5 bands and artists to discover the Indie Thai scene
How come you're a fan of indie rock and pop and don't know about the Thai indie scene? It's time to broaden your musical knowledge, and you're in luck, because we've got 5 incredible bands and artists to introduce you to.
Whether their music is already very popular in Thailand, or they're just emerging, these bands represent the full diversity of a scene that's growing steadily in Thailand thanks to streaming.
And when it comes to exploring Indie Thai, there couldn't be a better local guide than Yotsatorn BOONYATANAPIWAT, a renowned artist himself, he’s also A&R Senior Manager at Believe Thailand and in charge of our local imprint BEEEF.
Thai indie music emerged around 2000, and what drove its growth was an alternative radio station called Fat Radio 104.5FM, which played only songs from independent artists with interesting works (now renamed Cat Radio, and the focus on non-mainstream music has shifted accordingly, becoming a slightly more mainstream radio station that can only be listened to online).
Yotsatorn BOONYATANAPIWAT
A&R Senior Manager at Believe Thailand
REINIZRA (เรนิษรา)
Consisting of Sabai-Renisara Leeprakon and Tum-Chaiyaphon Luanseng, Reinizra is perhaps one of the hottest duo in Thai Indie Pop scene in recent years, thanks to their melodies that draw on pop, soul and rock.
After meeting at Silpakorn University, the couple started creating music in 2021, quickly releasing a handful of music and home-made videos that help them make their name stand out. Their breakthrough song “Winter Flower” came out in 2022. The song became a massive hit with over 100 million Youtube views and peaked at #1 on local Spotify Charts and various top playlists, making them the most promising new artists of 2022.Following this initial success, the duo released their first album in 2023. The same year, their song “ฉันคือนักสะสมความเศร้า” (“Collector of Sadness”) gained over 40 million YouTube views.
After going viral on TikTok with over 300K user-generated contents, their latest single “หวานใจผมน่ารักกว่าใคร” (“My sweetheart is cuter than anyone”) released last March already gathered more than 4 million YouTube views.
BLVCKHEART
Originally from Nakhon Sawan, BLVCKHEART moved to Bangkok to pursue his music dreams. It was there that he met the famous rapper Saran and joined DIEOUT, a hip-hop collective that has been shaking up the Thai rap scene for several years.
Though he first appeared on Saran’s track “Promethazine” in 2021, his song "ฟีโรโมน" (Pheromones) released in January 2022 really revealed him to the public. A few months after, his first album established his signature blend of pop, R&B hip-hop and soul. He then went on releasing several singles, as a solo artist or with his DIEOUT’s friend, and a second album called 7HEAVEN in 2024.
Released last December through our bYOND imprint, his single “One of My Life” has been gaining traction, with over 4 million streams on Spotify and 6.3 million views on YouTube, a popularity that is set to grow even further thanks to the “Stripped” version of the same song.
LOWER MANSION
Although they officially released their first song “บอกมา” (“Tell me”) at the end of 2021, the four members of Lower Mansion, united by a shared passion for pop-rock, already had a small local reputation in their hometown of Chiang Mai as a cover band.
After just a few singles, they released their first album independently. A risky gamble, but a successful one, since “เพลงรักในวันลา” (“Bye Love”) was the hit that paved their way to success. With over 150 million streams across all platforms and over 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, the song was included in several local Spotify playlists in 2024 and landed Lower Mansion on the lineup of several major Thai music festivals.
After having released " วันบอกรัก (It's Time)” a couple month ago, Lower Mansion recently published a live session on YouTube. It wouldn't be suprising the band is cooking some new songs that would lead to a bigger surprise.
MOVING AND CUT
The veteran band of our selection, Moving and Cut was founded in 2013 by Meen (vocals, guitar) and formed with Book (guitar), Toon (synthesizer), Ton (drums) and Tonyang (bass). Over the years, Moving and Cut have built up a solid reputation for their indie-pop style and deeply emotional, melancholic songwriting.
Moving and Cut tracks regularly find their way to the top indie charts in Thailand. Songs like “อย่าเลย...อย่า(ทรมาน)” ("Don't...Don't (Torment)"), “ปล่อยให้ตัวฉันไป” (“Let me go”), “ฉันยอม” (“I Surrender”) or "Escape” have become fans favorites, gathering millions of streams and YouTube views. And obviously, the band also regularly pack venues at each of their shows and headlines big festivals such as Cat Expo or Monster Music fest.
While their latest single, “แด่ทุกความหวัง (Dear Hope)”, was released last October, Moving and Cut are currently touring Thailand and will most likely be releasing new singles in the coming months to satisfy their very large fan base.
HUNTER (ฮันเตอร์)
Sathaporn Phongbanrai is an acoustic folk singer and songwriter, who spent many years doing pop and rock music with a full band before he met a nationwide success as a folk artist under the name of Hunter.
It all started during the COVID pandemic, when Hunter saw himself being deprived of his band. He started doing music on his own, inspired by the work of the Thai folk legend Jaran Manophet, and came up with several song like “นอนเถอะนะ...ฉันจะดูแล” (“Sleep, I’ll Take care of you”) and “ในวันนั้นจะยังรักกันอยู่ไหม” (“Will we still love each other that day?”) who went viral almost overnight and put him in the spotlight
Since then, he's created several cute folk gems like “ท็อปในรุ่น” (“Top in the Class”), and his 2024 hit “สาบานได้เลย” (“Swear”) continues to make waves. We wish him the same success for his latest single “คิดถึง คิดถึง” (“Miss you, Miss you”) and the many others to come.
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