Bodies and instruments merge into one when Arsenal Mikebe take the stage. The Ugandan percussion trio performs on a single, home-built drum kit, played together as one. Join them and become part of a frantic, rhythmic ceremony when they take over ALICE’s stage during Vinterjazz 2026!

The Ugandan trio Arsenal Mikebe dance along the edge between electronic and acoustic music. They seamlessly fuse intricate polyrhythms with dizzying shouts and ghostly, synthetic drones. The trio consists of three phenomenal drummers – Ssentongo Moses, Dratele Epiphany, and Luyambi Vicent de Pau – who, as part of the Ugandan collective Nyege Nyege, have grown out of East Africa’s experimental scene. Facing each other in suits, they perform on their jointly built drum kit. With the instrument placed between them, the members of Arsenal Mikebe create a sound that is both frenetic and ritualistic – a kind of analog techno, teetering on the edge of trance.

A concert with Arsenal Mikebe feels like standing before a wild, ungovernable and utterly alive drum sculpture. Last year, the trio released their debut album, fittingly titled ‘Drum Machine’, produced by Portuguese artist Jonathan Uliel Saldanha. On the record, they perform alongside a sound system built by Henry Segamwenge, inspired by the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Arsenal Mikebe transform traditional rhythms into metallic labyrinths. Their intense, hand-played form of techno that has taken them to CTM Festival, Roskilde Festival, and Boiler Room Festival, among others. Join the rhythmic ceremony when Arsenal Mikebe come to ALICE during Vinterjazz 2026!

The concert is part of Vinterjazz 2026. Vinterjazz is a nationwide music festival spanning three weeks, presenting around 600 concerts across more than 150 venues and organizers from Skagen to Svaneke. Vinterjazz 2026 takes place from January 30 to February 28. Learn more at www.jazz.dk.

Said about Arsenal Mikebe:

“Arsenal Mikebe’s “Omuzimu” is an absolute adrenaline rush of polyrhythmic percussion that borders a little on anxiety-inducing. A multi-layered mix of bass kicks, cymbal clicks, and rim shots, the track leaves little room for anything other than the crests of a burbly synth that arrive in perfectly timed waves from what’s apparently a custom-built, reverse-engineered 808” – The Fader

“The one phrase that kept coming to mind the more I listened to DRUM MACHINE was the immortal hook from Aphex Twin’s similarly rhythmic “Come to Daddy”: “I want your soul.” With music this exhilarating, you’d be stupid to refuse”. – Bandcamp Daily

“It’s an absolute belter of a record (…) Nothing outstays its welcome, everything is nominally simple and then shows a rhythmic depth with more listens. It’s rhythm-heavy but it’s not lacking in melodic elements.” – FREQ