Thai adventures in words and song
IT seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime when 22-year-old journalist Ange Takats left for Bangkok to work as a TV producer and correspondent for an Asian media company.
She spent two years on the job covering assignments that ranged from filming a drug bust in the hills of northern Thailand, being chased by a tiger in a Bhuddist monastery, to running from rockets at a Thai rainmaking festival.
By the time she returned to Australia in 2002, Takats had enough material for a book and songs.
However, it was only in recent years that Takats decided to fulfil her dreams of recording her own music and writing a book about her Asian adventures.
She released her debut album, Aniseed Tea, in 2009 and her book, The Buffalo Funeral: Soundbites From a Songbird in Siam last month.
“Once I had released Aniseed Tea and performed at some concerts and tours, people said they enjoyed the songs and really liked my stories behind the songs,” she told The AJN.
Takats had kept diaries of her work in Thailand with the plan to write a book.
“Two years ago I thought that it was time to start on the book,” she explains.
“I love writing lyrics, but there’s only so much you can say in a four-minute song. This book is a way of paying tribute to the cameramen, musicians and beautiful souls who shared life with me during my time in Thailand.”
Takats self-published her 300-page book this year, which is filled with
stories of her adventures.
“Thailand is an extremely colourful and crazy country,” she says. “To be 22 and live there on your own and work as a foreign correspondent was exciting and amazing, even though I was working for pathetic pay.”
The book’s title, The Buffalo Funeral, is taken from one of her assignments where she attended the funeral of the beast, named Boonlert, that had become one of Thailand’s biggest movie stars.
The buffalo had exceptionally long horns and had been spotted in a rice paddy by the film’s director, who promptly made it the star of his new movie, Bang Rajan.
A month after filming was completed, the buffalo dropped dead and the cast and crew decided to hold a special funeral ceremony attended by many of the villagers and the media.
Takats grew up in Sydney and attended the Charles Sturt University at Bathurst, completing a bachelor of arts in communication degree. She worked as a producer for the Nine Network’s Today show for two years before working for the Thailand-based TV network.
While in Thailand, Takats pursued her passion for music and managed to score a regular singing gig at Bangkok’s Timebottle Bar after meeting a local folk-rock band.
It meant being on stage for two hours playing her favourite Joni Mitchell songs, which she described as an “amazing experience”.
After returning to Australia, Takats worked in corporate PR. A few years ago she moved to the Sunshine Coast, settling at Peregian, just south of Noosa, where she combines her work as a freelance communications consultant with songwriting – she is working on a new album titled Arva – and promoting her book.
“It is a beautiful spot and an amazing cultural base,” she explains. “Since moving here, I have done some serious songwriting and met people who have encouraged me to record. I had lost my music for a few years after returning from Bangkok.”
Takats was one of the performers at the Shir Madness Jewish Music festival last year.
“It was a wonderful experience. I had been playing at music festivals all around the country, but there was something very special about Shir Madness as a community event,” she says.
Takats is gearing up for a busy performance schedule, starting with the Blue Mountains Music Festival in Katoomba on March 18-20. She will also perform at the National Folk Festival in Canberra from April 21-25, then in Perth at the Fairbridge Festival from April 29.
“I hope my music will spur interest in the book,” she says. “It’s not every day that a folk singer rocks up to a festival with a CD and a book. In between gigs the fans can do some reading.”
Enquiries: www.angetakats.com.au.
REPORT: DANNY GOCS
PHOTO: author and songwriter Ange Takats.
Photo by Alain Bouvier