Molam singer Rasmee Wayrana was the very picture of comfort as she lounged under a tree’s shade, taking a break from the recording studio and concert venues. Next to her was a glass of red wine. A cigarette was lit. And she was content as she talked about her latest achievement. Just last month, she was named among the 50 Asians To Watch by The Straits Times. Among the five people from Thailand that were named, she was the only woman.
It came unexpected, and she was excited about it, said 34-year-old Rasmee, or Rasmee Isan Soul — the name by which she’s commonly referred to publicly.
“A voice that stops a crowd," declared The Straits Times — and ethereal, too. Others praised her raw talent and mesmerising performances. Rasmee is all that and more, as she fused the sounds from the Thai countryside with blues, jazz and African music. She sings in Khmer, Lao and Thai, with a little bit of English.
“Isan music is a sound that just naturally goes with many genres. It carries a tempo and rhythm that are both fast and slow, a universal sound that is quite easy to fuse with other music,” said Rasmee.
Isan sound is gaining quite a bit of traction — becoming a trend, so to speak — in the industry and among younger audiences, she added. In the past, only locals and people living in the countryside were sole listeners, though now even molam is going more mainstream, as it is infused with rock, rap, disco, reggae and soul. Its audience base has also grown to encompass international-music enthusiasts around the globe.
For her own music, Rasmee poured her experiences and bottled-up emotions into lyrics that address her grandmother and other family, sadness, love, and life lessons — the way molam does traditionally carry a lot of lessons. Her topics range from beauty from within to social and gender inequality.
“My songs can be quite dark sometimes,” said the singer-songwriter. “But in the end, music is here to entertain. You either gain happiness from it or learn something from it.”
After two albums — Isan Soul EP (2015) and Arom (2017) — Rasmee has won Best Solo Female Artist, Best Album and Best Song at the Kom Chad Luek Awards 2015; and Best Female Artist at the Season Awards 2017.
The molam songstress comes from humble beginnings. As a child, Rasmee learned singing from her father, a Khmer folk singer who taught her luk thung and molam.
“He used to sing songs by Sayan Sanya, Seri Rungsawang and Pumpuang Duangjan. That was how I first listened to most of the songs. They were all from his singing. I didn’t get to listen to the originals until I was a grown up.”
At the time, Rasmee was living in her hometown in Ubon Ratchathani province (she is now based in Chiang Mai). The singer dropped out of school at age 13 to perform and tour with a local molam band to send money home.
The music style of her childhood was very different from her current genre, she said. Rasmee used to mostly perform covers of famous songs. It wasn’t until later that she discovered classical, jazz and the blues, which then slowly shaped and evolved into her current style.
To achieve and stay true to the distinctive sound that has since become iconic to Rasmee, the singer said that, partly, this is made possible by being an independent artist.
“It’s the freedom that allows you to make your own decisions,” said Rasmee. She is in control of all aspects of her self-produced music, from studio recordings to concerts and collaborations.
Releasing your first album when you’re already in your 30s may seem too late for some, but not to Rasmee. She revealed that she’s been wanting to have her own album for so long, but a lot of things just weren’t right yet.
“To make music in the past, you had to be signed with a label and then stay with them for years. Nobody produced their own. The cost of hiring a studio and production was just too grand,” said Rasmee. “And I was almost a part of that cycle. I was actually signed with a music label before. I was 16. After I signed, they forbid me to sing for anyone else. They sent me 2,000 baht every month, which was quite a lot.”
But soon after she was signed, the company fell apart and Rasmee was left disappointed. She said she quit singing for many years before picking it right back up again when she was older. By then, it was already a time when many artists were producing their music independently as the cost became cheaper, and so new sounds and budding creativities were allowed the freedom to shine and take flight quite without limit.
“I thought I would really love to record my own voice, you know? I could give it to my father and mother. If I die, at least some people may listen to it,” she said, admitting she was not expecting anything much from the work that would later turn into Isan Soul EP.
The way Rasmee approached her music was mainly for her own pleasure and satisfaction. It wasn’t about creating a sound that would be marketable, that many people would have to love. She acknowledged that a lot of things from her age, look, language and sound were not conventional to the mainstream at all, but she pushed through nevertheless.
“You create a sound that you like. Make it your style because you have to be able to appreciate it yourself,” suggested Rasmee. “As for everybody else, pay them no mind. In creating anything, there’ll always be good and bad feedback from it.”
“Just focus on what you’re doing," she said. "Be confident and, by all means, go ahead.”
In the future, Rasmee said she is now reverting to more traditional molam roots, with plans to push phin and khaen — local folk mandolin and mouth organ — to the forefront of her music. She is also featured in an upcoming independent film called Kraben Rahu, though she is mum on the movie’s details. As she grows older, she plans to take a step back from today’s spotlight to assume a more behind-the-scenes role in music production.
People would say that Rasmee is now a successful singer, with local and international recognition. But the singer herself thinks success had already found her, from the moment she started working on her first album.
“I was already a success when I started doing this for myself,” she said.
