Dig into Bangkok D&B with local pioneer DJ Orawan

GUEST FEATURE BY EDWIN FAIRBROTHER

Sweating buckets and jumping around in a bass induced frenzy was something I usually associated more with my former years, and particularly within the rave scene of my hometown London. 

But in this case, I wasn’t hearing the sounds of Skibadee and Shabba dropping bars at 1000mph to rowdy uncompromising drum and bass in a London rave… but in a small dingy club in the Silom district of Bangkok!

It was January 2019 and I was at a BassClef party, as I looked around the room I noticed something I hadn’t before; Thai people dancing their heads off and loving this music. 

DnB is not completely new to Bangkok or Thailand by any means. Promotions like Phatfunk and clubs like Glow (now closed) had been catering to this sound fairly well for years. The same year as my BassClef experience, Goldie and Ant TC1 headed a Metalheadz night at the renowned Beam nightclub, DJ Zinc had played an epic set at Phatfunk the previous year, and I fondly remember seeing Lenzman play at Glow a couple of years previously. 

These parties have been popping up around the city for a while, usually with relatively good turnouts. What distinguishes them from BassClef is that the vast majority of the crowd usually consists of expats and tourists. In other words it usually feels almost like the demographic of a party back home but with a little less enthusiasm; less animated and uninhibited dance moves and more civilised affairs. 

BassClef crowds are still largely comprised of Western expats and tend to headline mostly Western DJs - with massive names like LTJ Bukem topping the bill that same year. But what feels different is the heightened vivacity while facilitating a more local demographic. 

The BassClef promotion really is starting to foster local interest much more than its counterparts, with an albeit small collective of Thai DJs and more young Thais coming to the events to really feel and enjoy the music. 

It was the first time I’d raved to DnB alongside Thai people with the same level of enthusiasm and appreciation, and the first time I’d seen figureheads of the UK scene mingling with the local crowd and DJs. It felt very much like a drum and bass family had finally been established in BKK, with participation coming from locals as well as foreigners; it was a great feeling. 

Forefronting this collective is Thai native DJ Orawan. Spending much of her former years in and around New Zealand’s vibrant DnB scene, she’s done nothing short of pioneer this music locally, enticing Thai DJs and fans to global drum and bass culture. 

The Bangkok D&B express is gaining traction and shows little signs of slowing, for what looks like a promising future. I spoke to Orawan to find out a bit more about how this local scene started, her motivation behind BassClef, changing Thai attitudes towards D&B and what her exciting plans are going forward.  

Hey Orawan, what made you start Bassclef? 

I started it in 2013 with some friends and colleagues, MC Emon, Gia, Misha and Justin Mills. They have all moved back to the US now, apart from Justin. We were a group of people who loved soundsystem music culture. So we created the night where we could play the music we love!

what made you focus more on D&B at the BassClef parties?

I actually like to get a range of DJs playing different music. We brought My Nu Leng and Woz of Black Butter Records in 2015, Zed Bias in 2016 and T.Williams in 2018. But at the moment it’s more DJs that like to play D&B, and we’ve noticed that mostly what the crowd want. But if more big names come, that could draw like a different target crowd that wants to hear something else.

How are you able to get big artists like LTJ Bukem to play at BassClef?

I did marketing for Bed Supperclub for 5 years, and I got to work with Dave Milligan who has brought so many world-class acts to Bangkok and made a massive impact on the club scene here. Then one of my friends who owns a big festival in the UK - PennFest - and lives on Koh Phangan, knew that I put on the night, so then artists contacted him. He then introduced me to the artists, so then I’d just book them directly. Notable drum and bass DJs to play at BassClef have been Benny Page, Fabio & Grooverider, LTJ Bukem, Sub Zero, The Upbeats, Digital, and MCs Skibba and Shabba last year.  I also work with Defused Mood in Hanoi and Unchained in China.

“D&B is still a small scene in Asia, so we help each other out for bookings. that way the artist gets a little Asia tour!”.

What was the first D&B party that you remember going to in Thailand?

I think the very first one was on Koh Phangan in 1999, that is actually where the Jungle scene in Thailand started. And after that time, I was hooked onto D&B. 

Was that at the Full Moon Party or another one?

Yeah it was at the Full Moon Party, and run by 3 Thai guys who were good friends of mine. They told DJs to come and play at the party, and to bring their own records, then a lot of British DJs came and brought a lot of jungle records. So that’s how it started here really. It was like out of the way, not right in the middle. It was still on Haad Rin Beach (Full Moon Party beach), but like right at the end of the beach. 

“Being Thai myself, and some of the DJs too, we kind of help each other to form like a Thai community”.

But having said that, still not a lot of Thais are into D&B, we’d love to see a bigger local crowd. I’d say about 30% of people that come to our night are Thai, the rest are expats and tourists. 

So yeah, it’s still mostly expats and tourists. But when I’ve been I’ve noticed more Thai people at the BassClef parties than other nights I’ve been to in Bangkok. Have you noticed more Thais coming over time?

It’s getting better yes, which is positive. Those Thai kids that grew up with EDM are starting to get so bored with the same sound. So I think those kids who like trap, or EDM can relate to the drum and bass style. When I speak to those kids I’m really surprised because they know like SASASAS and Netsky. So there’s always people that are really into music, that will open up to D&B. 

What has been difficult about growing the BassClef brand here?

“It’s been difficult because the press, especially the Thai press, we don’t really get much support from them”.

Back in the day about 5 or 6 years ago, when I was still working at Bed Supperclub, there was some press that supported D&B, as you had artists like Rudimental or DJ Fresh who had huge tunes; so they would ask “what kind of style is this?”. Then when EDM started to take over, they stopped talking about D&B so much. We had to rely on word of mouth and Facebook for advertising, and go out networking to tell people about the gigs. 

Is it still like that now?

"YES, but right now because there’s no tourists the numbers have dropped as well”.

But we’ve still gotta have fun you know, regardless of how many people are in the room. 

Who are some of the Thai DJs and producers in the Bangkok DnB scene right now?

We don’t really have a Thai - exclusively D&B - producer to be honest, but there is one guy who’s produced a DnB track; his name is Tontrakul and it’s a really mellow style. That tune (video below) is going to be released on a Billboard compilation as well. He doesn’t consider himself a D&B producer, he usually does Thai electronic music. 

What about Thai DJs? I’ve seen some at BassClef.

Thai DJs...obviously me haha, Black Rain, Analogist and Jiving Tribe Crew. Also DJ Dragon, Pitchy and King Kong, but they don’t play a lot of D&B now. And there’s another up and coming Thai crew called Basement Recipe.

Where do you see the Bangkok scene going in the next 5 years?

I hope it’ll be different. My goal is to keep pushing and have at least a mini festival, if we could get 1000 people there and have like two stages that would be amazing! We’re working on a project for next year, in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. We started planning this before COVID, so now we’re hoping we can do it next year. So that’s my goal for 2021, I really hope that can happen!

FOLLOW BassClef and DJ Orawan ON INSTAGRAM to stay up to date on the bass music scene in Thailand.

geT to know THE GUEST WRITER

Ed is a music journalist, editor and postgraduate of Music Industry Management and Artist Development from The London College of Music. He has contributed to a number of online music publications including Alternative Press, Rave Report, Pipeline Artists, and Klang Magazine to name a few. 

During his MA studies he was writing for the student-led music publication at LCM – The MNGR Mag – and was subsequently made chief editor of the print and online magazine. 

Ed is now the founder and editor of SoundSight Magazine, a music blog focusing on independent and original music and songwriters around the world.