On set for ELLE Singapore, Notep (No-Tep) pauses, laughs, and takes a second to think. The question that has caused said reaction is: What’s the most “un-Notep” thing she’s done recently? “Maybe saying yes too quickly and then regretting it,” she quips. It’s not quite the answer you’d expect from someone who has built a reputation on being deeply intentional in the choices she makes, both on and off the radar. But then again, Notep—born Note Panayanggool—has never quite fit into a single version of herself.
The 33-year-old Thai musician and environmental advocate moves between sound, image, and environment with a kind of ease that feels instinctive. Her work blends electronic music with ambient textures, natural elements, and her melodic voice as an instrument. All this unfolds across hybrid DJ sets and live A/V performances that feel less like shows and more like an immersive, almost meditative experience.
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She’s performed everywhere from Wonderfruit Festival to The Lot Radio, and collaborated with brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Nike. On paper, it reads like momentum. In practice, it feels more like alignment. “It feels more whole, and I pick and choose the elements that I like, and I blend them together,” she says.
But it wasn’t always this way. “I was still in what I call ‘octopus mode’,” she says. Describing a version of herself not too long ago, she recalls wanting to do everything at once, be everywhere, and hold multiple versions of herself at the same time. Music, art, activism, wellness: They were all there, but not quite speaking to each other. That sense of fragmentation, she explains, came from a period when she felt the need to say yes to everything, stretching herself in different directions without always questioning whether they aligned.
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“Two years ago was a turning point,” she reflects. “It was the first time I released music after nearly a decade, and it helped me understand the direction I actually wanted to go in.”
Looking back at her previous work, she describes it as a kind of collage, pulling from ambient sounds, healing frequencies, dance music, and pop. It was expansive, but also scattered. “Now I’m much more refined and intentional,” she adds. “It still brings many elements together, but they’re woven into a clearer narrative. It tells a fuller story and feels much more true to who I am today.”
Her latest single, “Radio”, was released on Earth Day, marking the first glimpse into her upcoming EP, Pakarang (which is Thai for coral). The project explores the connection between reefs, the ocean, and the human body, a theme that runs through her work without needing to be over-explained.
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The visual follows that same thread. Filmed on a traditional Thai long-tail boat on the open waters of Koh Tao, the video sees her in a couture piece by Eric Tobua, one of Bangkok’s most prominent artists, made from reclaimed soda can tops, with skirt and hair elements handwoven from ghost nets and ocean debris she found. It’s a striking image, but also very her. It is one that is visually considered yet grounded in process.
As for the sound, she says it leans into “ethereal pop with… ambient textures, natural elements, but still with an electronic touch.” This builds on a direction she began exploring on her 2024 album, Metamorphogenesis, which came after nearly a decade of no music releases.
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That time away wasn’t accidental, though. After her early years on The Star, the televised Thai talent show that first brought her into the spotlight, she stepped back from releasing mainstream music altogether. This, she says, was partly out of fatigue, partly out of a growing sense that the path she was on no longer felt like her own. She has described that period as one where she was constantly moving, constantly working, but not necessarily in a way that felt fulfilling. So she shifted into DJing, visual work, marine environmentalism, and sound healing. She did this quietly, building a practice that felt less defined by industry expectations and more by curiosity
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And for someone who likes to figure things out on her own, that shift changes the pace of everything. The work opens up, becoming less about holding every piece together and more about letting it take shape with other people in the room. And right now, she adds, she is “ready to work with other people, and to ask for help.”
When asked what success looks like to her now, she doesn’t overcomplicate it. “Healthy body, healthy mind, getting to spend quality time with family but still getting to do what I love,” she says.
It’s a simple, grounded notion that reframes everything; a recalibration that removed her from constantly producing, allowing her the space and energy to move towards something that can actually hold. “I’m very selective with everything that I choose and do.” And that selectiveness shows up everywhere.
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In fashion, it’s less about what’s new and more about what feels right. Describing her off-duty look, Notep says she gravitates towards pieces that are ”super comfortable, something loose, light”. It’s a contrast to the more composed image people often associate with her, but also a reminder that it’s only one side of the story. In her own space, she’s quick to dismantle that idea of stillness. “When I’m comfortable, I get to be really goofy… really crazy,” she says, laughing. “I don’t really care about how I look. I’m just, like, there.”
She also adds that she is currently more “drawn to [Thai] designers lately, and a lot of natural materials”. Clothes, for her, carry process, and how something is made matters just as much as how it looks.
“I’ve declined some gifts that I feel that I would not use more than once,” she admits. “I feel like I need to be honest and truthful to myself, or else I wouldn’t be able to move forward.”
Outside her music, she runs “High On Your Own Supply,” an initiative centred on sustainability and self-sufficiency, that works with organisations such as Greenpeace Thailand, UNDP, and Coral Gardeners. It’s work that sits alongside her creative practice, not apart from it.
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In a space where visibility matters, she doesn’t see aesthetics as a contradiction. She says, “I feel like it’s okay to make work that is pretty if it tells a story. Any content is necessary, and it will make an impact, whether it’s aesthetically beautiful or not.” The difference, for her, comes down to intention—as long as it is not greenwashing. It feels straightforward when she says it, even if it’s more complicated in practice. But she doesn’t seem interested in over-explaining it. If it aligns, it aligns. If it doesn’t, she steps away.
That ease of not needing to perform or hold a version of herself together has started to show up in other parts of her life, too, such as in the way she rests, the way she eats, and the small routines she’s paying more attention to now.
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“Lately I’ve been listening to calming frequencies before I sleep. I just put them on and drift off,” she says. “I’ve also been eating a lot of coconut yoghurt to help with my digestion. I actually just started a coconut frozen yoghurt brand called Yokoko on Koh Tao… so I’ve been eating a lot of that too,” she says without pause. “I can really feel in my body that my digestion is better, even though I’m technically eating dessert.”
She doesn’t have to think too hard about where she turns to next, especially for inspiration. “Nature,” she says, without skipping a beat. It’s where she goes when things feel off, or when she needs to reset. “Every time I’m burnt out, I just jump into the ocean… or go for a walk in my garden barefoot.” And when she needs to create, she leans into that same instinct, placing herself in open environments and letting the work follow. “I just put myself in these beautiful places, and then inspiration just comes.”
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This month, she is headed to the Amazon with National Geographic for a week to “make music with indigenous tribes,” she says. “It feels like nature on another level. The journey is going to be long… but it’s going to be so worth it.” And after that, she’s heading to Mexico to dive with orcas and rays.
Ask her what matters more to her now—being understood, or simply being in progress—and she doesn’t hesitate. “I try to train myself not to care too much about what others think but how I feel about myself,” she says.
Indeed, it’s not about having everything figured out. If anything, Notep is more comfortable leaving things unresolved and letting ideas evolve. Projects, she says, take shape over time, and there is no need to rush to define them too early. “If I understand myself, I can progress to become a better version of myself,” she adds. And for her, that is exactly where she needs to be.
Makeup Artist SANTI KITJAROEN
Hairstylist PANITHAN SUMMA
Producer SOPHANA TANMANATRAGUL
Retoucher RACH CHULAJATA
Photographer’s Assistants PASSAPON KHEMMANIPITON; NATTAPONG AMKHAM; NOOM PATTARAPONG
Stylist’s Assistants RATCHAPON CHAROENKUSOL; JAKKRATHORN PHONPHAI
Production Assistant DANUPAT SAEHLEE