Hay Paper Planes Reveals Making Viral Hit with 4-Year-Old Nong Klay

Young artist Hay Paper Planes participated in the 43rd anniversary celebration of GMM Grammy Public Company Limited under the concept 'Wishing Tree: Wish for Yourself, Wish for Each Other' at the GMM Grammy Place lobby. He opened up about his role as producer of the song 'Kuk Koo' for 'Nong Abi Klay,' revealing he was initially unsure what musical direction to take but was amazed by the 4-year-old's musical sense and ability to memorize lyrics.

He shared that the response exceeded expectations, with the song charting and going viral. Regarding controversy over using Auto-Tune to adjust vocals, he confirmed it's a standard production practice used worldwide, not to make the child sound better but to keep it fun while preserving the natural child's voice as much as possible.

On working with Nong Klay: 'I'm the producer, and I arrange everything. I think I have merit with this child. The team or the younger ones told me honestly that working with kids is quite difficult, but we try to avoid kids to some extent because from the start it was bad, so I thought this was the moment to entrust Klay to look after the kids instead of me. But Klay ended up looking after them like an older sibling, so I still had to watch the kids as usual.'

How was the collaboration? 'Not difficult at all. We'd met before on various shows. When he arrived, it was just like talking with a younger sibling and playing together. When it was time, we went to the recording room at my house, very comfortable. Nothing major, just that we had to play games with him, and coincidentally it was a game I like to play - spot the difference.'

How do you see the child's talent? 'If we look at it as strangers, I'd say this is a child with ability. At 4 years old, he already has musical sense. For instance, in the songs we composed, I think some adults probably couldn't sing them.'

Thoughts on comments saying they just took a child and molded them into an artist? 'I don't think that deeply. This period is just a fun time for the child, finding something good to do together. But I know the older brother personally. At first he didn't say to do anything. I thought, oh... is the older brother debuting a boy band or girl group? But when he said to make a song for Klay, I hesitated at first. We'd never made songs for children. And what happened wasn't intentional either. But we felt, why not? Why wouldn't we do it? Everyone has the spirit of an artist. We won't judge. We feel that children are born with things they like, things they want to do, just like adults.'

When you got the assignment, how did you think this had to be Klay's song? 'I was stuck for several days. I made many songs in every style. But he didn't give a detailed brief. He just wanted something fun. In the end we kept making demos, about 1-2 demos, letting the older brother listen to see what he thought Klay would like. It ended up with the demo we all listened to - everything turned out to be a rock song.'

Did the child take long to record? 'I didn't see that part, but I think he prepared well. When we recorded, I'm the psychological type - I observe the person recording to see how well they prepared, what they practiced. That's what amazes me. If he didn't practice at all, it's natural talent. But if he practiced, it's discipline that's hard to find in a 4-year-old.'

People are amazed that a 4-year-old can follow lyrics? 'I think that's amazing. If we compare to ourselves at 4 years old, we couldn't do anything. I try not to praise the child excessively, but in reality we see him as just one child, not as the Klay we all know. And he really is a talented child. He has a sense of drums - that's how I see it.'