For Thai Artist Phum Viphurit, Fame and Validation is a ‘Double-Edged Sword’
Bangkok-born singer-songwriter Phum Viphurit has created an alter-ego for himself in a sloth named Paul Vibhavadi. Paul first appeared in the music video for “The Other Side,” the first song in his new EP Paul Vibhavadi Vol 1.
In the video, Phum transforms into Paul the sloth, who seeks escape and perhaps solitude in a mythical forest.
“I’ve always wanted to do a narrative sort of album, something highly conceptual,” Viphurit said in an interview with Esquire Philippines.
The concept for the sloth began as a visual for Phum’s previous album, but has since become the centerpiece of the new EP.
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“I started with a visual concept in my previous album, The Greng Jai Piece, that came out 2023. I used an image of a sloth sitting in the middle of the album. He’s like a really large human-size sloth seeing everything that’s going on around him, and there’s a traditional Thai temple there. I really liked that imagery and I thought, ‘Where can I take this idea to the next level, narrative-wise and visually, thinking like a film student.” The artist, by the way, graduated with a film degree in 2018.
He sees the EP as a mini-movie. But if it were used as a soundtrack to an actual movie, Viphurit says it would probably suit one with an existential theme.
“I think the album or the alter-ego itself explores the idea of identity,” he says. “Like Paul, probably the way he is on social media or like the way he’s trying to fit into this super high-speed, fun addictive world that he doesn’t belong to. The character was like a satire of myself, but in sloth form.”
Viphurit’s transformation to Paul is evident not only in the music videos or his posts on social media. It’s also symbolic of the artist’s decision to expand his musical horizon. The artist is known for neo-soul cuts in his previous releases; case in point the viral “Lover Boy.” He cites Mac DeMarco, George Benson, Young the Giant, and Bombay Bicycle Club as his early influences. However, he has since added the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk to this list, and house music is now part of his musical palate.
It’s been years since Viphurit broke into the international scene; he now has four EPs and two full-length albums under his belt. Although he wasn’t prepared for the newfound popularity at the beginning, he admits having learned quite a few lessons since he started.
“A lot of it, I talk about in ‘The Other Side,’ that like fame and validation, though, is a double-edged sword,” he says. “You can get addicted to it, you can get addicted to attention, to fame, to the fortune that comes with it, and it can mess with your perception of reality a little bit.
“So I’ve learned to always keep my eyes and ears open, always strive to do something new and always push my own creative boundaries, ‘cause that’s the only way you can stay humble as a creative person,” he adds.
Aside from “The Other Side,” three other tracks are included in Paul Vibhavadi Vol 1. “Balter Baby” is another rhythm-based, house track; “Past Life,” which continues the transformative narrative; and “If This Is The End,” a more lyrical, stripped back track that leans toward his earlier musical style and is a favorite of the artist himself.
