The skinny on Psycho Slim
The underground rock act came out of nowhere to win awards, and no one was more surprised then they were
It’s rare that Thailand’s music scene gets a shake up but underground rock outfit Psycho Slim pulled off a major surprise last month, sweeping all three “Best Rock” categories at the Season Awards and upstaging nominees from major record label GMM Grammy and veteran underground band Dezember.
Psycho Slim won the awards for Best Rock Group, Best Rock Album for “State of Anarchy”, their sophomore outing, and Best Rock Song for “Chulamun” (“Chaotic”) from the album.
“We are greatly honoured that the judges appreciated our musical work,” says bassist Nutt “Eak” Satheanlertyos, who works as an interior designer. “It’s like a dream.”
“We felt we’d achieved success by just being nominated for those awards,” adds guitarist Poontharik “How” Chitpakdee, who doubles as a guitar instructor at Prart Music School and is also a columnist for Overdrive guitar magazine.
Psycho Slim’s debut “Uprising” blended rap with rock but “State of “Anarchy” is mainly hard rock. Their lyrics contain references to Thai society and the politics of today. The band’s name was dreamt up by How and singer Peerawut “Num” Semolkoltaraton and means “slightly psycho”.
“I think most people have a slight psycho trait. You know, like some celebrities are afraid of tyres, papaya or parsley,” says the bassist with a grin.
They band was officially formed in 2004. Before that, Eak and Num played together in an outfit called Scum on the underground label NYU, while How and drummer Wirat “Tong” Sompakdee have been friends since they were kids at elementary school and used to dream of being in a rock band.
“Psycho Slim is a kind of a jam band that works on music while rehearsing,” says the guitarist, who likes Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.
“Everybody is responsible for their instrument line. About 90 per cent of our songs have come out of rehearsals,” adds drummer Tong, who works as a session musician with Palmy.
Num, who used to rap on Da Jim’s albums, has written more than 30 songs. Twelve of them featured on “Uprising”.
“My songs don’t appeal to the masses,” he says, adding that his songwriting style is inspired by Ad Carabao.
Though released as an underground rock album, “Uprising” offers a surprisingly diverse range of sounds from rock, rap, reggae on “Waen” to country on “Country”.
“State of Anarchy” reflects the band’s evolution, with 10 solid tracks including “Chulamun”, “Nominee”, “Khon Ruay Khon Jon” (“Rich and Poor”) “Sam Nuek Look Laew” (Bad Children Repentant), “Salute” and “Global Warning”.
“We have no songs about love between a man and a woman though we do sing about the love of parents and children and even patriots,” says Tong.
The music video of “Chulamun” switches between Psycho Slim’s set at the Kodindy music festival and a red shirt riot and was produced by a loyal fan. Surprisingly, “Salute” bears a striking similarity to a songs-for-life number complete with acoustic guitar.
“I wasn’t in Bangkok at the time but watched the riots on TV. I feel that our freedom was affected. It is like telling the news through a song,” says Num.
While there are no firm plans for a new album yet, fans can rest assured that Psycho Slim will be addressing politics and environmental issues next time around too.
“I would like the government to give priority to our country rather than other foreign countries,” says Num. “Forget GNP and notebooks but think more about people’s lives and give priority to education.
“Our country is developing the wrong way. Too many people are talking about politics but don’t do anything.”
“I would like everybody to look at themselves and be aware of the environment. You should turn off the lights at home. In normal life, we eat, use and destroy,” says the singer.
“I try and follow the sufficiency economy, only turning on the light and air-conditioner when it is necessary. When I’m driving, I take care never to exceed 90kph. My rule is save energy and save money,” says Tong.
“And I separate all my waste,” says Eak. “We should all do that.”
ON THE WEB
Visit Psycho Slim at Facebook/Psycho-Slim/161858120498049 and MySpace.com/psychoslimthailand
Listen to "Chulamun" at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPlJFjdjQgg
Hear "Lom Haeng Khwam Wang" at www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQmv3K-uDFY
