In the wake of their jaw-dropping performance at Wonderfruit, we caught up with All-Thida Molam Band leader Athid Kamhongsa ahead of their much anticipated performance on Saturday for Yum Fest at The Jam Factory, our free, weekend-long food festival.
In addition to this live molam extravaganza, we have Thai indie rockers Somkiat playing on Sunday, eating contests on both days, food tours, and entertainment but — let’s get real — we’re mostly getting geared up to eat, and the festival’s food highlights include Peppina, Daniel Thaiger, and The Dock.
Molam frontman Athid shared with us that all nine band members will be traveling into the city from Isaan for the gig. He said, “The guys live all over the region in places such as Mahasarakham, Khon Kaen, and Kalasin, we meet up in different provinces for practice.”
Now that’s dedication!
The stellar Thai country jammers met when they were attending the College of Music at Mahasarakham University together. “Some of us, including me, majored in folk music while others, such as the keyboard player and drummer, majored in Western music. The idea of mixing Thai and Western instruments was a natural way for all of us to play music together. And, of course, we all loved molam music.”
The instrumental lineup is one of the coolest things about All-Thidsa Molam Band. In addition to the traditional phin, kaen, saw, ching, and krap; they’ve added the Western standards of drums, bass, and keyboard. Just to be extra, they’ve got a dude playing the African conga drum as well.
Though they are basically a local Isaan band that still plays most of their gigs in the rural region, they are gaining fans abroad and have played a few gigs in Singapore as well as being contacted by foreign fans, who can’t wait to buy their first album, to be released later this year.
Athit mused, “Because we infuse Western music into the melody, people who normally don’t listen to molam can also enjoy our music … especially people who love punk and reggae.”
Sounds Yummy to us!
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FIND IT:
YUM FEST BANGKOK Presented by Coconuts
The Jam Factory (Klong San)
41/1-5 Charoen Nakhon Rd.
March 10-11, 3-11pm
Free entrance
BTS Krung Thonburi
YUM FEST BANGKOK is sponsored by:
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