Jason Swamy on Earth Sentinels and Robot Hearts

This interview was first published in 2024 and is revisited here in 2026.

An angel in silver boots drifted through the tropical maze toward Suara’s main stage. Her LED wings pushed a soft breeze through the heat and three glittered Aussies stepped into her slipstream like it was the most natural thing. The whole setup moved with the beat. Lights rolling. Sound rising from somewhere inside her gear. It looked improvised but sharp.

I caught myself keeping score. Small details. Quiet signatures. Things you notice when someone with a real eye has shaped a place. Jason Swamy leaves those everywhere. People know him from Robot Heart at Burning Man but his touch goes further. It is not just a stage or a scene. It is a way of building a world.

Nuanu showed that. The place bends and twists like teak grown into architecture. Art appears in corners you do not expect. Mini stages hide between trees. Nature and tech sit next to each other without trying to win space. By the time I reached the Earth Sentinels by Daniel Popper my tally was long gone.

Jason waited behind the Sentinels. He gave me a quiet smile and walked me to a calm spot where the sun was dropping. A Kecak ceremony was about to start under the statues. Voices warming up. Rhythm settling in. It felt like the right moment to talk about Suara, about Bali, about the work he has been shaping here since 2022.

He lives on the island now. Suara is in its third edition. The project keeps growing and shifting and pulling new people in. Jason wanted to sit down before the ceremony began, so we found a place just off the path. No rush. No noise. Just enough space to talk.

M: Jason, thank you for joining me, and congratulations on your third edition of Suara Festival. There’s certainly a palpable energy in the air, between the creativity, divserity, and communal connectivity here. I can’t wait to see how things pick up tonight.

J: I can’t wait either! We try to program it to build up throughout the day and let it crescendo overnight. And it’s all building up to Sunday.

We try to be inclusive and welcome everyone, so in the daytime it’s for people who are more into the wellness and the food-side of things, and the family zone is absolutely rocking. I’m a dad of two, so I can tell that the parents are loving it. But once the lights go down, I think people let their hair down and things there’s a different kind of fun.

M: It’s nice seeing such a large family element here, and so many Festival-Kids running around. They always end up being the most interesting people later in life.

J: Absolutely, I mean, my son is doing meditation at four years old and I find myself thinking, ‘What will he be like when he’s older?’ I think if someone gets that kind of exposure – exposure to something like this when they’re that young, they’re absolutely going to become someone very interesting later in life.

M: There are definitely distinct elements of Burning Man here at Suara Festival, not only visually and musically, but also just the overall vibe. Can you tell me a bit about your experience with Burning Man and ‘Robot Heart’? What influence have they had on Suara Festival?

J: You know, it’s funny, I was told to go to Burning Man for 10 years before I finally made my way over there. Then 14 years ago I helped start ‘Robot Heart’ which now has one of the most formidable, well-known cult followings. It changed my life, and it really made me who I am today. It’s allowed me to do these things that bring more and more people together.

Burning Man culture permeates everything here. You know, [Nuanu founder] Sergey Solonin is a ‘Burner’, and he’s very clearly influenced by it. I’m tremendously influenced by it, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to create something like this in this playground that he’s created. I mean, what better canvas can you have to do something like this?

M: What personal touches did you make sure to include when organizing Suara Festival?

J: I think, first and foremost, having my team. I had to bring in the most amazing team to help pull off something so challenging and complex. Also, putting a focus on curation. Very detailed curation. Musically, having a diverse lineup that encompasses all sorts of tastes. There’s traditional music from Bali, there’s Batavia Collective – who’s playing right now – with their own brand of electronic funk. We’ve got Japanese rappers, we’ve got rappers from Singapore, we’ve got HVOB and Sainte Vie from Burning Man. So really, making sure there’s a little bit of everything.

Also, food, art, culture, community – everyone’s contributing. And just encouraging people to be themselves. You can see people are dressed up –they’re expressing themselves, you know. People don’t normally walk around the street looking like this, right?

M:
(beat)

J:…Well… maybe in Bali a little bit (laughs) But not quite so much, you know?

M: Maybe a bit more in Bali… (laughs) But I hear you. Maybe one day, in a perfect world…

J: Right, right – in a perfect world, and that’s what we’re trying to create, right? Express yourself, be yourself.

M: Musically, Suara Festival is diverse, but it’s largely an electronic music festival. There’s a fairly significant genre-divergence with Angus and Julia Stone as the festival’s main headliner. Can you tell me a bit about that choice?

J: Well, the thing is, I was trying to put Angus and Julius Stone for 10 years, but we couldn’t afford them! (laughs) I still can’t afford them! But seeing as Bali is such an Australia-centric place, and that the band just released their new album Cape Forestier, I thought it’d be a great touch – bringing them out, as well as Lastlings and Mansionair.

M: Do you have any plans to add more rock acts to Suara Festival’s line-up in the future?

J: We’re still a fledgling festival, so unfortunately, I can’t afford those big rock acts just yet, but I hope to get to the place where I can. The thing is, I’ve worked with The Strokes, I’ve worked with Coldplay, I’ve worked with The Killers, and Queens of the Stone Age – I just can’t afford them! (laughs) And they get more and more expensive every year!

M: Do you have one ultimate dream headliner for Suara Festival in the future?

J: My dream is to book Tash Sultana. I mean, Bali… Tash Sultana— it couldn’t be better! But, then again, there’s also Jorja Smith, Jungle, Little Simz, Bon Iver, Tame Impala…We’re not quite there yet, but we’re growing every year.

M: You have an excellent reputation for promoting environmental awareness and maintaining a low ecological impact with your festivals, and have won the “Greener Creative Award” in the past with Wonderfruit Festival in Thailand. What approach are you taking to both build Suara Festival up to be a huge staple-event in Bali, while still ensuring you minimize the ecological impact on the island?

J: I think we are here to educate. We’re about edu-tainment. We want you to come in with less and leave with more. We don’t want people to be consumers. We want people here to be contributors, and to take something back with them from here that they can implement into the world in real-time. Part of that is being responsible, it’s leaving no trace, it’s using composting toilets, it’s taking care of yourself and taking care of each other, and nature. It’s not just a party, it’s also about educating yourself, and being responsible.

M: I’m sure it’s difficult for you choose from your position as an organizer and a creator here at Suara Festival, but if you could pick one act from this year that best encapsulates the spirit of your project, who would it be?

J: I don’t know, I mean it’s so hard to say because we have so many great musicians here, and such diverse music acts, from electronic to jazz fusion. But I think Angus and Julia Stone would have to be my choice, just because they’ve got this sexy, organic vibe. But, then again, we have some traditional Balinese cultural acts, too, like this Kecak ceremony which is iconic of traditional Balinese culture and tradition. Really, it’s the combination of it all that makes Suara what it is.