Name : Rom Waranon DJ ElectRom (Electronic of Rom)
D.O.B. 28-08-1978
Country : Bangkok, Thailand
Gender : Male
Occupation : Bar Manager at T-Rex bar / Resident Dj at Open Air Muzix Festival (Ban Tai Koh Phangan), Dragon Bar (Kangaroo/Mountain Bar) Full Moon Party Haad Rin, Sarikantang Resort & Spa Koh Phangan (Warm up full moon party) / Guest dj around Bangkok.
"The first sound master I learned from was DJ Aon (DJ Staion Bangkok) as well as all the customers/guests and party peoples I'd been partying with. The conversations with everyone in the scene then always came around to talking about Full Moon Party, Haad Rin, Back yard, and DJ A. It was the time to learn Techno, House, Trance, Electronica, Big Beat etc. Then, to learn to play parties with chemical and electronic music."
He first entered the music scene back in 1998, around Silom (area in Bangkok), during the time he was also going to study. The following year 1999, year of Y2K, he fell in love with Acid Jazz, Funk, Soul (from DJ TUL @ Q Bar Bangkok) for the first time. He then got a job working as bartender at Q Bar in Bangkok. Q Bar Bangkok at the time had a lot of good House DJs and also booked the big name House Djs every weekend for guests. That's how he began to know about the difference between good and bad DJs...while making drinks and dancing at the same time. His DJ life began with thanks to the inspiration of people like DJ Billy V. and Arsit Retox Session whom gave him their cds and vinyl they no longer played. When he finished setting up the bar, before the place opened, was his time to practice and these were the cd's and vinyl's he had to play with and experiment.
In 2002, time of Heineken DJ spin competition, (Q Bar Bangkok sponcered) he entered unfavorably passing only the first round. That didn't discourage him though, ElectRom was happy anyways to have the experience. His participation in the competition winded up getting him a DJ gig at an after hours place around Sukhumvit on the 11th,15th, and 19th of every month,The spinning sessions started after his shift ended for the bar job. His life continued in this manner until 2005. In March of 2002 he went to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan attending the first Full Moon Party of his life. He spent most of his time at Paradise Bangalows listening to DJ A, Boyonic (Boy Backyard), and Aon which were to him:
"The best team of Thai DJs (I say this because here there are many big names from international DJ) that my ears had ever heard." They are what sparked his passion for Prograssive House Music."
In 2005, one of his customers, a guy named Gert whom he made drinks for (bills around 6,000TB!) almost every night, expressed his need to open his own bar. Then Rom quit bartending at Q Bar and instead helped Gert open his new bar Glow in Bangkok, Sukhumvit 23. Gert granted him resident DJ/Entertainment Director/Head Bartender position for the club when it opened. Nevertheless, Rom's passion for making partyies as well as the movie The Beach made him want to go to the Islands. His previous boss from Q Bar Bangkok was planning to open a Q Bar in Patong (this was before the tsunami) in Phuket. Knowing this information only made him even more restless. Around this time the tsunami hit and broke all the places in Patong thus changing Q Bar's future plans of being in Phuket and the location became Koh Samui (neighbor island to Koh Phangan) instead. Rom thought, "Samui had the best music (electronic) scene at that moment" and decided to quit his job at Glow and go live out his dream of living a beach boy life.
In 2006, Rom worked at the new Q Bar Samui as Bar Manager/Resident DJ.
What is the best thing you ever been involved with or done? What is your Koh Phangan story? Do you have any future plans on Phangan?
"One good thing about the Full Moon Party is it makes Koh Samui so quiet. How is that good if there are no customers you might wonder? Well, It's my time to have a day off and find the gig for Haad Rin."
One of his good local (Phangan) friend "Dj Mr.Big" (he's got a lot of contacts and special mouth) helped Electroms dream come true. Through him, he got the opportunity to play at Big Boom, Sunrise, and Mellow Mountain Bar (on Haad Rin Beach) for few hours. His first ever full set for Full Moon Party took place at (Mountain Bar / Kangaroo Bar) now Dragon Bar on Magic Mountain. I had heard about the Original Mellow Mountain Bar before living in Bangkok many time. His first experience was:
"After I got the gig I found out the mountain bars didn't have a DJ booth. I had to carry the CDJ (1000wt x2) and my Pioneer DJM 500 from Koh Samui to Haad Rin Koh Phangan by myself. When I got up there I looked around and wondered, Where's the dj booth? Then, Mr.Big handed me two stools one from the bar and one out of the window from his bungalow room. He made the dj booth for me like that on the balcony of the bungalow room and linked the out put master to the bar...distance from the bar was about 20m but work great. Then I start about 8 pm and went on until 9 am. in the morning. It wasnt till about 8 am. that one guest finally saw me...realizing there's a DJ spinning. It's so funny to play the whole night with no one know where you are...where is the dj??? That was the frist 13 hour set in my life. Dream come true with my legs with no feel. Imagine how much chemical was needed to make it happen! I got that full moon gig every month..."
In 2008 Q Bar Samui doesn't make good business. His boss sells it to some rich Thai and they were not the party people type. Rom remembers,
"Before the boss sold it though I'd go listen to "DJ A" every night after work and learn club mixing from him. In that time there was only vinyl and turntable in the booth. My island life was so perfected. Then I moved to work at Sound Club as a visual jockey (VJ) and as a DJ for the warm up after Black Moon Party (5 am.) but ended up working there for only a short time."
In 2009 "Life is changed again" he says. Electrom moved to work at Gecko Bar on Bophut Beach, the place owner is called Gary Gecko. He heard Gecko's set before (twice) at Q Bar in Bangkok and enjoyed his music but in this time of life he was more focused on learning about Deep House from the UK guys. When Gecko Bar's lease was up it changed its location to Bophut Hills.
"I became full time resident DJ there until the bar burns down unfortunately, at the same time of my one month wedding anniversary. This was a hard time in my life. After, I had to go work at Indochine Stereolab in Phuket in order to make more money that I sent back to Gecko Bar to help with their electric bills. The only good thing to come out of the fire burning Gecko Bar down was the pressure in put on the brother of my wife to finallly work. I tech DJ T Gecko to spin for me at Kangaroo Bar if now there is ever some month I can't make it for Full Moon Party week. He's always done the job well until now. I work resident dj and bar manager until low season. After I will move back to work for Gecko Bar on Bophut Hills again. In 2011 life was not easy. I had to move back to being Bar Manager/Resident Dj at Bliss Beach Club in Phuket for one more high season. The low season in Phuket killed my DJ life. The people there loved old song. Thats what got me to finally return back to the Thai Gulf."
Years 2012-2013 were the time for Gecko Bar in Bophut Hills. He got a chill gig on Tuesday, Wednsday, and Saturdays at The Library Chaweng Beach in Koh Samui. In 2014 he started (with some of the other DJs around) the "Open Air Muzix Festival" in Ban Tai, Koh Phangan.
Electrom is now back to be guest DJ at Glow and Dickinson's Culture (around bangkok), and Bar Manager at Retro Rock Place in Thonglor 14 Bangkok. He will be back for the August Full Moon Party.
What is your life philosophy?
"My philosophy is...Don't look back!!!"
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