Baan Bar

4/13 Soi Rangnam, Phaya Thai Rd. 02-642-7230. BTS Victory Monument.
Located right besides the King Power Complex on Soi Rangnam, Baan Bar has a homey and relaxing vibe. It’s the perfect spot to grab a bite, a beer and do it on the cheap. Their second floor welcomes exhibitions from artists from the Wai Art group and the occasional university student.

Bar Bali

Pra Arthid Rd., 02-656-6378. Open daily from 9am-2pm.
This small Bali-inspired bar is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with some nice acoustic cover bands in the evening. Looking to the art side, the bar supports the university students’ art scene as you can see new works from Thammasat or Silapakorn’s arty kids displayed here.

Brown Sugar

469 Prasumen Rd. 087-112-7774
The near-legendary Brown Sugar has moved from Langsuan to a location on Prasumen Road. It’s new address means a second floor is now available to host art exhibitions. To kick things off, they’re showing sketches and drawings by Kraisak Choonhawan in an exhibition titled “Once in a Life Time.”

Eat Me

Soi Piphat 2, Silom Rd., 02-238-0931. Open daily 3pm-1am. www.eatmerestaurant.com
Too bad the bar space on the ground floor is always deadly quiet. Eat Me was making good cocktails even before the Flow boys rescued Bangkok from dodgy gin and tonics. Eat Me also happens to have great art collections, from H Gallery up until recently, and now from curator Pan Pan Narkprasert. Expect Chulalongkorn art students and some up-and-coming regional contemporary artists.

Nospace

21/108 Block D, RCA, Rama 9 Rd. Open Wed-Sat 6pm-1am. www.nospacebkk.com.
It’s a challenge to run a gallery located right at the epicenter of the city’s nightlife scene. But once the sun has dropped below the horizon, the Nospace gallery magically morphs into a sizeable bar, complete with a space reserved for bands, most of which are under indie label Panda Records.

Pranakorn Bar

58/2 Soi Damnoenklang Tai, 02-622-0282. Open daily 6pm-1am.
The rooftop space is not the only highlight at this artsy venue. The other three floors feature photos and paintings from young artists, making them well worth a visit. The soundtrack (a mix of pop and jazz), solid menu of Thai food and cheap drinks don’t hurt either.

WTF

7 Sukhumvit Soi 51, 02-626-6246. Open Tue-Sun 3pm-10pm (gallery), 6pm-1am (bar). BTS Thong Lo. www.wtfbangkok.com.
Apart from their creative cocktails like Muay Thai Punch and The Robert Frost, WTF hosts a serious art space on its second and third floors. With its political themes and outdoor installations, WTF does the kind of art commercial galleries can’t afford to show—and you can’t afford to miss.

I moved from place to place when I was young.
I was born in Betong, Yala province, then moved to Songkhla, Petchburi, then came to study at a high-school in Bangkok.

When I was a teenager, I used to run away from home for months at a time to be with friends who sometimes lived in slums. I still can’t answer why I did that. Maybe I just wanted to explore the world. Luckily my grandmother taught me well so I didn’t become a drug-addict.

I grew up in the electronic era of the 80s. The Police [the band] inspired me to get into music. I am really open to any kind of musical style and I’ve produced a lot of other artists, such as Paradox.

I don’t like day jobs, so I leaned towards being a musician at night.

I got work by moving around. I travelled to all the tourist spots, from Khaosan Road to Koh Samui.

I formed T-Bone, to play blues or soul music at pubs. But they didn’t allow Thais to play as their customers were foreigners.

We switched to reggae after I played some Bob Marley songs. I liked it right away, it felt right for me and the band have never played anything else since.

One day, I felt ashamed singing other people’s songs. I thought “Why do we have to sing these songs that aren’t related to us?” It’s not original.

We decided to only play our own music. If a venue doesn’t allow us to play our songs, we don’t play. We also refused to do requests. Finally, places like Saxophone and Bluemoon let us play and the days we performed attracted the most people.

I don’t copy lyrics from other songs to compose my music like some other composers. That disgusts me. I always produce songs from my own material, based on an incident or a random quote.

I am not a music machine. I can’t create music when others want me to. I will work when I feel it is right. I’m always turning down big money because of this.

It took seven years to release our new album, Bone in Da House. I spent most of that time meeting new people. I was lucky enough to meet world famous reggae artists like Little Roy and Prince Fatty.

Music is my destiny. It shapes my life. Without it, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet these people.

Thai producers don’t specialize. They can do all kinds of music but they don’t focus on one category, like reggae. It is a problem if we ever want to create music to international standards.

I am proud to be the best reggae producer in Thailand.

We will never play reggae as well as Jamaican people. It’s not our roots. We didn’t grow up there, so the best thing we can do is just be ourselves.

I don’t want to go to Jamaica. Friends have warned me that it has changed a lot, especially the high crime rate. Also, I already met all the Jamaican artists I admire.

It took 20 years, but T-Bone finally made reggae happen in Thailand, it’s really getting popular now.

