DJ Seed has been a central figure in the Thai music scene since the early '90s, working in a variety of roles: DJ, producer, music festival organizer, lecturer, promoter, and music critic.

One of the most well-known DJs in Bangkok, Seed is credited with influencing a generation of DJs and musicians with his writing and radio work (he was the managing editor of 'Generation Terrorist' magazine and had a weekly DJ spot on Pirate Radio 89.0fm), and these days he's working on a number of music industry-related projects and Thailand-based music festivals. This year, his Honda Summer Fest had 200,000 attendees.

The man in Thailand is hosted for the first time in China by Sub-Culture, this Saturday at The Shelter. He's joined by up-and-coming New Zealand transplant dnb DJ Orawan and the Sub-Culture crew. Event details here.

SmartShanghai talked to DJ Seed about what the kids like in Thailand, Bangkok clubbing, and music (the industry), music (appreciation of), music (listening to).

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Seed: Oh... I hated that era! It was one of the grimmest periods of the Thai club scene! During 1988 to 1999, I didn't have much time DJing in the clubs due to my other occupations. The Thai club scene was filled with glam rock and rock ballad bands, so most of the clubs had turned into pubs. Most of the dance clubs that had survived from the '80s were filled with DJs hyping up the crowd or just talking into the mic, trying to hit up on girls. They played mostly cheesy techno and dance pop.

In the early '90s, I jumped into the Thai music scene as an editor director for Generation Terrorist Magazine which introduced Brit Pop artists like Suede, Blur, Oasis, The Charlatans UK, Manic Street Preachers, etc. The name of the magazine came from the first Manic Street Preachers album, and I have also used it for my online radio station, which is called Generation Terrorist Radio Online.

Electronic rock sounds influenced by the Manchester scene (Happy Mondays, EMF, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Depeche Mode, Saint Etinne, New Order) have since became more popular here and has replaced mainstream rock and dance music, especially in Bangkok.

From 1994 to 1999, breakbeat, progressive house, speed garage, jungle,
dubs, dancehall, and hip hop were introduced into Bangkok club parties by up and coming DJs like DJ Dragon and DJ Spydamonkey, and by older generation DJs such as DJ Tui and DJ Tee. Paul Oakenfold was one of the regulars who came to rock the parties in Bangkok.

I returned into the DJ scene again in 1997, playing on a radio show called "Pirates Rock" FM from midnight to 4am every Saturday and Sunday, as well as promoting a lot of private parties with breakbeat or electronic music from Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Underworld, Orbital, etc. And since then I have been pushing the DJ scene until now...


Seed: Nah... usually people just say hello when they bumped into me coz they know me as a critic, a writer, or a DJ. There maybe a lot of people know me but I am not a supper star or a Godfather who would need a bodyguard all the time. I am just a normal person who presents my work with my own style and I don't care what other people say.


Seed: There are so many things that provoke me to write an article, produce music, and create a DJ set to play out in a club. I am pretty sensitive to anything that revolving around me, whether it’s politics, economics, women, love or even about death. As my memory is not good, I always put everything in my notebook or on my phone straight away. I guess just like almost every guy that can’t multi-task, so that’s why I need to be in my own space when do my work. After midnight is when I get most of my work done.


Seed: I listen to all genres of music and collect CD and vinyl from all around the world. Even though I don't like a particular pop song, I will just listen and analyze it to try to understand why that song has became popular. Korea pop music is a good example, as a lot of Thai kids are really into it these days. I am working on the music in various fields, whether as a songwriter, a music lecturer, a producer, a music director and a club/radio DJ, so I have to be very open minded in order for me to receive different points of perspective. I can't really tell you what genre I like the most as I am in love with all but they have to be the songs that I've selected in my correction.

I would say that the genres that excite me the most nowadays are dubstep and indie rock by the band Arcade Fire from Canada, and I'm also still excited about the latest album 'Further' from The Chemical Brothers and the latest stuff from Underworld.

With the old stuff, I am digging out all the old classic Thai songs to show to the whole world Thai original rhythm. Hopefully, this project will get done next year.




