WAI Phyo made his name in the music industry way back in 2002 with a solo album of alternative rock tracks. But many fans have been left wondering what happened to him as the artist has all but disappeared from the music scene in recent years. Fans will be relieved to know that he is ready to make his come back with a new solo album: Hmattaing (The symbol).

Time out: Wai Phyo, perhaps you should introduce yourself as many of your fans may have forgotten you.
Wai Phyo: Hello, my fans, I’m Wai Phyo. I released my first album, “Nga tot pyaw mae nga tot a kyang” (Talking about ourselves), in 2002, but I wasn’t around to promote it at the time. Sorry about that!

So what were you doing?
I was attending an audio engineering course in Tokyo, Japan. It took four years to get the diploma.

Is making music in Japan different to in Myanmar?
The main thing is technology. The technology they use to make the music is all modern so the studios are much better. The sound quality is really good.

Do you think you’ve changed a lot in the past six years since releasing your first album?
I’ve changed a lot. When I was making my first album, I was only 19 and I wasn’t very experienced. But in this second album, I’ve tried to use what I learned abroad and the experiences I had exploring music.

How satisfied are you with the new album?
We wrote the instrumental parts in three different studios to make the album more colourful. I’m really satisfied with it.

Like your first album, are the songs alternative in style?
Not all. The album includes some modern rock and punk songs written by Ah Yoe and V No Tun.

Do you write songs?
Yes, but I haven’t used them yet. I plan to use them in my third album.

Do you think alternative music is accepted here?
As music styles are always changing, people usually accept and love them. Today, people are quite different from in the past. They love all sorts of music, not just alternative.

What are your favourite bands?
I like Green Day and The Ants.

In your fist album, songs such as “109...110” and “Nga tot pyaw mae nga tot a kyang” (Talking about ourselves) are written about young people. Is this one of your favourite topics?
I prefer singing about love to people’s lives. There is a song on my second album written about a stupid guy but the rest are love songs.

All your songs are your own, what inspires you to create them?
I want to make music with my own style. It’s free. With your own music you can create the arrangement as you like outside the bounds of copied music. When you copy a song you must remain faithful to the original version.

Do you have a lot of issues when you make music?
With your own songs you have to create everything by yourself. We made one version of a song but after we’d finished we felt like we could change it to make it better, so we made another version of it. This always happens. We end up spending so much time making different versions of the same song. It took three years to release this second album.

Do your favourite bands influence your own music a lot?
Not at all. I love their sound but I never try to mimic them. I think I have my own style.

Will you keep on making tunes?
I plan to.

As you know, piracy is a big problem in the music industry. Do you think there is anything you can do about it?
I only want to have my fans listen to my music. The main thing I want from this album is the feedback, not the money.