Rrayen AR

Buenos Aires-based musician and multidisciplinary artivist Maia Koenig, also known by her more noise-oriented Maia moniker

Experimentations with obsolete technologies and discarded sounds are seldom as playful, rebellious or explosive as they are in the hands of Rrayen. Whether you call her a veteran “ruidista” (noisemaker) or leading “8bitero,” this rule-breaking Argentinian synth whisperer gives life to an extrasensorial sea of chiptune sounds, rabid circuit-bending psychedelia, visceral rhythmic manipulations and glitchy technological disobedience. Maia Koenig, also known as Rrayen, is a Buenos Aires-based self-taught musician, DIY artivist, hardware hacker and founding member of Feminoise Latinoamerica and the Sisters Triangla label. She makes chiptune music, particularly with a Game Boy using an LSDJ tracker, recycled and homemade instruments such as oscillators and circuit bent devices. These primitive sounds, mostly squared-wave white noise nuances, create a tide of unique sounds that offer the listener a journey into parallel universes, burning hells, glitched life, and self-melting paradises. As a teen, she was set to become a basquetbolista (basketball player) until she discovered the enticing anarchy of punk rock at 15. Over the years, her musical journey has brought her to perform as part of numerous formations: the noise outfit Mielcitas Trash Me, the post-punk riot grrrls Vaginas, the all-female experimental grunge of Katrinass Da Triangla and the saturated chaos and circuit bending of Aureola Electrika. Her solo project Rrayen is an extension of the latter, wherein she creates sounds using a Gameboy.