Courtesy of 411 Entertainment
During her short stay in Manila, Thai pop artist Ally chats with Vogue Philippines about music, going global, and her visit to the Philippines.
When Thai pop artist Ally arrived in the Philippines last March, the Manila heat didn’t bother her at all; she said she’s always preferred warmer temperatures. Ally, or Achiraya Nitibhon, sat as cool as a cucumber on the third day of her Manila stop, getting ready for the rest of her international tour promoting her new English single “But You,” featuring Korean artist Jhin.
The 22-year-old Thai singer, actress, and model is known for her work in the T-Pop industry and recognized for her role in the 2024 Netflix series The Believers. Since her debut at 15 years old, she has released multiple hits, including a collaboration with Pink Sweat$, “Make it Hot,” and her debut single, “How To Love.” Outside of music and acting, she is also a brand ambassador for Chanel.
With Manila as the first stop of her international tour, Ally sits down with Vogue Philippines to catch up on music, her global push, and her time in the Philippines. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Vogue Philippines: We’re on the third and last day of your Manila stop. How has it been for you?
Ally: It’s been packed. I mean, my schedule’s been a little packed, but I had some time to go try out new food. But other than that, I haven’t really gotten to tour around Manila yet. So, maybe I’ll come back.
Manila marks the first stop of your international tour. What made the Philippines feel like the right choice to kick it off?
A lot of content that I’ve done, I’ve had some Filipino fans say that they want me to come here. And I did a cover a few years ago with Pink Sweat$, and I saw some Filipino comments as well. So, I was like, “I do want to come here.” One of my goals is to share my music with Southeast Asian countries, because I’m from Thailand. I feel like it’s the same kind of community.
“But You” is your first English single. How does it differ from your Thai songs?
For this song, it’s an English song, and I feel like it plays around with a lot of concepts of missing somebody. And the gray area where you don’t know how to say things. In the song, in the lyrics, it doesn’t say specifically what we’re feeling. It’s more of we’re trying to get our feelings out without saying it. It’s kind of complicated. But I think it’s a fun concept.
What made you decide to take on that kind of concept and story?
During the song camp, Jhin, who is also featured in the song, came up with this demo, and the hook was already done. So after that, I was like “Oh, okay.” I was thinking of what story we could potentially do, because I feel like with all my music, I think about what visuals go with it.
The fact that we’re in different countries made it hard for me to go to New York and for him to come to Thailand; it was kind of complicated. So I came up with a long-distance relationship that never worked out. It’s between two people who could have been. But it never happened because of this problem that can’t be fixed.
It’s cool how you think about the visuals as well.
Yeah, I love visuals. I haven’t had a song yet that doesn’t have a music video. I feel like listeners can understand the song more and be more engaged with the song when you have visuals to watch and understand.
Where does that storytelling instinct come from?
I’ve always been a huge iMovie girl. When I was a kid, I would make music videos with my cousin, and we would make movies. I feel like every kid has gon through this, that iMovie era where you’re obsessed with making home videos. And I feel like I’ve always been so into thinking of storylines, concepts, and plots.
In middle school, I was in drama class, and we had to make music videos and movies. Then, when I was in high school, I also took more theater. When I got into college, I also took a music video editing class. I’m more of a visual learner than a reader. So when I hear a song, I think of visuals automatically. And I feel like I can explain things better or tell a story better when there are visuals.
What are you most hopeful to achieve by the end of your Southeast Asian tour?
I think just getting to meet new people, and new people meeting me. One day, hopefully, I can do a concert here, or do a show, or join a festival. I’m looking forward to expanding my fan base, because I do have a few Filipino fans that I would really love to meet. This trip was so abrupt that I didn’t get to tell them beforehand, so I haven’t had the opportunity to meet them, which is really sad. But I do want to have an event where I can meet everyone.
If Manila is the first chapter of this era, what do you hope people will say about you by the time the tour ends?
Hopefully, people get to know more. Through my work, I’m sure they’ve seen a bit of me already, but there are many things I haven’t shared with the world yet. Just through interviews, or sitting down and talking like this, I’m sure people would get to know me more already.
I hope that people enjoy my presence here. That’s my goal, just to have fun and be myself.
