Khun Narin is a

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and cannabis to ...

ensemble based out of the

Phetchabun Province Phetchabun ( th, เพชรบูรณ์, ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat'') lies in lower northern Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Loei, Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum, Lopburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phic ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. Led by Khun Narin, the group is known locally for their impromptu improvisational performances situated at backyard parties and parades. The group comprises a constantly rotating line-up of native musicians of varying ages, from children to elderly men. Khun Narin were discovered via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

when music producer Josh Marcy happened upon videos of their live performances. With his assistance, they released their first album, titled '' Electric Phin Band'', on August 26, 2014.

History

Khun Narin were discovered in early 2013 by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

music producer Josh Marcy when he happened upon a

video of the group performing live. The channel belonged to Thai phin player Beer Sitthichai, who had been recording and uploading videos of Khun Narin since late 2010. The group was locally respected and known to perform at parties. A video of the group performing "

Zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

" by

The Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland. Originally named the Cranberry Saw Us, the band were formed in 1989 by lead singer Niall Quinn, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler. Quinn was ...

piqued Marcy's interest and he contacted Innovative Leisure Records. Innovative Leisure shared Marcy's interest in the band's music and paid for his plane trip to find them. After arriving in Thailand, Marcy contacted Peter Doolan, an American living in Bangkok who was an admirer of the group and had contact with them. Josh Marcy recorded an improvised live session of Narin Phin to serve as the content for the album '' Electric Phin Band'', which was released on August 26, 2014 by Innovative Leisure Records. Critical response was very favorable and the band was lauded for their skilled and lively performances. The group followed up that release in 2016 with the release of '' II'', issued by Innovative Leisure Records.

Musical style

The music of Khun Narin is grounded on Thai and Laotian melodies informed by garage music and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

. Critics have noted a resemblance to the music of

Konono Nº1 Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are known for their DIY aesthetic, combining electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with vocals, dancers, and percussion instruments ...

and

Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, esp ...

. Despite comparisons, the group claims to have had little exposure to more widely celebrated rock acts. When asked about Khun Narin's connection to psychedelic music, Marcy responded "It just happens to have turned out in a way that sounds familiar, in that vein, to us. They'd never heard the Grateful Dead or things like that.

Discography

*'' Electric Phin Band'' (Innovative Leisure, 2014) *'' II'' (Innovative Leisure, 2016)

References

External links

Khun Narin
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khun Narin Thai musical groups Thai rock music groups Thai psychedelic rock music groups Mor lam musicians