Looking for alternatives

Published on August 28, 2007

Thailand's House of Indies proudly calls itself "the home of independent people". For the last nine years, it's provided a solid platform for musicians whose sounds falls outside the mainstream and has also expanded to cover other media, offering new channels for expression to alternative artists, designers and communicators.

Today, House of Indies is going back to its musical roots with a brand new album titled "In House 1: Loose Pop".

"It's like a return," says Varavuthi "Pe" Bulakul, the indie home's managing director.

"We started with music, bringing together several indie labels. Six months later, we developed other art and culture categories. Now we've come full circle and are back to music."

The album features 10 tracks by three artists - the managing director himself, MuZu, and rising Vietnamese singer Nguyen Thi Minh Thu.

The 24-year-old Nguyen sings her own songs - "I'll Try" and "Wondering" - covers MuZu's hit, "Mai Khoei" (Never) in Thai and also joins Pe and MuZu on vocals for "Friends".

"The three of us are targeting three different groups of listeners," says Pe, who sings the love songs "Roi Jai", "Like Life" and "Wanna Know".

"Minh Thu is a pop star so she's likely to appeal to the mass market. MuZu is an underground artist, so he's targeting indie music lovers. Me, I'm a businessman-cum-singer.

"Music is universal. It's not limited by nationality," he adds.

Pe came up with the idea of including a Vietnamese artist after working as a voice trainer for the country's "Sao Mai Diem Hen" singing contest in 2004 and again last year. Nguyen was a contestant on the show, which is similar to Thailand's TV talent contest "The Star".

"Minh Thu has a good voice, she's charming and, most importantly, she's capable of writing English songs," says Pe, who is going back to Vietnam to work with TV's "Vietnam Idol" later this month.

"When it comes to music, Vietnamese and Thai people are very different. The Vietnamese are keen to listen to new sounds while Thais prefer ear-grabbing melodies. I think that's because the Vietnamese were instilled with new art and culture during the French colonial era. Thai people tend to listen to music for entertainment rather than serious appreciation."

Nguyen, a Ho Chi Minh City native, was born into a music-loving family. Her uncle was a well-known pop singer and she grew up listening to foreign boy bands like the Backstreet Boys.

But when she started singing seriously, she turned to rock and alternative music.

"My father was against my taking up singing professionally because it's really hard for a girl to make it as a singer back home. He told me if I really wanted to sing, I had to go to university first and study for another career," says Nguyen, who earned a bachelors degree in tourism.

She cites her biggest influences as Michelle Branch, Sheryl Crow, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt.

"My parents would have liked me to play the piano but I wanted to be Sheryl and Michelle, playing a guitar on stage," she says.

In 2000, Nguyen started singing in pubs and doing background vocals for popular singers, and also appeared as a guest at the Miss Vietnam 2000 concert. In 2004 she won for fourth prize at the "Tieng Hat Truyen Hinh" contest. In 2005, she sang "Nhan Sac" for the soundtrack of the movie "Nhung Co Goi Chan Dai", going on to release her debut album, "Em Mong Vay Thoi", later that same year.

Last year, she appeared on the "Sao Mai Diem Hen" contest and earned the most promising singer prize at Lan Song Xanh Music Awards.

Today, she's a face for both Yamaha and Pepsi and recently her debut album's title track was picked up as a soundtrack for teen movie "Tuyet Nhiet Doi".

"The first album was about my life and love. The sound was alternative rock, acoustic pop and trip-hop," she says.

"No one can live without love so it's only natural that tracks about love draw attention. And songs are much more listenable if the lyrics are strong and the music is good.

"I try to keep my songs pure and beautiful. For 'I'll Try', I borrowed a friend's sad story, about how she felt when her boyfriend left her. 'Wondering' is about me," she explains.

Nguyen plans to set up a tourist agency in the future but isn't sure whether she'll be playing tour guide for her clients.

"For now, I'll focus on my singing career. But when I start my company, I'll definitely be coming back to Thailand. Vietnam is beautiful too, and the people are very friendly like Thais.

"But I like your country because everyone smiles all the time and that makes other people feel comfortable," she grins.

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

 The Nation