. I grew up listening to hardcore and punk, so that mindset has always been important to me. Shoegaze felt like one of the closest genres to that world—different sonically, but with the same emphasis on emotion, atmosphere, and honesty over perfection.

Zik: I’ve always loved ambient and post-rock, and later I came across the term “shoegaze” through a JHS Pedals YouTube video. I immediately fell in love with the hazy, brittle tones. After that, I asked Maro for recommendations, and he introduced me to Yuragi—that’s when the rabbit hole began.

Zahir: I wasn’t very familiar with shoegaze at first. When I joined heavëner, I immediately connected with how loud and spacious it felt. I was already into dream pop, so the transition felt natural—shoegaze just added more weight and intensity.

Which shoegaze bands or records have influenced you most, and why?

Maro: Whirr – Sway — I think it’s their heaviest record, and I love how the drums are mixed.Yuragi – Still Dreaming, Still Deafening — it has a strong ambient post-rock influence. I actually introduced Zik to shoegaze through this band.

Faidil: Ruang Temu by Rissau really stayed with me. It captures real experiences and turns them into something lasting and emotional. Also, Nostalgia by Soft—the best shoegaze band in Malaysia, in my opinion.

Zik: Parannoul – To See the Next Part of the Dream, especially “White Ceiling.” The atmospheric layers are incredible. You really just have to listen to it.

Zahir: DIIV, especially Oshin, for its mood and atmosphere. Also, Deafheaven’s Ordinary Corrupt Human Love for heavier textures, and Hammock for ambient influence.

For readers hearing heavëner for the first time, how would you describe your sound?

Dreamy, melancholic, and sometimes nostalgic. It’s the kind of music you’d play when it’s raining.

How would you characterize the Malaysian underground scene right now?

It’s very diverse, especially within the DIY scene. There are almost no strict genre boundaries—you might see skramz, hardcore punk, shoegaze, and post-rock all on the same bill.

In what ways does Malaysian shoegaze have its own identity compared to other regions?

We don’t have many shoegaze bands, but each one has a distinct identity. We’re not heavily influenced by the rise of “heavy shoegaze.” The sound here tends to be softer and more emotive, likely due to influences from post-rock and skramz. There’s also a deep sense of melancholy in traditional Malaysian music that subtly shapes our sound.

How does your environment, culture, or lived experience in Malaysia shape your songwriting?

Malaysia sits on the equator, and that environment naturally influences how we write music. Living in a multicultural society makes us more sensitive to what we see and feel.

The climate also plays a role—it’s tropical, with monsoon seasons instead of four distinct seasons. Because of that, we often express emotions through weather. On our album Through the Fractured Sky, weather becomes a central metaphor. The “fractured sky” represents emotional instability, like a sky about to break.

For example, “Hujan di Bukit Larut” draws from a highland area known for heavy rainfall. “Hujan” means rain, and “bukit” means hill—connecting place, climate, and emotion.

Traditional Malaysian and Nusantara music also influences our lyrical phrasing and emotional tone, often leaning toward melancholy.

Can you tell us about your debut album? What ideas shaped it?

Through the Fractured Sky feels less like a debut and more like a continuation of earlier fragments. It follows a solitary figure wandering through the aftermath of a broken world, left cold and hollow under a fractured sky.

Each track feels like a torn page from that journey, moving between memory and remnants. It’s not about triumphant survival, but quiet endurance—existing in the space between collapse and acceptance.

What themes or emotions were you exploring, and what did you want listeners to take away?

The album continues an ongoing emotional narrative from our earlier releases. At its core, it explores the idea that emotions are phases—they come and go, but they still leave a lasting impact.

We wanted to reflect that movement through atmosphere and progression. If there’s one takeaway, it’s that nothing stays the same forever—but everything changes you in some way.

Which song best represents heavëner right now, and why?

“Hujan di Bukit Larut.” The idea came during our first tour, driving through Taiping in heavy rain. That moment made us reflect on what we were going through and what we missed.

The song captures how we write now—blending environment, memory, and emotion into one atmosphere.

What challenges did you face while making the album?

Distance was the biggest challenge. We’re spread across different parts of Malaysia, so time was even more limiting than money.

We worked around it by planning monthly recording sessions and preparing thoroughly. Most of the album was recorded live, with additional layering afterward.

The biggest lesson was trust—trusting our preparation and each other.

Which Malaysian bands should people be paying attention to?

Shoegaze: Aurumn, the world ends with you., wail, Crhura, Feral, Dreamscape, Suurrr, aktadiri, Vert, Chrysanthemum, Pleasantrees, whirlpool, SoftSkramz/Screamo: Sephia, Toi Et Moi

Post-rock: Moi Last Von, ghüu.Alternative/Emo: fictions, Pasca Sini, oddweek

From the region:

Indonesia: Sunlotus, Enola, Greyflowers, Room; Saint Ali and Sonnar (doom)

Singapore: feelslikeyou, Phantom Haze, Astreal, redreverie

Looking ahead, how do you see heavëner evolving?

We’ve been working within a shoegaze/post-rock/skramz blend, but we’re starting to expand beyond that. We’re especially interested in exploring more instrumental and post-rock directions—longer structures, dynamic shifts, and letting the music speak more on its own.

We’re not trying to change our identity, but to stretch it—pushing atmosphere, texture, and emotional weight even further while staying true to what defines heavëner.