MALAYSIANSKINI | When gig organiser Brian Gomez and his wife Melani Delilkan viewed a building space back in 2012, they immediately knew they wanted it, despite not knowing exactly what they would use it for.

“We didn't know what it was going be. There was no business plan, nothing. But on the same day we viewed it, we put a deposit and said, let us run the place and figure out what we could do with it,” he told Malaysiakini.

That empty lot would eventually become Merdekarya — an epicentre for up-and-coming musicians to freely express themselves, and their art, without the fear of censorship.

Gomez was a budding musician in his 30s when he decided to plug a gap in the Malaysian live music industry.

It was 2012, he had just recorded his rock album Gun Inside My Brain, and was singing at pubs and open mics.

However, because most of his work was largely controversial — touching on politics and social issues — pub owners would limit the types of songs he could play.

“At the same time, I had just launched an album, and we were doing an open mic circuit, playing these songs.

"I met a lot of other independent grassroots musicians, and we — my wife and I — thought that there should be a venue where people could be free to express themselves and play the songs that they wanted to play.

“Initially, we wanted Merdekarya to be (a space) for everyone in the arts. We used to even sell books and host gallery shows. But eventually, I think the natural progression of Merdekarya was that it became the home for...