Drum n Bass Dj Orawan

DJ Orawan

DJ Orawan first fell in love with DJing after she attended the Full Moon party shortly before she moved to Auckland (NZ) in 2002.

She quickly got herself involved in the bustling upcoming Drum & Bass scene.

Since first getting behind the decks Orawan has gone on to play along side International artist Skream & Benga, Fatboy Slim, Pendulum, Dirtyphonics, Deadmau5, Goldie, Netsky, MJ Cole, DJ FRESH, Marky, Nikki Black Market, SEIJI, Ragga Twins, Sabre, DJ Hype, CASPA, B. Traits, LTJ Bukem (UK), Makoto (JP), dBridge (UK), Futurebound (UK), King Kapisi (NZ), Thaitanium (TH) to name a few.

She also went on tour as support act for NZs Hip Hop legend KiNG KAPISI on his Hip Hop Lives Here tour through out New Zealand. Since moved back to Thailand in 2010, Orawan played headline shows through SEA including the massive Honda music festival 2010 and 2011 with over 200,000 people in attendance, Culture One, The Full Moon Party.

On top of all this, she also securing herself a residency in one of Bangkok's hottest & legendary nightclubs, Bed Supper club which voted top 42 club in the world by DJ Mag 2012 and hosts one of Bangkok’s biggest monthly Drum & Bass nights "Phatfunk" and launched her Bass Music night "Bass Clef" in 2013.

Here she is with the crew from Ku Club on Phangan when she played there;

She says;
Phangan is the place where I found my addiction, passion, inspiration and true love!

Back in 1999, I discovered my passion for DJ-ing at a ‘Full Moon Party’ at the place called Orchid bar, which now the name has changed to Sunrise.
Orchid was the very first beach bar that have brought Jungle / Drum & Bass music to Thailand. Immediately I was hooked on the driving rhythm and rumbling bass since then!

Here comes a little bit of romantic story; I went back there again in 2012 to perform at Sunrise bar two days before NYE party.

I met a man there - who did MC over my set and the next morning he sent me a message asking me to marry him, I thought it was the cheesiest pick up line ever!
Fast forward…a year later, that man became the love of my life and we are having our first baby together.

Your last performance on Phangan, how will you describe it?
It was on August 8th 2014, I was playing support DJ Hype at Ku Club. Always had a great vibe every time I played there.

What do you feel you can bring to the Phangan scene?
I’m just a girl who loves what I’m doing from my heart and soul, which is playing music. DRUM & BASS is my favourite genre but I also play all kind of BASS MUSIC. 

As I get older, I started to adore BASS HOUSE and NU DISCO stuff and I really hope Phanganist like what they hear from my set too.

What are projects are you currently involved with / What are your next projects?
This year, I’m taking a little break from been having hectic schedules in the past couple of year as I’m taking the most challenging and exciting role and preparing myself to become a mom!
You may catch me play support big acts and appear on the desks at a couple of gigs in Bangkok and that was it.

Since I’ve just moved to Samui, I’ve noticed that 99 % of the club here are still playing commercial and EDM. Samui has rooms for this relatively “underground” sound, however I plan to push the scene here next year. Wish me luck!

Do you have future plans on Phangan?
I hope next year I’ll be coming back to Phangan at some point to play at my favourite spots Ku Club and Sunrise Bar.

What is the best thing you ever been involved with or done?
Everything I am involved is a blessed!
2009, I was touring the country as the warm-up DJ for King Kapisi, one of the region’s most famous hip-hop artists.

SinceI  moved back to Thailand, I had such amazing years 2010 – 2013, from playing through SEA to work as Head of Events and resident DJ in one of Bangkok’s hottest & legendary night club, Bed Supper club which voted top 42 club in the world by DJ Mag.

I reached so many of my goals and was presented with so many great opportunities, which gave me chance to be part of developing the Bangkok bass music culture.

Do you find Koh Phangan to be a good place for your style of music? Do you find space for Drum n Bass here among the Tech House and Psy Trance?
Oh yea totally! Drum and Bass has been around on Koh Phangan for over a decade already and recently Ku Club have brought big names such as Goldie, DJ Fresh, DJ Hype and Nikki Black Market this year which proven that there will always be room for not necessary for just Drum and Bass but for Bass Music Culture in general. 
 

Happy news about a baby in your future?
Yes, that’s right! We are having a baby boy in two months.

What do you wish to learn from your Phangan experience?
I have a lot of faith in Phangan’s music scene and I believe that it won’t turn into a commercial bullshit island like most of other places.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Have a happy life with my family and doing mother things but I can never give up DJ-ing though.

How did you get to where you are today? What is your life philosophy?
I do sometimes get more attention as a female on the decks, especially because I’m a girl but I’m not just a “girl DJ” who presses the sync button and calls herself a DJ. I taught myself how to mix from records and I’ve been mixing records for years just like most DJs. There shouldn’t be a distinction between male and female DJs. If you do if for the love of it and play the music from your soul, that’s all that matters, not because you only think being a DJ is cool.

“Be brave, take risks and chances: if you win you’ll be happy, If you loose, you will be wise.” That’s how I live my life!

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