The Remarkable Truth: quite frankly it isn’t every month that fierce panda releases tunes by 14 year-old fret wizards from Thailand. But then again, not many 14 year-old fret wizards from Thailand are quite like PETCH, who launches her latest single “Black Neon” – OUT NOW.
Discovered busking on the streets of Bangkok, PETCH (aka Vimolwan Saisathit) was playing the guitar before she could talk. Spending her early years in her bedroom perfecting her playing style, Petch was unleashed on an entirely unsuspecting TV audience when she appeared on ‘Asia’s Got Talent’ at eight years of age, being told by 16-time Grammy winner David Foster that this young artist is “destined for great things”.
During the summers of Covid, she spent lockdowns producing her own music videos, playing Metallica, Joan Jett, Nirvana and Motorhead songs, showcasing her developing style and building the courage to perform live. After Covid she was back on her hometown streets when her cover of ‘Smoke On The Water’ by Deep Purple was brought to the attention of Riverman, the Bangkok/UK team responsible for bringing Nirvana to Europe and managing multimillion selling band Placebo – who made their own debut on fierce panda records in 1995.
The “Hatemail” single kickstarted PETCH’s release schedule in December 2023, just after she turned 14. In June came the follow-up, the electrifying “9 Volter” which blended the shadowy dread of Garbage with the gloriously deadpan highs of female-fuelled grunge. These are some seriously crazy teenage kickings…
Check out 9 Volter here:
PETCH’s debut EP will be released in August 2024 and, with her all-Thai teenage bandmembers, she will be playing at Bristol Sounds and TRNSMT festivals, as well as King Tuts in Glasgow and Camden Underworld. Full dates, incoming! She is currently co-writing and recording her debut album and will have a full season of touring in Europe in 2025.
Meanwhile latest single “Black Neon” showcases PETCH’s raw talent that belies her years. It’s the perfect title for the tune as well, all glossy alt.rock melodies and brooding guitars, and as Petch explains: “‘Black Neon’ is the story of two teenagers living for the night, two runaways escaping their day to day lives. I really liked creating the guitar parts for the track and it’s a great song to play live.”
As if that wasn’t already enough to be cracking on with, PETCH‘s is also an advocate of music helping teenagers during difficult years, and actively helps others through guitar playing to find solace and focus. Did we explain that PETCH is Thai for ‘diamond?’? Well, now you know! Watch this space, PETCH is coming through…
BLACK NEON ON SPOTIFY:
GET “BLACK NEON”: https://orcd.co/blackneon
