- HOMEGROWN WORLD
- #HGCREATORS
- #HGEXPLORE
- #HGVOICES
- #HGSHOP
- CAREERS
- ABOUT US
- CONTACT US
A review of ONNO Collective’s Sonic Distortions at Method Delhi looks at its genre-blending lineup, sound production, and the unique friction of processing heavy electronic sets inside an intimate gallery, showing how well-run, small-scale events foster genuine community and spontaneous discovery.
There is a distinct charm to Delhi events where most names on the lineup are completely unfamiliar. There is always a slight gamble involved. You could discover someone whose discography you obsessively replay for the next month, or you could spend several hours wondering why you paid money to stand in a room listening to noises that sound like a malfunctioning printer. Sonic Distortions, ONNO Collective’s experimental music showcase, landed much closer to the former.
The fourth edition of the series took place at Method Delhi on September 13, marking ONNO’s return to the city after two years. Six acts were brought together across a fairly unreasonable spread of sounds: Shauharty and Medicatedmints with an emcee and DJ set, Breaking and Psychopanda on modular synths, Fakeer making a live debut, alongside Somnium Monkey, pause.dxa and Amenn Wihaan with a band. ONNO has been building a catalogue around contemporary experimental music and audiovisual work since 2021, and Sonic Distortions is one of the ways that catalogue gets a physical room to exist in.
A spread of sounds that broad runs the risk of scattering the room's focus, but it gave the night a sense of movement without requiring every artist to sound remotely alike. Hip-hop could sit beside modular synthesis, shoegaze could follow something more electronic, and Hindustani influences could occupy the same programme without anybody needing to explain why they belonged together. The artist selection was probably one of the strongest parts of the evening because there was enough variation between sets to keep the audience curious, while the programme maintained a clear, intentional logic.
A responsive audience made that variety work even better, bridging any potential gaps between artists. There is a notable awkwardness that comes with attending experimental music events, especially when you don't know whether the expected response is dancing, nodding, staring at the stage with your arms crossed, or sometimes pretending you understand the modular synth setup. At Sonic Distortions, there was enough engagement from the crowd to make that uncertainty disappear. People reacted to the artists and talked between sets, creating an atmosphere where everyone turned up to participate in an evening of music rather than simply consume it.
The technical side of the event deserves credit for maintaining that connection. A lineup this varied could have been flattened by poor sound, especially when several of the performances depended on texture, layering and changes in volume to work properly. The sound system held up across the evening, allowing the artists to retain the character of their sets. The organisers had also made a point of keeping the event on schedule, which sounds like an unremarkable thing until you have attended enough Delhi events where a stated start time is treated as a loose suggestion.
A subtle physical tension hung around the room, though. Method Delhi provided adequate physical room to move, but an intimate gallery space creates an odd self-consciousness when paired with heavy sound systems. You instinctively wanted to move to the rhythm, yet found yourself standing motionless, suddenly acutely conscious of your own posture amidst a crowd experiencing that same bodily hesitation. It was less about venue capacity and more about the psychological friction of processing heavy electronic soundscapes inside a space normally reserved for quiet contemplation.
That spatial dynamic matters because Sonic Distortions occupies an unusual space within Delhi’s live music circuit. It is small enough to give artists attention, informal enough to retain the feeling of a community event and organised enough that the music remains the priority. There are plenty of large-format concerts, club nights and commercial live shows in the city, but there is still room for events where the scale of the production matches the scale of the artists being presented.
ONNO’s earlier Sonic Distortions showcase, held at Khoj in 2024, followed a similar principle, bringing together artists including Dolorblind, Sijya, Pale Blue Dotter, Darzi, Psychopanda, Baijoo Bawra and Digging in India x Songs for a Tired City. The event was presented as an evening of live audiovisual performance, giving artists from different parts of the experimental music scene a shared setting. The fourth edition at Method carried that same idea forward, with a lineup that required the audience to spend a little time outside its usual listening habits.
That is where showcases like this become useful beyond the individual night. There's an entire ecosystem of musicians in India who exist somewhere outside the conventional live circuit. They may have releases, online audiences, collaborations and listeners scattered across cities, but opportunities to see them perform together in a properly organised physical setting can still be limited. A showcase gives that ecosystem a temporary home, while giving audiences a reason to seek out artists they might never have encountered through the usual channels.
The scale is important here. An underground event does not need to pretend it is a stadium show to be taken seriously, and a room full of artists who are still building their audiences does not need to be treated as a stepping stone towards something bigger to justify its existence. There is value in having places where musicians can try things out, audiences can discover new work and organisers can build a scene around repeated encounters. The audience does not have to know every artist on the bill before walking through the door. In fact, I believe there is genuine value in leaving room for that kind of spontaneity, giving people a reason to step inside without needing a familiar name on the ticket.
Sonic Distortions worked because the night was given enough care to make experimentation accessible. The lineup had thought behind it, the production supported the music, the crowd was receptive and the venue created the intimacy that larger events tend to lose. Navigating that physical self-consciousness inside the gallery felt like evidence of a useful problem: people were responding to the music internally, and there was enough going on to make you want to stay for the next set.
Delhi has no shortage of people making interesting music. What it can use more of are rooms willing to put those people together and trust an audience to show up. Sonic Distortions offers one version of what that can look like: small enough to remain accessible, put together with purpose, and open enough to let artists occupy very different corners of the same night. If more events can find that balance, the city gets a live music culture where discovering somebody new does not have to begin with waiting for them to become famous enough to fill a much bigger room.