I don’t like to play big events. Small gigs have more energy. But I do like to go to an international event like Glastonbury or even a small gig in Chennai, India. That one really impressed me. Indians really dance like they do in Indian movies! We had so much fun there.

The music industry sometimes makes me lose inspiration. Making music these days is easy, you just make it in a room. There are fewer and fewer musicians who can play live.

One day live music will be like likay, [a forgotten art] that no one wants to watch. Music will just be a game people play on their gadgets.

Technology makes musicians lose their identity. I am not against it, I also use it. But the new generation, you need to craft your work by hand. Then you will be in this business for a long time.

I love to make furniture at home. I always collect driftwood from the sea, as my house is right on the beach. I love the process of making it. It helps me get rid of any bad vibes and clear my brain before I get back to creating music.

I always buy stuff with cash. If you have debts, you will never have the freedom to work the way you like.

I don’t like to be too famous. It’s hard to live like that, I just want to be a normal person who can walk on the street. It’s funny, I’m always stopped by police or security guards at airports or gigs. They don’t know me and I love that.

My dream is to continue playing reggae until my 60s or 70s. I want to become a music legend.

 Special thanks to:  Molly Malone's Irish Pub

What brought you to music?
We started because of our college studies, where we were doing a broadcasting course and learning about producing for radio. In one of the courses, we had to produce a background song to be used for a radio jingle. Even though the jingle was meant to be short; we ended up writing a long instrumental. Then we kind of just carried on from there, because we wanted to and because the music scene in our hometown of Bandung is very diverse. It inspired us to show what we could do, even though we don’t have any basic skills in playing musical instruments.

What else apart from music are you working on?
Other than being a musician, we have our full-time day jobs. I work as journalist for one of the magazines in Bandung and Nobie is a producer at a radio station.

What is the Indonesian music scene like?
It has expanded, yet the music industry still sees things the same way. In their heads, it’s always about business, so they tend to focus on just one genre. So the record labels and the media always play up one type of music until the market is very saturated.

What about the electronic scene?
It is definitely experiencing a significant shift. At first, electronic music was identified with DJs and house music, but in the early 2000s many pop electronic musicians added a different set of colors and vibes into the electronic scene. This becomes energy for us and other electronic musicians, to be braver about presenting our talent to the world. Most electro musicians, at the beginning, play in their bedroom, so they need to become brave enough to bring their material to the stage.

We heard that Indonesian punk fans were banned, as it shocked conservative Muslims. What effect does government intervention have on music in Indonesia?
The view of the government is very shallow, especially about punk culture. They can’t differentiate between culture and religion. This has been a problem for a long time.

What do you think of it?
Punk culture has been rooted in our country for years; however the government only has a negative view of it. They identify it with violence and resistance against the establishment. Whereas that was the original slogan, punk culture has developed into something that is more positive.

And have you guys ever experienced similar problems?
For the electronic scene, there’s no direct intervention; however as musicians there’s always the possibility that we could be blocked. In our country, all the music scenes and genres have the same vision and mission: there’s a solidarity to help each other when the government acts unfairly. We did experience some scary problems though from religious groups when we released our album Let’s Die Together in 2012

Which is your best gig? Why?
So many, especially during our Asian Tour on 2011, but China is one of the best and most memorable experiences. We didn’t expect this to happen and we’re genuinely surprised by the way audiences have responded in the different countries. They already know about us and our music before coming to see us. It makes us very proud.

Why khon?
I worked with Kru Chang (Chonprakal Janrueng) for five years, as production crew, then as an actor. A friend then told me that Pichet [Klunchun] was doing khon courses and asked me if I wanted to join. I had done Thai dancing when playing in one of Kru Chang’s productions, and my friends had laughed at me. I was terrible. So, I just felt like I need to know more about it. During the course, I realized that khon is far more than I had ever thought. It’s the technique of positioning your body before adding the movement. I’m lucky that I studied with Pichet. No offense to other khon masters, but his teaching style makes me understand the core of this traditional art, want to know more and more about it and makes me proud of myself as a Thai who can dance khon.

What else have you been doing apart from khon?
Once I started working with Kru Chang and Pichet,dancing became my full time job. I spend spare my time as a freelance teacher on basic acting, lighting, design and some other technical parts of stage production.

Can khon dancers make a living outside of the hotel and tourist restaurant circuit?
I never thought about how much money I’d make. I just want to learn to do it. Plus, practicing khon requires hard exercise. It’s just good for your health. I think that like any artistic career, there are only very few people who can do it professionally. Not everyone can achieve that point as it requires hard work and lots of practice. I just believe that the more knowledge you have and the harder you keep on practicing, the better your career can be.

What do you think about Thailand’s dance scene?
I got the answer to that question when I went to New York to take an acting course. I was there for a couple of months but I had a chance to watch over a hundred shows. In Thailand, one dance show per month is still hard to find, so this is kind of my answer on why there are but a few Thai people who really watch this kind of performance. When the audiences go watch a dance show, their feedback falls into narrow categories: like, dislike, understand, don’t understand… There’s just not enough shows for them to frame things into a broader picture. I’d like us to stage more productions not only to encourage the Thai dance scene but to inspire audiences as well, and broaden what dance means to them.

