NOTEP | Sept ‘26
In Conversation with…
Words By: Lily Egleton
NOTEP is a multifaceted Thai artist, musician, DJ, and environmentalist. Her work transcends music, creating a beautiful blend between electronic music with ambient textures and sound healing. Her EP, PAKARANG – the Thai word for “coral” – was released on 4th September 2026, after her first single, Radio, being released on Earth Day and her second single which is due to be released on World Ocean Day. This theme of environmentalism and clarity permeates the EP, with a beautiful focus on wellbeing, the environment, and turning back into yourself. NOTEP started her career at the young age of sixteen, moving from a smaller city to the north of Thailand to the capital city. NOTEP discussed how she lived alone and was signed to a label at this young age, so the way she tuned back into herself during this hectic time was by “sleeping, because I was too young to understand”, but a change came when she began “meditation, and going into nature which really helped, because with meditation you become still. You give your body the time to rest and have that space of nothingness. You can really recalibrate and become the default setting. We are nature so when you come back home, of course we feel amazing in our body”.
“The melody comes first for me,” NOTEP expressed. She considers the concept she wants to talk about which “most of the time is about realising things about yourself” with a focus of self-realisation and connecting people with themselves rather than a focus on romantic relationships or heartbreak. After humming a new melody, she records this and translates these wider concepts to her lyrics. Her lyrics and concepts carry significant meaning: the title of her EP itself translates to coral a natural element which NOTEP has described as possessing memory, strength and life. A question struck me throughout our conversation: which of these qualities that are so apparent within nature are people currently losing touch with throughout modern-day society and life? NOTEP remarked that coral reefs “survive and thrive by being collaborative with each other, whether it’s with the surrounding corals, the fish, or animals, and nowadays we lack that. We are not collaborating we are competing and trying to put down the other.” NOTEP believes that nature can teach us these powerful lessons as “nature comes before us. We can learn by observing patterns that occur, whether in the forest or the ocean”, reminding us that with collaboration we can thrive and expand.
A notion I have pondered upon recently myself is the difficulty of working and succeeding in such a rapidly paced society, particularly when you attempt to force your own growth. I felt as though the feeling of “forced growth” was bigger than the music industry itself and can expand into every professional avenue and ones’ personal lives. “The world is intense to live in,” NOTEP acknowledges that industry pressure and personal burnout alike caused her to feel ungrounded. “You have got to find your own way of tuning back to yourselves. What I discovered for myself was not forcing things and trusting in the flow really help; trusting that the universe will take you where you need to be, and really surrendering yourself to that,” NOTEP has learnt throughout her successful music career, noting how it can be easy to crack under pressure which is never sustainable for an artist. Our discussion enabled me to consider how letting go and enjoying every step of the journey is an integral part of the process of realigning with yourself a lesson that is important regardless of what your own personal journey entails. Previously, her motto was “how fast can you run?” a sentiment that she implores people to not fall for, instead encouraging others to decide upon their own standard of perfection and not compare themselves to others.
As the title of her EP, PAKARANG resembles “strength in slowness and not forcing growth.” The EP “flows from one track to another, telling a story” a story which NOTEP has worked with collaborators with whom she felt aligned. For her previous work, she notes it was “more of a challenge to do everything myself”. Finding collaboration and openness with PAKARANG was an experience she found rewarding. In a similar vein to her open and collaborative creative approach to the making of PAKARANG, NOTEP recorded the music video for Radio released on Earth Day on Open Ocean in Koh Tao Island, Thailand. I questioned if the making of this video was more erratic and more open than filming music videos in a traditional or controlled environment. Indeed, NOTEP felt she and her team “surrendered” to the natural landscape, “not controlling everything, but letting the surroundings shape the work as well”. NOTEP and her team had scouted out this beautiful scenery for the music video beforehand, however the beauty of nature is that it scarcely remains static. On the day of filming, there was an artificial coral planting occurring, with large machinery and an operation taking place in the background of the music video. “Is it an oil rig? Is it someone bombing the ocean?” NOTEP enjoys the multi-faceted interpretation that can come when watching this take place in her music video. It caught me off-guard witnessing the juxtaposition between the operational nature of the coral reef planting and the natural beauty of the sunset overlooking the ocean a moment that so perfectly captured how purposeful human intervention can work in harmony with the environment rather than against it.
When witnessing this contrast between natural beauty and human-made processes, I wondered if NOTEP’s environmentalism made her more hopeful or more pessimistic about the future of nature and of our society. She has experienced both sides of the coin, navigating between “hopeful and depressed”, which she believes has no benefit in an environment which changes rapidly every day. She believes it isn’t healthy to be “too emotionally invested” amid environmental anxieties due to the burnout it provokes. Her empathy and environmental awareness permeate her art, which she deems to be both a “gift and a curse. It makes you understand everything on another level, but it is also a lot on my mental health.” Such emotions have been present throughout her career, however this is something she has been focussed more on in the recent years, notably with Radio being released on Earth Day and her second single from the EP released on the 8th June World Ocean Day. Topics like “healing, mental health and environmental awareness” can be “too serious” but have been used within “my craft, my art, my sound, in the most entertaining way”.
After reading this article, I highly recommend you listen to NOTEP’s single, Radio, which she hopes provides you with a sense of “calm, a sense of clarity”. The Thai word “chuen jai” translates to “cooling heart” which NOTEP believes resonates with this song highly. Although she created the song in a time of uncertainty and stress, the result is a song that provokes calmness and serenity. In a time of environmental unease rising temperatures, disappearing ecosystems, and the expanding weight of climate anxiety this EP feels like the perfect record to turn to. From the 4th September 2026, you will have had the chance to experience the calm this EP offers a rare pause in a world that so often feels anything but still.
