Dunk reborn in style
With top American talent at his back, the hitmaker is reincarnated to the tune of ‘fashion music’
Dunk Phunkorn, one of Thailand’s most successful pop stars in the late 1990s and early 2000s – his self-titled debut album sold more than a million copies – has surprised the modern mainstream audience with a new “fashion music” sound and a dapper new look.
“Fashion has always fascinated me,” he says amid raves for the single “I Want Your Fashion”.
“I got the chance to work with Clinton Sparks. I told him about my dream, my vision and my goal, but mainly I told him my music must have a feelgood vibe. I also wanted him to help plan my show.”
Dressed for success, Dunk wears a strawberry-print Gucci sweatshirt and matching sneakers with black shorts.
Sparks is a DJ-producer-singer-songwriter, as well as a radio and television personality, from Boston in the US. He was nominated for a Grammy for producing Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, won a BMI award for writing Pitbull’s “Shut It Down” and shared an ASCAP award with DJ Snake.
Sparks has also written or produced songs for Akon, Ludacris, 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Uzi Vert and Big Sean and released his own album “Maybe You Been Brainwashed” in 2005 and the EP “ICONoclast” in 2014.
So he was an apt choice for Dunk, who’s keen to “go inter” in a big way.
The singer models Joyce, a Hong Kong street brand, with a silver Chanel necklace and leather Gucci platform sneakers.
Dunk signed him up to produce his EP “Runway Thriller”, which includes the singles “I Want Your Fashion” and “Runway”, the latter featuring American rapper Busta Rhymes. Universal Music Thailand is handling distribution.
Dunk, whose real name is Phunkorn Boonyachinda, is 40 now. He’s making time to chat exclusively with The Nation at his house on Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Road.
“Music should make people happy,” he says. “It should be there for anyone with a broken heart. No matter how strong the lyrics, there has to be a good meaning.
“Clinton asked me what I enjoyed in life and I told him I’m a shopaholic. Shopping helps relieve my stress. At the time I was always carrying a Gucci bag.”
Guy loves his Gucci.
“The five songs on the EP are all are related to fashion, and in one of them I namedrop Michael Jackson and ‘Thriller’,” says Dunk, lounging on a semicircular sofa.
“Clinton wanted ‘I Want Your Fashion’ to be the opening track because it will really help us mount a beautiful show. I was surprised at first that he got me speaking as well as singing on the track, but in fact speaking has its own melody.
“‘I Want Your Fashion’ is like sexual desire or lust. When we love someone, we want all of them. ‘I want your fashion, I want your animal.’ The ‘animal’ represents sexual arousal. And the beat of the music is the sound of the runway,” he explains.
At the single’s launch, reporters and fans were frankly stunned, first by Dunk’s stylish looks in the accompanying music video and then when he showed up live inside a mesh ball and stepped out onto a catwalk to put on a show.
Leslie Kee, a Singaporean photographer based in Japan, directed the video. He was the first Asian photographer to contribute to Vogue magazine when its Asian edition was introduced. His work has also been seen in GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire and Rolling Stone.
Dunk says he made careful choices about every aspect of his new incarnation and is “proud that foreigners appreciate my work”.
“The first two singles illustrate my identity. The first is like an overture and the second features Busta Rhymes. The music video will be filmed in July. That will really be the opening track of my EP.
“People might not understand what the video’s about, but actually it’s about the truth of life – the unavoidable cycle of birth, old age, sickness and death. It opens with me standing among a group of dancers who once performed on Madonna’s ‘Bambi’.
“Then I’m in a red costume and wig, in a spacecraft coming to Earth to fight the lust of humans, especially men. I’m in a warrior costume to fight this lust. Leslie was thinking of both of weddings and funerals with the opening sound of an organ.”
Dunk, who’s celebrating his 20th anniversary in show business and has never been off the A-list at Universal Music Thailand, expects to tour abroad after the EP’s release sometime in the coming months.
“I’m not sure how successful it will be because it’s like starting over from zero,” he says. “I don’t want to have high hopes, with so many new artists coming out these days, but I’ll do my best and most importantly be myself.
“I would love it if Thais focus on my music more than my fashion. It’s just a coincidence that I’m a singer who has a strong passion for fashion.”
