'An all-male band with a woman's name? Well, they could possibly have the girliest name of any all-guy outfit in Thailand, but when you look at how WhatChaRaWaLee came up with their name it all makes sense. The guys borrowed it from the bride of a friend of lead vocalist "Pum". Choosing it was a reflection of how the trio worship love, something that shows in their music.
With their romantic songs, sweet voices and brooding lyrics they conjure up a typical boy band image, but in person the trio _ comprised of Pum, who doubles as producer, "Milk", the good-humoured guitarist and "Joob", the drummer _ look more like hard-core rockers. This is especially true of Joob, who also gets taunted for his resemblance to a yogi master.
Looks aside, their music is not about rock rebellion, but about an all-pervading sense of love. They have borrowed the names of the brides of other friends for song titles and while none of the guys has yet to wed, they all have steady girlfriends.
Normally we expect that a song's title will tell us something about its theme, but this is not the case with WhatChaRaWaLee. Songs like Look-om (Candy), Jeep, and Sai (Sand) are nothing about what the title might suggest.
What WhatChaRaWaLee's songs are filled with, however, are the sentiments and longings that so often bring pain to the hearts of those who haven't yet found their soulmates.
So far WhatChaRaWaLee have had two love-inspired singles at the top of local radio charts, and Rom See Tao (Grey Umbrella) in particular has fans falling heavily for them. Not bad for a band that grew its fanbase through YouTube.
Brunch sat down with WhatChaRaWaLee to discuss their music, love and going from online to all over the place.
Is the real WhatChaRaWaLee surprised or embarrassed that her name has now become famous?
Pum: Not at all. In fact she is very proud that her friends are all jealous of her fame [laughs].
Were you close friends before forming the band? Was it formed when you were in college?
Pum: Actually we were in different bands in our college years. I didn't play music for money then. What brought us close was playing football together and watching Mr Bean in the library [laughs].
Joob: I played for the college band during the day and in pubs at night.
Milk: As for me, I competed in music contests. My best finish was as a member of one of seven finalist bands in the Yamaha Thailand Music School. I won once in a provincial competition in Lop Buri.
Pum: He won only because his band was the only human band, the rest were monkeys [referencing Lop Buri's fame as a haven for monkeys].
What were the names of your first compositions?
!Pum: I really don't want to talk about it. But fine, they were Ra-kung Ruk [The Bell of Love] and Fai Ter [Her Mole]. I wrote them for the girl that I secretly liked.
Milk: Did you fall for a girl from Satri Watrakhang school? [Laughing hysterically at the joke he'd made playing on the similarity in the name of the first song and the school.]
Do you have 'day jobs'?
Joob: I'm a drum teacher giving private classes
Milk: I'm also a music teacher.
Pum: After I graduated, I was a composer and producer for Grammy and RS. After a while I quit and started my own company called TinNAmou' [tinamou is a species of bird native to South and Central America]. We compose original soundtracks for commercials, series, events, etc. The most commonly heard would probably have to be the song used for MK restaurants. Ever since the second version of the tune, my company has also choreographed the moves to the MK tune.
When you uploaded your early hit Look-om to YouTube, did you plan on it getting famous?
!Pum: No, all I wanted was to show all my friends that didn't come to my buddy Tum's wedding what they missed.
There are many MVs of Look-om out there, which one is the original?
!Pum: The MV with still pictures and a lot of colours is the original. It's been viewed about 18 million times. The rearranged version has more of a chill vibe to it, featuring Peung-MissLove from Kan Kho Club Records.
!Milk: There are also copies of the original.
!Pum: Like for Rom See Tao, the MV that we made has 2.5 million views, but the one our fanclub made has 10 million views.
!Milk: When the fan-made one exceeds the original in number of viewers, people think it is the official MV. It's a cause-effect thing.
!Pum: So the most viewed for WhatChaRaWaLee is Look-om, followed by the fan-made version Rom See Tao [laughs].
Why don't you feature romantic pictures of the bride and groom in the MV as is the trend right now?
!Pum: I might think differently from others, but I only wanted to make this song for my friend. It wasn't intended to be on sale so I didn't feel the need to follow a trend or put much effort into making the video. Jeep was a bit more thought-out, though. I got a student to help shoot the video.
!How did you guys jump from the online world to the mainstream?
!Pum: The first year, Look-om only had 3,000 views, but when Jeep got in the Seed 97.5 FM chart, people went back to listen to our first song. So Look-om was truly a YouTube hit, and then went on to be a hit on the radio.
Joob: But the peak was Rom See Tao, our third single that was released at the end of last year. This one was in all of the radio charts.
