Sounds you can see

A few years ago, songwriter Narongvit “Nueng” Techatanawat was so fed up with writing lyrics that he was on the edge of quitting the business. The success of his first album, 2008’s “Sleepless Society”, changed his mind and since then, he’s gone from strength to strength, writing tracks for some of Thailand’s best-known artists and moving from his Grammy home to take up the job of head honcho at Chandelier Music, Channel 3’s new music label.

Now 43, Narongvit recently picked up his first award from Golden TV in the category of Best Original Soundtrack for “Rak Thae Yoo Nuea Kaln Wela”, the hit number from the much-watched 2013 TV soap “Supap Buruth Jutathep”. 

“I’d never really thought about its popularity before. The series was a period piece, so the usual pop soundtrack formula was obviously unsuitable,” he says.

“I decided to design the structure of the song around contemporary music. It was an experiment that worked”.

He’s following up that success with an album titled “Channel 3 Soundtrack Volume 1” featuring six songs from Channel 3’s three TV dramas: “Nai Suan Kwan”, “Fai Nai Wayu” and “Wieng Roy Dao”.

“Channel 3 has never had its own music production team. Now it has Chandelier and our job is to support the soundtracks of its dramas. It’s a new business model,” says Narongvit, who is also executive producer at Bec World.

Asked whether it’s possible to identify a TV channel by its soundtrack, in much the same way as the public has learned to distinguish between songs from GMM Grammy and RS Public, Narongvit responds with a thoughtful “yes”.

“I can’t explain how or why, but I believe that viewers automatically know what channel they are watching from the sound. I would like to develop my soundtracks along the same lines as those in South Korea, which are both melodious and meaningful,” he says.

Narongvit is no stranger to the love song, having penned ballads and up-tempo tunes for more than 10 years. 

Passionate about music since he was a child, Narongvit’s teenage dream was to see his name on the cover of a tape or CD. “I wanted to be up there with such songwriters as Nitipong “Dee” Nornak, Kalayarat “Nim Seefa” Waranawat and Boyd Kosiyabong,” he says.

“They all have their own signature. Phi Dee often plays with sarcasm while Phi Nim’s songs are poignant and Phi Boyd’s love songs are warm. I can’t describe my own signature of songwriting but it’s a kind of blend of all three,” he says.

Narongvit started writing professionally as a student at Bangkok University. His chance to break into the business arrived when artist and musician Jirapan Ansvananda of production house and recording studio Butterfly asked him to write “Ther Khue Sieng Phleng” for Autobahn’s 1991 debut album.

After graduating, he worked at an advertising agency for a while then moved to RS, sharpening his craft alongside Thanapon “Suea” Intharit, Thanit “Teng” Choenpipatanasakul and Suthipong “Chompoo” Watanajang.

“There was a world of difference between writing a song for Autobahn and penning numbers for RS’s stable of teenage artists,” he says with a smile. 

“I followed my own taste and didn’t fall into the teen lyric trap with songs like Dome Pakorn Lump’s ‘Ying Rak Ther’ and Ford Sobchai Kraiyoonsen’s ‘Yud Trong Nee Thi Ther’.”

After four years at RS, he was persuaded to move to GMM Grammy and immediately felt as though he’d landed in the right place. He wrote “Sieng Khon Huajai” for Thitima “Ann” Pratoomtip, which went on to became a smash hit.

“I wrote the song from what I was feeling. When I listened to this melody, I felt that I should write a story about believing in my heart. I was so surprised when the song became a hit,” he recalls.

 In 2008, he produced his own album series, “Sleepless Society”, with various artists performing a selection of his tunes.

“The songs on ‘Sleepless Society’ were based on my personal feelings at the time. I was incredibly lonely and down. On ‘Non Kap Khwam Ngao’, I put himself in my mother’s place and spoke of how she missed my father.”

Narongvit pulled away from his dark side when he was asked to write a positive song for a TV drama. Similar jobs followed, with Narongvit penning soundtracks for “4 Huajai Haeng Khun Khao” and “Thong Nuea Kao”.

“I have to read the plot and synopsis, learn about the characters and talk with the director. Writing a song for a TV drama is like a summary of my interpretation,” says Narongvit.

“There are a lot of factors in writing songs for an artist. Obviously, it’s easier if the artist has a clear character and personality traits that stand out. If not, we have to create them for him. 

“A soundtrack on the other hand is concerned with the plot and our interpretation of the story and the characters. Even the re-makings of the same drama have different interpretations. It’s very challenging but there’s also a lot of satisfaction in presenting the guts of drama in the song,” he says.