Students on record

Move over GMM Grammy and RS, competition in the recording industry is now coming from an unexpected source: a graduate college.

 Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University in Thon Buri recently landed feet first in the music business with the establishment of the independent record label, Bansomdej Record and it’s currently on the look out for local artists to promote.

Funded by the advertising and entertainment business department of the Faculty of Management and Science with sponsorship from Hi Skin (Thailand), Bansomdej Record is the brainchild of Nutt Dechapanya, a lecturer in the department. He sees it as a way of taking advantage of the expertise of the students who, he says, have the experience to become professional musicians and music producers in the future.

“The university authorities are in full agreement with the project, which they regard as a new phenomenon in the academic field,” says Nutt, who has been involved in the entertainment circle for 10 years. That decade has seen him go from an artist with RS Public subsidiary Monster Music to an actor in TV dramas and movies and a performer and director in stage plays. Even today, he is promoting his new three singles with his band Nexus on the iMusic Entertainment label.

Bansomdej Record has already launched its first band, the Lego, which is made up of four young talents from different educational institutions. Singer Wanwicha “Day” Sasiwimol is studying at Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat, drummer Kawin “Win” Nanthaseree is attending Bangkok University, while guitarist Apirak “Phoom” Dechapanya and bassist Yanaphol “Aof” Wibulwithayanan are from Silpakorn University. Between classes, the four are making the rounds at radio station to talk about and promote their two singles, “Arkan Nak” and “Rong Roy Khong Dokmai”, which were penned and produced by Jesada Hanchor and Pawarit “Nueng” Kriengpichitchai, a former member of Hyper.

“Recording and promoting music can be a student project and also form part of the profile for job applications after graduation. It’s really no different from the entertainment business in the outside world though the students don’t get paid because it counts as part of their studies. The label is open to several universities and their students,” says Nutt, who is also the record label’s executive producer.

“We’re lucky to have many professionals from the entertainment circle taking part in training, strategic planning, public relations and promotion, and production of music and music video. They offer advice to the contributing students and help us build them up as artists.

Just as it would with a regular record label, the folk pop band has a two-year contract with Bansomdej Record to make three singles and music videos. The two singles are getting plenty of airplay on 97.5 Seed FM and Cool 93 FM while the music videos are showing on several cable TV channels including Channel [V], True Music, Pop and Very TV.

“The contract isn’t as strict as it would be with a major label. The idea is more to encourage the artists to work on quality and take on responsibility like a professional. Should a single became popular, we would offer the artist or band as a product presenter so that they become better known to the masses,” says Nutt. “But our main objective is give students professional experience not turn them into stars. That said, though, if one of our artists were to achieve fame, then that would be great for him and also for us.”

The 32-year-old lecturer-turned-producer adds that Bansomdej Record is incurring the same type of expenses as a regular studio but is paying less than out in the commercial world. For example, a record company usually pays up to Bt70,000 for the lyrics for a song and Bt150,000 for the making of a music video. Nutt prefers not to give a figure for the songs but says director Rapee Pichienpak is only charging Bt40,000 for his services.

And Nutt isn’t stopping with making records. Also under the umbrella of his Bansomdej Entertainment are Bankanlakon and Ban Modelling. 

Bankanlakon has already produced two musicals – “Black or White” in 2010 and 2011’s “Phor Haeng Paendin” – and is overseeing rehearsals for “Black or White 2.1”, which hits the stage in July. 

Ban Modelling is an agency that talent scouts then trains the chosen in speaking, singing, performing and acting.

Nutt, who is also the son of veteran actor Major Gen Anusorn Dechapanya, has designed his entertainment company around the iterative four-step management system PDCA: plan, do, check and act.

“We have to set a plan before doing anything,” he explains. “Of course, we’re nowhere near the level of Grammy and RS, but we do have several leading advisers, among them Dr Seree Wongmontha, Pankorn “Dunk” Boonyachinda and Wimollekha “Tuk” Sirirawan,” says Nutt, who is working for his doctorate in Communication Arts at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University.

“Bansomdej Entertainment isn’t registered as a company because it’s a faculty project rather than a business. Any income that comes in goes to the university and will be used for scholarships and also donated to charities. As Dr Seree says, ‘we don’t only train students to be excellent in their work but also to have virtue, morality and discipline.”