STUDIO VISIT & INTERVIEW : MELT DISTRICT

“PLASTIC MOUNTAIN”

A day with our friends, Bo and Fah from Melt District. Plastic recycle and upcycling design studio based in Chiang Mai.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

B: Bangkok born, I had been working in various fields starting with an advertising agency, to the fashion industry and event organizer.

F: I graduated in Economics but honestly I knew nothing about it. After that I went to work at my parent’s business which was related to plastic recycling. That’s why I ended up doing Melt District.

How did you guys meet?

B: I was looking for coffee in this music festival and all of them were from Bangkok, then I spotted this little hut full of stalls from the North. I was meant to get a cup of coffee at 3 pm but ended up sitting there at Fah’s coffee stall until 8 pm. She keeps treating me with this magic tea, she is a witch.

F: It was at Wonderfruit 3 years ago. We talked for like 4 hours about nothing. *laugh

Vision/Mission for Melt District?

B: To create a future of lifestyle and harm no more to our mother nature.

F: We hope we can unfold our passion to make the world better through our work and also to raise consciousness about single-use plastic.

Why Chiang Mai?

B: I actually decided to be a citizen of both cities, I found that I was stuck in Bangkok, just because my family lives there. I found Chiang Mai really suits my lifestyle, the coffee, the food, the mountain, the running route, the vibe, also the eco-living consciousness of people in this town.

F: I was born and raised in Chiang Mai. I was wondering why all of my friends needed to find a better job outside their hometown. Is Chiang Mai not good enough? I don’t think so! I believe that we can create some cool things here too.

What is the inspiration for your color palette?

B: I love to travel and I guess most people do, I want to relate our color palette with people’s memory and cities around the world is what everyone’s familiar with.

F: All of our color schemes are inspired by the cities.

Favorite designer or artist?

B: James Turrell and Chitose Abe from Sacai.

F: I am obsessed with Matt Gray’s illustration art nowaday. You can go follow him on instagram “really_good_artist”

”Women vs Machine”. What is the most challenging part of starting a studio from scratch?

B: It would be exploring new skills, especially a very masculine type of thing. Also a lack of information of “How to” towards our material as it’s quite new in the industry in our country.

F: Cannot answer this question with just one answer. We have to work out all the problems everyday.

Favourite place to go on an adventure in Chiang Mai?

B: Chiang Dao! Oh we love Chiang Dao, so much to explore.. We always go there for energy recharging!

F: Definitely Chiang Dao. Good coffee, good trails, good vibe in the same place. Bo and I normally go camping there :)

What do you guys listen to in the studio?

B: We have this playlist we both contribute with various songs by Polo and Pan, Rex Orange County, Radiohead, Cage The Elephant, Tame Impala to Daft Punk.

F: We have our playlist on Spotify. But for me I listen to Peach Pit quite often these days or it depends on my mood at the time. I usually play the song called “Keep it up” before I get to work every morning to keep my power up.

PLASTIC MOUNTAIN Playlists Curated by MELT DISTRICT

Dream project or someone you would love to collaborate with?

B: Tom Sachs Tom Sachs Tom Sachs, Please marry me!

F: A Korean designer, Youngmin Kang using waste plastic with insane design <3