A Grammy lyricist celebrates a decade in the business with an unusual album

After 10 years of writing songs for a variety of recording artists signed with Thailand's major labels, Nussaree "Nam" Laohavongpienput has proved her mettle as a lyricist with new album, "Sick Project".

"It was time for me to show my real self and my own style by coming up with 10 tracks that reflected different points of view," says the 35-year-old. "But I'm not comparing myself to such major songwriting talents as Boyd Kosiyabong or Nueng Narongrit."

That's why "Sick Project" comes across as a joint effort, with Nam's name appearing alongside composer Panya "Pom" Pakunpanya and arranger Bancha "Ming" Chartmethikul aka Minguta, on the CD sleeve designed by record label Sanamluang.

"The overall concept of the album is to indulge people's enjoyment of their darker sides. My lyrics are not the usual love stories; they talk about illness and other things, but in a fun way."

Nam studied theatre rather than music while attending Thammasat University's liberal-arts faculty in the early '90s. She started trying her hand at writing lyrics after listening to the songs penned by Nitipong "Dee" Hornak, Prapas "Jik" Cholslanond, and Saraphee "Jiab" Sirisampan and wrote her first complete song for a faculty play.

The Kanchanaburi-born songwriter produced her first commercial song for Music Bugs, a recording company managed by Thanes Warakulnukroh, while a fourth-year student at the university. She went on to write songs for Friday, Big Ass and La-On, the six-member outfit that would later give birth to Bodyslam.

"Phi Ek [Thanes] suggested that I write not just for own satisfaction but also for others," Nam recalls. "But I was still really nervous about approaching big companies like Grammy."

Nonetheless, a year later, Nam was selling songs to Oh My God studio and soon after plucked up the courage to knock on Grammy's door and ask her idol Nitipong for a job. He said yes, and after three months of honing her skills, she wrote a soundtrack for the TV drama, "Hong Nuea Mangkorn", sung by leading lady Marsha Wattanapanich.

"Nitipong says the hardest part of songwriting is to build an impression, so the songwriter has to delve into his or her inner self and adapt the lyrics to match the masses.

"I think that the songwriter also needs to learn from other people. And, most importantly, he or she must always be up-to-date with what's happening on the music scene."

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Nam's idols

>> Nitipong: "He uses easy-to-understand language in his songs, like in Mai Charoenpura's 'Phae Jai' and Asanee-Wasan's 'Ther Pan Jai'."

>> Prapas: "He reflects his own opinions through poetic lyrics."

>> Saraphee: "Her songs like Jo Kong's 'Luek Sud Jai' have great emotional expression."