HAPPY ACCIDENT

THE LAUNCHING OF A NEW ALBUM AFTER EIGHT YEARS IS NOT ONLY A BIG COMEBACK FOR MODERNDOG, BUT ALSO REUNITES THE TRIO WITH THEIR LONGTIME SIDEKICK DESIGNERS

As one of the longest-living bands in the Thai music industry, Moderndog’s release of their new album after an eight-year silence is something we find to be super exciting. And just like before, the art direction and design of their album cover surprised us a great deal. The surprise takes place right from the album’s name, “POD•PONG•MAY-T” and the cover where the three members stand side by side in order of respective height.

“Nobody would have thought that we would use this as our album’s name because it’s such a back to basics choice. The image and the name go together as well because it’s a simple shot of the three of us standing next to each other. There’s nothing pretentious about it. All the images come from our everyday life, from what actually happened. That picture of the toilet seat at our recording studio received the highest likes ever of all the things I’ve posted on Instagram.

Such a twist to simplicity takes place under the band’s reunion with the same design team, Warut Panyarachun and Worawut Leewattana of WAWO and KKelvin Studio by Kelvin Wong. The first collaboration between them dates back to 22 years ago when Warut and Kelvin were working as in-house designers for Bakery Music while Worawut was the one who shot the band’s portrait photo for their first album. While Moderndog is preparing for the largest concert they have ever played, this very same team of designers was asked to oversee the design of everything from the CD, promotional media for the concert and singles box set all the way to the music videos and a good number of merchandise items.

We have seen this type of band-designer relationship before be it between Peter Saville and New Order or Mark Farrow and the Pet Shop Boys. It’s often the case of such a long collaboration for the style of the designer to become the band’s remembered image. But for Moderndog, the interesting difference is that despite the variety of styles the design team has come up with, the fans still feel okay about it and think of Moderndog as the band it has always been. From the vernacular element of the first album ‘Moderndog-Soem Sukhaphap, to the very kitsch ‘Café,’ the collage of “Love Me Love My Life,” the realistic quality of The Very Common of Moderndog, the panting of ‘That Song,’ the Thai cult of ‘Tine Nong Noi’ and the simplicity and playfulness of “POD•PONG•MAY-T.”

 

“If I were to compare the 1994 Moderndog to the 2016 Moderndog, the story changes through the years but essentially Pod still works the same way he did 22 years ago, with feeling, what you feel after you listen to the music. When we talk, it’s like playing Ping-Pong, ideas are thrown back and forth and there’s this sense of randomness to it. It isn’t just unexpected to others but it surprises us, too. The definition of this band cannot be described in words. If something, it’s more of abstract expressionism,” said Worwawut Leewattana of WAWO.

 

Moderndog has all it takes to become a legend. From the birth and growth of the band that happened at such the right time to the consequentially deeming of the group as the symbol of the indie/alternative era of Thai music that swept the industry back in the 90s. Having such an incendiary front man and members with highly unique skills and personalities, and surviving through the course of time while still being this relevant and recognized reflects the band’s ability to adapt, which is an important quality one should not overlook. The release of singles before the full album, which has been their strategy over the past couple of years, shows that the band is aware of the tides of change and the different directions of people’s behaviors and music consumption after the rising popularity of streaming. Nevertheless, the band still never forgets the beautifully designed and packaged CD with high quality paper and a sublime printing technique. Moderndog still gives it their all when it comes to their CD, despite it being a time when the majority of people listen to music on their smartphones and all they see of album covers are tiny image files appearing as thumbnails on the screens of their gadgets. Surely and incomparably, the cost is higher than the days when Moderndog sold one million copies of their cassettes and CDs. Now, they make only 1-2,000 copies for a single.

With the design team being a bunch of music buffs (up to the point where if they were not making a living by being designers, their dream would be to become musicians) and Gen X kids who grew up admiring and listening to music on vinyl, plus the trust they have developed over the years, the mutual agreement that a musical experience must not end at one’s ears is something to be expected. With the freedom of having full creative control that is no longer restrained by the label’s marketing team, Moderndog was confident enough to raise the stakes for the making of their latest album that has WAWO as its designer and the singles box set where K Kelvin is in charge of the design.

“You get to know the band personally in a way as well. You don’t just listen to the music. You get to feel them in a way. When you listen to it, you look at the cover and you know they care. They want to give you something! And once this intention is sent out to people, whoever they are who listen to their music, somewhere, someone, some boy, some girl out there, they will feel it and they will be inspired.”

 

On the day of the interview, we got to see the collaboration in action as the team decided on the merchandise they wanted to make from a large pile of sketches Kelvin threw on the table; bags, t-shirts, pins, hats, tens of designs for each. We could not help but fear that Moderndog would turn into a brand and enjoy selling their products more than making music, because if that were the case, we would feel pretty bummed out. But Thanachai put an end to that doubt for us.

 

“It’s fun because of the music. When we make an album, we get to enjoy the moment and we have fun with it. We feel like we still want to make more music and if I didn’t write all these new songs, I wouldn’t get to have such a blast with these guys.”

TEXT: WEE VIRAPORN
www.facebook.com/moderndogbandkkelvin.com