Patra (Urairat), a second-year English student at Oriel College, has recently released a Spotify single “Aftercare”. The single has already attracted 18,000 monthly listeners.
Growing up in Malaysia before moving to the UK for sixth-form, Patra was unfamiliar with the Oxbridge system but decided to apply. She says: “Oxford and Oriel have really worked for me. The things I have learned from being at Oriel and the people that I have found here have quite literally changed my life.”
Balancing music and academics, Patra maintains a demanding schedule of performances alongside her coursework. In Michaelmas 2024, she performed nine gigs while keeping up with her studies.
Her passion for English literature allows her to engage with her subject in a way that feels personal. “With English, I feel like I can put my own imprint on it. There will always be a critical field that you can tap in and out of, but at the end of the day, you can quite confidently place your own interpretations and mark on it.”
One of her favourite literary works is ‘Four Quartets’ by T.S. Eliot. “Four Quartets comes later in Eliot’s career, and you can feel that he is slightly older, has had his crises with faith.”
“Though bleak and scary, I find it a lot more peaceful and reflective [than ‘The Wasteland’].” She credits the work with helping her get through sixth-form. She wrote about the poems in her personal statement and still returns to them occasionally.
Patra remains committed to excelling academically while pursuing a parallel career in music. Rather than feeling overwhelmed, she finds that having deadlines — both for academic work and performances — helps her stay focused. “My music does not take away from my degree, it adds to it,” she says.
Although an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, guitar and cello, Patra has never formally studied music. In fact, she stopped playing altogether for four years before coming to Oxford. A chance session in Oriel’s Music Room where she was encouraged to sing took all her friends by complete surprise. Soon after, a friend signed her up for a performance.
Despite initial nerves, the positive reception gave her confidence. “People kept telling me how I looked like I was having the best time of my life while performing, and I realised that that was exactly how I felt. So, I feel like music came knocking on my door and I am really fortunate and grateful for it.”
Much of Patra’s musical inspiration comes from her parents, whom she credits with both great taste in music and being great people. She grew up listening to Drum and Bass and later developed a love for Afrobeats and other UK genres. One of her biggest influences is PinkPantheress, and she also gets vocal inspiration from the musicians she collaborates with in Oxford. “The people I work with here are insane,” she adds. She is currently the lead singer for bands We Should Sleep More and Dots Funk Odyssey, Oxford’s largest funk band.
Patra’s ability to balance her academic and musical passions continues to drive her forward. “My two passions are my music and my love for English, and my passion does not run out,” she says. Listen to Patra’s single ‘Aftercare’ on Spotify.