Music from northeastern Thailand has a distinctive energy. It’s raw, hypnotic, and built around instruments that sound unlike anything typically heard in European electronic music. TONTRAKUL draws inspiration from this rich musical tradition, but instead of preserving it behind museum glass, the project brings it onto club and festival stages. The bamboo mouth organ khaen, the Thai lute phin, and rhythms rooted in the mor lam tradition blend seamlessly with electronic music, nu-jazz, house, and worldbeat.
The project is led by musician Tontrakul Kaewyong, who grew up in Thailand’s Isan region, where this musical heritage is part of everyday life. Today, he is one of the leading voices of Thailand’s contemporary music scene. Alongside his own work, he collaborates with orchestras, teaches at a music university in Bangkok, and performs internationally, from Japan to Europe. On stage, however, this is far from a folkloric reconstruction. It’s a chance to discover how music that is centuries old can sound remarkably modern.