Single song

Klerm pick up the pace

By Tatat Bunnag
Photographs courtesy of Yes! Music.

Songs about the ups and downs of relationships are always popular. Since forming in 2010, rock band Klerm have become well-known for producing a series of love ballads that perfectly narrate various stages of relationships.

Klerm’s latest effort is a killer song about feeling sick of being alone called “Sode Ruerrang (Chronic Single).” The video for the fun, danceable song has already attracted more than a million views on YouTube.

Student Weekly recently met up with Klerm — singer Patsawut Siriampunkul (Pae), guitarist Sarawut Subsa (Wut), guitarist Panupong Theppan (Nu), bassist Phanat Nantiphawan (Nat) and drummer Danupol Doungsang (Jung) — to ask them about their latest music.

Student Weekly: Can you tell us about “Chronic Single”?

Pae: It’s about a lonely guy who has always been single. This can be awfully sad, especially when he has to experience events like New Year, Valentine’s Day or Songkran alone. But it’s not really a sad song. It’s an up-tempo kind of song.

Student Weekly: Why did you decide to release upbeat song as a single instead of your usual type of ballad?

Nu: We always release slow or medium tempo songs as singles, and our fans know that we play more ballads than faster songs live. But lately people started asking us if we’d ever do some faster tunes.

Pae: When we came up with the concept for “Chronic Single,” the words seemed to suit a fun song. Our producer liked the idea of doing an upbeat song, too, so we decided to go for it. It was quite fun and challenging.

Student Weekly: The new track has elements of funk and disco. Have you guys always been interested in those styles of music?

Pae: Funk and disco can blend well with other kinds of music, especially rock. Michael Jackson started out as a soul and funk singer, but later he mixed some rock into his songs and it sounded great. We thought we could try that in our music.

Student Weekly: Do any of you guys have a problem of being chronically single like the person in the song?

Pae: That would be Wut.

Wut: I haven’t been single for that long — only about 10 years! [Laughs.] It was kind of lonely at first, but as time went by I got used to it. Being single isn’t so bad. You have the freedom to do whatever you want. But sometimes it’s less fun doing things without a girlfriend.

Student Weekly: Many of your singles have been well received, and your video for “Rak Kun Muer Yung Hai Jai (Love While We Are Still Breathing)” has attracted more than 18 million views on YouTube. Did that success make you feel pressure when you worked on the new song?

Pae: Not really, because we were trying something different by doing a fun song instead of a sad one. Our main intention was for our fans to have a great time when they heard the song. We usually play “Chronic Single” live these days, and if people enjoy it or dance along with us, we know that we’ve succeeded.

Student Weekly: For those who don’t know, can you explain where your band name came from?

Wut: The word klerm means drowsy in Thai. When we were first offered a contract with RS years ago, we had all our songs ready, but we still didn’t have band name. We came up with the name The Roommate, but the label didn’t like it. [Laughs.]

Pae: They wanted a catchy Thai word, and the word klerm just popped up in one of our heads, so we decided to use it.

Student Weekly: When can fans expect your next album?

Pae: We will keep releasing new singles regularly for a while, but it will be a while before our new album comes out. We need to sort things out with our label first. In the meantime, we hope people enjoy with our new single!

 

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