Everyone needs a friend and that's what Valentina Ploy hopes her debut album could be. 

A cycle of love and loss, the Thai-Italian singer-songwriter's first record, PLOY is a collection of stories of healing that comfort the depths of your heart and soul. Much like Valentina herself, the album is sincere, honest, and heartfelt as the 'Camera Roll' act sings about falling in love, dealing with heartache, and finding yourself again. 

Bandwagon caught up with Valentina to talk about the story behind piecing her debut album, being vulnerable, and adjusting to a new chapter of her career. 

What does it feel like to finally have this album out? 

It took a while to do all the logistics and to develop the concept as well because I feel like my album of more picking songs that I've written over the past two or three years. I didn't write the songs [where I thought that] I'm gonna make an album and this is why I'm gonna write, it was more like I pick things from my journaling throughout this years. But yeah, it feels very great, very exciting and I'm just trying to enjoy the moment the most that I can.

 

 

 

 

 

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Walk us through how you picked the songs for PLOY. Was there a storyline or theme that you were trying to follow?

It kind of popped up after, to be completely honest. I had many grouping of songs that I've written until I got to the last 11 songs where I was like, 'these songs are going to be my album'. It took a while but once I chose them, it felt natural. I tried to list them by feeling like I said in the 'Intro Note'—everything just made sense. They were telling different feelings and I realised that just like part of my real story, I go through ups and downs and stuff so I decided that was going to be the concept of the album and how we wanted to present it.

And initially, actually, the album had another name, it was called 'songs from my bathroom', because every song mostly was written in the toilet—I've been writing songs in the toilet since forever but then there was a change. 

What exactly was going through your mind when you were piecing the album together? What made you choose the songs that you did?

It was mostly songs that I connected with in a very real and honest way. I've written many, many songs, but then every time you write a new song, that song becomes a new favourite and then you write more, and those ones become your new favourite.

So these songs were kinda like the ones that stayed in my favourites throughout the whole time, that never really changed. All of the ones that I feel like even in 10 years, it'll still be a song that means so much to me, I  chose. If a song means a lot to me and makes me feel like this, [then I want it for the album]. I want to just trust that and put that one over other ones.

What do you hope your listeners take away from the album?

I hope they can feel connected to it. If they're going through any feelings, whatever that might be, I just wish that they can feel connected to the song that speaks about that feeling and hopefully, they can feel like there's somebody else understanding that and that go through the same thing.

I feel like when you share an emotion, song or even a word and you feel the same thing, it makes you feel really connected as humans—that's what I hope the listener can get from my songs. Whatever they're going through, hopefully [my album] can be like a friend.

Is there a song, from the album, that you're most proud of or one that means so much to you?

Oh, there are many. One of them is surely is 'To Myself', it's also like the focus track of the album. It's not like the pop-est song on the album but I feel very connected to it because there was a moment in my life when I wrote it where I had sort of like an awakening—I was going through something quite sad and then writing the song was kind of cathartic. It made me process the bad feeling and become stronger—quite cliche, I know (laughs). It was actually the first song that I wrote about self-love in my entire life so that one has a special place in my heart.

I also really like 'Left Unsaid' and 'You've Always Been There'. 'Left Unsaid' is—I don't even know if anybody will listen to that song because... I always say it satisfies the old soul in me because it's quite stripped. The lyrics are only a few words, not many but very meaningful to me. It talks about how the things we want the most, the things we fear the most, and the things we feel the most, we often leave them unsaid until maybe we realise it's too late in life—that song just makes me cry so much.

And then 'You've Always Been There' that I particularly love because I wrote it for my mom but literally, it can be for anyone that's always been there. So I hope that whoever listens to you can think of that one person, whoever that might be.

For PLOY, you worked with your producers, Richard Craker and Pokpong Jitdee. What is it like collaborating with them for the album? 

'Bla Bli Blu' was probably one of the first songs that I decided to put into the album and it's also the first one that I've worked with Richard Craker. We wrote the song together but I guess it's like totally different approaches with both the producers, which I really love in different ways. With Richard, it's more pop and then with Pipong—I call him Pipong—it's another approach. They're both great, I'm very, very lucky to have worked with both of them.

 

 

 

 

 

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Were there any challenges that you faced during the production process?

I think not during the production process, but more when grouping the songs and making the album with a concept because I didn't really want to just put out an album that was just a collection of songs, I wanted for it to have a story. Every song tells a story from like the happiest feeling to the saddest one, it follows a cycle so I think that was the most challenging part, deciding that.

Actually, Pipong helped me with that. I remember we were producing the last songs, and I was just like I have no idea how I'm going to list these songs and blah blah blah. He was just like: 'okay, let's do this' and we wrote a list of songs then we cut them and literally picked randomly. Then as we were picking, I was just like, okay, so let's say with 'Bla Bli Blu' you fall in love, then you start missing each other, then you break up and then after you break up, you get depressed—it was a cycle and Pipong said musically, it makes perfect sense as well. He said I should go for it and I was like okay. It was just in the moment, very fun.

What did you enjoy most about working on PLOY?

I really, really love the moment when a song comes to life, it's just something that keeps me alive and something I love. It's like you have this thought or you feel so bad about something then you just write it out and it starts becoming a song, then you work with amazing producers and it becomes—oh my god, it's like you give birth to a child. I guess every time we've completed a song and decided that this is like the final version, the final master that's going to be out and how we're going to do it, that is such a great feeling for me that I love.

And of course, just working on this with other people, with Richard and Pipong. It was just the best time in the studio, it was so much fun because every time we allow ourselves to be very creative and try different sounds, it's all like great memories for life.

You recently signed with Warner Music Asia. What is it like working with a team and entering this new phase of your career with them?

Obviously, it's different from working with a local label only because there are many more people involved. So, communication changes, like the language in which you speak in meetings, even the smallest things like that changes. But it's nice, it's been interesting.

I feel like there's been a lot of growth and learning for sure. It's definitely not an easy thing because obviously, when you start working with new people, sometimes it takes time to get to know each other and be aligned on what you want out of a project. It's been great though to be able to have the opportunity to just grow and use more resources to grow your fan base and spread your music more.

Finally, is there any message that you want to say to your fans?

Well, just thank you so much. Really. Listening to my music is the best thing ever to me, to know that there are people out there that take their time to just listen to the songs I've written. I'm grateful and feel very lucky for that. Thank you so much.

Listen to Valentina Ploy's PLOY here.