Loso ( Thai: โลโซ) are a

Thai rock Thai rock is rock music from Thailand. Thai rock was influenced by rock bands from the United States and United Kingdom. Emerging in the 1980s it flourished with bands like Asanee-Wasan and Micro. It became widely popular in the 1990s. 1970s Roc ...

band fronted by singer–guitarist–composer

Seksan Sukpimai Seksan Sukpimai ( th, เสกสรรค์ ศุขพิมาย – born 7 August 1974) also known as by the stage name Sek Loso (เสก โลโซ) is a Thai musician, Facebook live Streamer, and singer-songwriter. He is the former ...

(aka Sek Loso). The band was formed in 1994 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, Thailand. Its name is derived from a play on ''hi-so'', Thai slang for

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having tradit ...

s and the

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

(from English 'high society'), and is meant to reflect the group's humble origins. It is one of the first Thai bands to achieve success on the international music scene, having played festivals, including

South By Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

and

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

, and to be produced by a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

record producer. The group completed and released their first demo in late 1995. Loso disbanded in 2003, and afterwards, Seksan continued as Sek Loso up until November 2021 when they reformed.

History

First album

Within a year of its formation, Sek had written 10 songs. Two of the songs in collaboration with Marc de Sala, a Danish musician and producer living and working in Thailand. With drummer Kittisak "Yai" Khotkam (b. January 22, 1973) and bassist Apirath "Rath" Sukkhajitr (b. September 20, 1967), Sek recorded the tracks in a night in late 1995 and sent the

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

to Asanee Chotikul of the popular Thai rock duo Asanee-Wasan. Called ''Lo Society'', the band's demo tape was released as an album in 1996 on Asanee's indie

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

and distributed by

GMM Grammy GMM Grammy Public Company Limited ( th, จีเอ็มเอ็ม แกรมมี่ or G"MM' Grammy) is the largest media conglomerate entertainment company in Thailand. Grammy top artists include Bird Thongchai, Silly Fools, Loso, ...

, Thailand's biggest record company. It sold 1.5 million copies.

Celebrity status

Loso released eight more albums, each selling at least 1 million copies ("platinum" status on the

RIAA certification In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.

scale), and some selling 3 million copies. Among the band's most popular songs is "Som Sarn" ( Thai: "ซมซาน" or "Hesitant"), which features an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

intro that is widely recognized in Thailand. Another hit was ''Pantip'', with its hook chorus, "ja mai pai Pantip" ("will not go Pantip" or "I won't go to Pantip"). The song is about a man dating a woman and taking her shopping at World Trade Center,

MBK Center MBK Center, also known as Mahboonkrong ( th, มาบุญครอง; , ), is a large shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. At eight storeys, the center contains around 2,000 shops, restaurants and service outlets. In 2009, MBK Center manage ...

and

Siam Square Siam Square ( th, สยามสแควร์, ) is a shopping and entertainment area in the Siam area of Bangkok, Thailand. The square is located at the corner of Phayathai Road and Rama I Road and is owned by Chulalongkorn University, mana ...

, but he refuses to take her to Pantip Plaza because his ex-girlfriend has a shop there. The band's line up remained stable except for a period where Apirath was replaced by Nattaphon "Klang" Suntharaanu. Klang Loso played bass on the Rock & Roll and Losoland albums and toured with the band. Apirath Loso then returned to bass duties with the band until its demise. Just about all the band's albums are accompanied by the release of a

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

VCD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...

, featuring

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

s of the songs. Through the music videos and his appearance as

pitchman A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items. Whether stationa ...

for the

M-150 M150 or M-150 may refer to: * M150 Penetration Augmented Munition, an explosive device * M150 ACOG, a telescopic rifle sight used by the United States Army * M-150 (Michigan highway), a road in the United States * M-150 (energy drink) M-150 i ...

brand energy drink, Sek Loso, usually wearing

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...

, has achieved

cultural icon A cultural icon is a person or an artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen as an authentic ...

status in Thailand. He even spoofed his celebrity image with a Sek lookalike making a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

Thai action film, ''

Tom-Yum-Goong ''Tom-Yum-Goong'' ( Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง, ) is a 2005 Thai martial arts action film starring Tony Jaa. The film was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed Jaa's prior breakout film '' Ong-Bak''. As with ''Ong-Bak'', the figh ...

''. The song that accompanies the M-150 commercials, the ballad "Teh Yang Thai" ("เท่อย่างไทย"), is another hit.

Going solo

After the release of the 2002 live album ''Loso Concert'', Loso broke up, with Sek Loso becoming a solo act. Kittisak and Apirath formed a new band,

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined hi ...

. Sek released his debut solo album, ''7 August'', in 2003 and duetted with veteran string and luk thung star Bird McIntyre, for the 2004 hit album, ''Bird Sek''. The pair played sold-out concerts at Bangkok's Impact Arena. Sek, meanwhile, had aspirations beyond the Thai music scene: In Thai music terminology, he wanted to "go inter". He had been reading biographies of his rock idol,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, and decided that to achieve international stardom he needed to go to England as Hendrix had. In 2004, he moved to London and enrolled in an ESOL school, and after six months of intensive learning, he could speak English with an

upper-class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

British accent Spoken English shows great variation across regions where it is the predominant language. For example, the United Kingdom has the largest variation of accents of any country in the world, and therefore no single "British accent" exists. This a ...

. He began writing songs in English and placed advertisements in '' NME'' for a bass player and drummer to form a new Loso, auditioning prospects by having them perform the entire Hendrix album, '' Are You Experienced''. LOSO 2006-02-10 Mannheim (Germany)

20th Year Reunion

In September 2020, Loso classic lineup had been reunited to celebrate Seksan's wedding. In October 2021, Sek, Yai and Klang have started to rehearse together before announcing that they have reunited and will be playing future gigs soon.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Lo-Society'' (1996) * ''The Red Bike'' (1997, movie soundtrack) * ''Entertainment'' (1998) * ''Rock & Roll'' (2000) * ''Losoland'' (2001) * ''The Red Album'' (August 2001)

Compilation albums

* ''Lo-Society (Bonus Tracks, 1996) * ''Best of Loso'' (CD, 1999) * ''Best of Loso'' (Karaoke VCD, 2001) * ''Loso: Concert for Friends'' (VCD, 2002) * ''Loso: Best Of Collection'' (30 April 2013)

References

External links

Sek Loso @FacebookLoSoFC @BlogspotThe official Sek Loso website from 2009 till 2016 @Wayback MachineSek Loso @Discogs
{{Authority control Thai rock music groups Musical groups from Bangkok