Seed: The music industry in Thailand, whether it is hip hop, dance or even Thai pop has always been influenced by Western music. Most Thai are open to all forms of music, except authentic Thai music, which is quite sad. That is why there is no clear identity in the club scene here as they always change depending on the current fashion. There are so many clubs in Bangkok but we have less than 10 clubs that are open to real dance music.

I can even tell you all the ones that you can expect to hear good electronic sounds: Q Bar, Bed Supperclub, Nazisas, Club Culture, Café De Moc, 808, and Glow.

Most of Thai youth today are all crazy about Korea fashion and Korea pop music, which I think is bullshit!


Seed: There is nothing that interesting and exciting to me except a new indie rock band called The Apostate. They combine a trip hop sound like Massive Attack with a rock sound like Radiohead. You should check them out!

For up-and-coming DJs, I don't see anyone interesting except DJ Orawan. I'm not saying this because I know her, but because her style is very unique and I have never seen any other DJs here play like her before. She is fresh to the Bangkok club scene as she has recently moved back here from New Zealand, and I believe that she will be the next big thing here.


Seed: My answer is c) Wack as fuck!


Seed: Gen-X Academy is an institution established in 2002 to launch radio DJs and news presenter classes. I have been involved with the academy right from the start as a speaker for "Music Appreciation" class. Today, Gen-X Academy has become a renowned institution for those who are interested to become professionals in music production, sound engineering, TV producing, radio DJing, club DJing and song writing.


Seed: I used to be a FM Radio DJ before about 10 years ago and was still having a dream that I want to have my own radio station, so I started GTRonline early last year. The best thing about GTRonline is I get to play the music that I love to all like-mined listeners which I didn't have any chance to do that when I was a FM dial DJ. So I gathered all my DJ friends who have their own unique style to do a show so that they can present alternative directions with different genres of music that they truly understand.

I am planning to improve ad re-format the station in the next couple of months. There will be DJs from Tokyo, London, and Norway joining us as well. To be honest, I would really love Gaz from The Shelter to get involve with the station... that would be dope if he could do that!


Seed: For over 10 years I have been involved with a lot of music festivals here, sometimes doing sets and sometimes organizing them myself. One of the coolest events that I have ever done was Honda Summer Fest because I’m a music director for this event. It began three years ago with only one stage, but over 100,000 people turned up, so I added another DJ stage on the second year. The turn-out was absolutely amazing -- there were over 200,000 people last year, so this year -- which was Honda Summer Fest # 3 -- we had main stage, DJ stage, and a couple of reggae stages, and there was almost 300,000 people there!

There were heap of locals artists and DJs as well as international artists such as King Kapisi from New Zealand, Gaz and ChaCha from Shanghai. Hopefully, I can make it a 2-day or 3-day event next year.


Seed: I have been fascinated by Kung-Fu movies from the Shaw Brothers since when I was a child and I have been observing Shanghai's development on TV since when I was in high school. The rapid development of Shanghai has made me want to experience it my own self. Thanks to Gaz that has booked me to come to perform at The Shelter. My friends who have been to Shanghai before have told me that if you like the nightlife in London, you would really love it there. The club scene is fantastic, no different from New York but still keeping an Asian identity.

I would really love to check out the places that I've seen in movies when I was younger and check out people’s life style. Because I am a Muslim, so I don’t know whether there will be much Chinese food that I can eat as most of Chinese menu contains a lot of pork. Hopefully, I would see some Chinese/Muslim food there in some restaurant.

I really look forward to the gig on July 24 and hope the crowd will enjoy and love my set!


Seed: I am currently working for the famous Thai rock band 'Black Head' as a Creative and Show Director. My role is to organize their concert and make it different from a typical rock show, coz they are celebrating their 15th anniversary -- they want to do something special to their fans.

The other personal project that I am working on is Electhainica Music. It's a workshop, which will teach the young generation how to combine authentic Thai music with electronic music. The first session will be running for three months.

SmSh: What can you tell us about DJ Orawan?