How did your passion for singing start?
I started taking vocal classes when I was eight, when I was in Sweden; it was my mom’s idea, actually. But as I kept practicing, it became my own passion. When I came back to Thailand three years ago, I didn’t have a plan to continue singing because I was focusing on getting my business degree from ABAC. Last year, however, I wanted to get back into it all, so I joined the KPN singing competition.

So why didn’t you study singing instead of business?
It’s something my parents wanted, and, actually, I feel like it’s a good thing to have as much knowledge and skills as possible, in case one thing doesn’t work out. And even now that I’m singing again, I don’t regret choosing the business-degree path, as I want to be good at both the business part and the art part.

How did you end up working with Dreambox?
After I was runner up in KPN last year, Dreambox invited me to audition for Fame the Musical. I got a role as a ballet dancer, Iris Kelly. After that, the directing team asked me to audition again, this time for the leading role in Prisna. I jumped at the opportunity and have worked extremely hard to improve myself as an actor and singer.

Has your background in singing helped you with acting?
For me, acting is way more difficult than singing. Studying acting, however, has helped me sing better. Both have their own charms, though. When you act on stage, the audiences expect something fresh from you, even though they know that you’ve practiced this scene millions of times. It’s never exactly the same each time, so that aspect makes it interesting. Singing live is a bit different in that audiences expect to hear your best and they expect consistency.

Do you feel any stress acting with professionals?
Of course, yes. I especially feel it acting with artists like Tu Phobthorn, Nat and other stars from the Academy Fantasia family because I’ve seen them sing a lot and they’re my idols. Also, our rehearsals were cut short last year because of the floods. That really stressed me out.

You are now doing a lot: singing, acting and modeling. At what point will you consider yourself successful?
There are a lot more things I want to try, like starring in a TV series or movie, for example. I still consider myself a newcomer in this field, so now I’m just taking it step by step. I don’t have an exact plan. Being in this field is unlike the business world, where you have more control. It [the performing arts field] depends on the producer and if they fund the opportunities for me to grow.

Motorcycle Emptiness Bar

394/1 Lad Phrao Soi 94, Tue-Sun 8pm-12:40am; Fri-Sat 8pm-2am
Way, way, way from the craziness of the center of town, this grungy bar, set in a former motorcycle repair garage, has become a go-to joint for live music enthusiasts. Named after a Manic Street Preachers song, they feature bands from indie record labels, many of whom are still working on their debut albums. Their six night line-up can range from indie pioneers like Stylish Nonsense or Ooh & The Ballyhoo to inter guests like Pussy & The Learjets.

Parking Toys

17/22 Ram Indra Soi 14, 02-907-2228. Open daily 6pm-2am.
Don’t be put off by this iconic place’s inconvenient location—it might be on the outskirts of Bangkok, but Parking Toys is well worth the drive, thanks to its nightly lineup of great live music. It draws in a diverse crowd from Fat Radio DJs to neighborhood music aficionados drawn by the eclectic musical styles on offer, ranging from electronic to rockabilly and jazz. And you don’t have to worry about dressing up because no one here really cares.

Prop Bar

1003/6 Pracha Chun Soi 30, 02-910-1128. Open daily 5pm-2am.
Trust us, if you’re not living around the Prachachuen area, you can easily get lost trying to find this place. Located in front of Soi 30, this branch of Prop Bar is the original. They have been closed for renovation for a couple of months but the bar officially reopened recently sporting more retro decor items. Apart from the nostalgic vibe, the appeal comes from the live band and a good mix of old school alt pop and rock tunes like Nirvana alongside the latest release from bands like Snow Patrol. There’s a perfect excuse to visit this week as Pongsit Kamphee will be playing live on Wednesday (Mar 14).

Twenty Something

Ekkamai-Ramintra Expressway. 083-156-2836. Mon.-Sun. 6pm-midnight. www.facebook.com/20somethingbar 
Located on the Ekkamai-Ramintra expressway as you head towards the CDC, this place recently turned one. The name comes from the title of the first album of The Mousses and, yes, Twenty Something is owned by these guys, in partnership with the band Better Weather, so there’s clearly a serious music vibe going on here. It’s a long drive but a visit to this home-turned bar is worth it for the regular live pop-rock sessions from many up-and-coming indie bands. The spacious outdoor seating is pretty chill and the Thai dishes are also yummy, too.

Talumbar

696 Prachachuen Soi 20. 0-2585-1614. Opened daily 6pm-2am. talumbar.com
Just 5 minutes from Prop Bar, Talumbar is another home-turned-bar worth visiting. While Prop Bar focuses more on international indie hits, here it’s all about live bands playing covers of Thai tunes. You can occasionally catch Jetset’er’s lead singer up on stage as he’s a friend of the owner and the band previously played here before doing the album. Aparft from the homey vibe and chill live music, there’s a huge screen outdoor for EPL fans to catch the matches on weekends.