!Pum: Yeah, It was first on Seed, Chill FM, EFM and so on. At EFM, it was there for seven weeks. In the countryside, it was on almost all of the radio stations. Intensive Watch ranks the most played songs in Thailand and reported that right now Rom See Tao is the most frequently played song on radio.
Why do you think Jeep is not as well known as Look-om or Rom See Tao?
!Pum: Jeep is the quietest of the three singles we've released. We got lucky that Seed's crew got a chance to hear this song. They probably saw something in the song so they contacted us for the CD. Usually the artists or producers have to contact stations to try to get them on.
The third single, Rom See Tao, wasn't composed for a bride. Was that a sign you were ready to go mainstream?
!Pum: No. I compose music from my own experiences. That year, my happiness just disappeared for no reason. I woke up feeling confused and paranoid, so I spent quite a while exploring and trying to gain it back. When I was able to pass that phase I wanted to share this experience with others.
Maybe I could help them if they feel depressed or discouraged. I finished composing the song right after the flood. I called my friends to help with the music but I shot my own video. It got on the radio thanks to support from Pi Chod Saithip [of ATime Media] after she listened to it.
Milk: After a while, teenagers started to understand the meaning of the song from the video, because it touches on things close to them.
Tell us about the newest singles.
!Pum: We released two singles at the same time, Sai and Tanon Bon Tonmai Yai [The Street on the Big Tree], in April.
Did the two newly released singles use online media to succeed?
Pum: We first released teasers through YouTube and after five days there were 100,000 views. We can rest assured that there are people out there waiting for our songs.
Can you tell us more about both songs? I'm guessing Sai is probably the name of a person.
!Milk: Yep, Sai is the name of another bride.
!Pum: Sai is very sentimental and romantic, that's WhatChaRaWaLee's style.
!Joob: As for Tanon Bon Tonmai Yai, it's the first time the band had the chance to make an original soundtrack, for Dragon Nest, an online game from Asia Soft.
What were the criteria for the song for Asia Soft?
!Pum: The style of the song doesn't matter, but it has to have some meaning for the online gamers. Asia Soft liked Rom See Tao because it had meaning, some depth to it. They wanted a song that is not as much about "accepting life" as Rom See Tao, but along the lines of having a message for life.
In my view Rom See Tao might be more suited to those over the age of 30. It's more philosophical. But for Tanon Bon Tonmai Yai, I tried to base it on love, so it communicates with younger gamers. It tells a story of a girl who's been through many heartbreaks but is still trying to find love. Her journey is like a car on the road that might be heading toward a dead-end.
So the song says, try to break some rules. Don't draw lines and make yourself like a car that can only go on that road. Try getting out of the car and climbing a tree. We'll be that big tree.
How have you managed with achieving fame so quickly?
Pum: We've talked about this before. Truthfully, our lives haven't changed but our surroundings have. Like if I want to go order some food around my house, I have to be better dressed. Once I went out in just an undershirt and shorts and some girls recognised me and pointed me out.
Which show has been your most unforgettable?
Pum: It would have to be one we did in Phitsanulok. Usually we get handshakes or hugs from our fans after the show, but this time I got off the stage and this girl squeezed my breast. Then she called her friend over to do the same.
Joob: For me, it was at this restaurant called Deep on Khao San Road. There were so many people there, but not a lot of space. Pum had to stand up on a chair to sing and I was about a hand away from the audience. It was kind of embarrassing; I was scared that the audience might not be able to stand my breath [laughs].
Milk: For me it was at a gig at a city in the Southeast. The person who hired us booked a hotel, but he didn't tell us the place was haunted. We didn't sleep at all that night because we saw a ghost!
Do you write songs for your own girlfriends or brides-to-be, and will you dedicate the songs to them at your weddings as you have done for your friends?
Joob: I'll just use Look-om, so I won't have to compose a new song [laughs].
Pum: I intend to write a song for her and for all of my friends as well.
With many bands fame often comes for individual members once the group breaks up. Have you talked about this?
Pum: We talk like adults. We could do separate projects but still keep the band together. Like Boy-Tri Phoomirat when he makes a solo album he uses his name, but he uses the band name Friday, I'm in Love when he makes music with his friends. Who knows, maybe one day there'll be an album called 'Milk & Joob' [laughs].
Joob: I think we'll do different projects but not separate from the band.
How do you plan your future in terms of your music careers?
Pum: I want to continue with WhatChaRaWaLee, and it'll still be in a retro-soul-pop style of music, of course. I also want to focus more on my company, TinNAmou, and produce songs for my friends who have nowhere to go.
Milk: I also want to continue with WhatChaRaWaLee. This is more than I ever expected, just seeing our name on the album cover makes me feel so happy.
Joob: If I have free time from WhatChaRaWaLee, I want to start on another project. This one will be more jazz fusion though.
