When we were in our early 20s, we were into love. We didn’t care about politics or social affairs. But now we have a broader perspective.

We are at a point where we can think back to the beginning, to what we were, to what we have done. To see how we have come to this fifth album.

I love my life’s journey. Looking back, I see a boy from the provinces who got a chance to study in Bangkok, at the renowned Suan Kularb School. This boy also had a chance to study law at Chula, become a flight attendant and end up being a popular singer. It’s like watching a fairy tale.

The turning point in my life is that I got to study at Chula. I met a girl and she became the reason I started singing. She was my muse, the reason I can write songs, because I found someone special to sing to. Before, I loved music, yes, but I did it without direction. I sang love songs, but I didn’t have my own story until I met her.

Fifteen years in the music industry have changed me a lot. It didn’t happen overnight. I was a 15-year-old boy, now I’m a 30-year-old man.

What really changes is that more and more people want to listen to you talk about yourself.

Age is just a number if you always have fresh inspiration and energy. I want to have the same energy when I’m 60 and be as cool as The Rolling Stones. I am jealous of people who always have energy because I also have moments of exhaustion.

It’s normal for most bands around the world that the vocalist is the band’s leader, and sets both the musical style and the band’s direction. I feel lucky that although I’m the youngest, other members have enough trust in me to follow my ideas.

I am not a dictator, though. Disagreements happen. When they do, I step back and rethink. You can convince others to believe in you but you have to listen to their views too.

P’Bird is my idol. I can sing every one of his songs and I’ve bought all his albums. I really adore him.

Being an idol isn’t stressful. But I’m afraid that I won’t meet fans’ expectations. Afraid I will disappoint them if they find out some ugly inner flaw in me. I try to be a role model as a singer.

Nobody is absolutely black or white. Every human being has both good and bad sides.

Really believe in what you do, and it will be a success one day.

I’ve never limited myself on stage. I perform whatever the music draws out in me. I feel empowered when I hear thousands of people singing my song.

The stage is what I was born for. It’s my entire life. How can I put limits on something which is my everything?

I am not a difficult person. I am just in a position where I have more decisions to make. I cannot say yes to everyone. We [the band] just have more things to be careful about now—this also happens to other popular stars.

I am not happy with the way reporters make up news and push the mic toward us, asking something about what “somebody” said.

I am not a rock star. To me, rock stars don’t walk the streets, hang out in malls or pop into convenient stores. Well, I do. I am just a guy who loves to sing and is recognized by a bunch of people.

I treat my girl like any normal guy. I’ll take her to the mall or to watch movies. I don’t feel uncomfortable when I photographed by paparazzi, but I don’t know if the girl won’t.

I’d like to get married. I like to have a family and a lovely home. One day, I would like to be responsible for more lives than just my own. I just don’t know when it’s going to happen.

I got mind-numbingly bored at one point. Passion became routine. We say we’d hate routine office jobs but then our life came to be just that, playing the same songs, following the same script every night. We had to find a new balance to stop this boredom so everyone could be happy.

Health problems are my greatest fear. My body feels older than it should be. And my health problems get in the band’s way. I know the members feel depressed sometimes about it, and I feel really sorry and upset about myself.

Big-scale concerts will be the future of Bodyslam. There will be no more small gigs, which are not enough for us to express what we want to. It’s our dream to bring this upcoming concert to the provinces. If we can do it, we will set a new benchmark for rock concerts in Thailand.

To measure one’s success you have to wait for the end. Bodyslam and I still have a long way to go. We still feel fresh.

BK: How did you become Singular?
Sin: We’ve known each other for three years now. I went to a recording studio to work on my own demo tape, and my friend asked Nut to play guitar for me because he felt our music styles were quite similar and that we would get along well. We started working together from then on, and three years later, we submitted our demo tape to a label that represents our favorite artists.

BK: Who are your favorite artists?
Sin: I like Thee Chaiyadetch and Pause band.
Nut: I am a guitarist, so I like John Mayer.

BK: Why Singular?
Sin: To us, it means one voice plus one guitar equals one band.

BK: Where do your music skills come from?
Nut: I graduated in music from Srinakarinwirot University. I actually started playing the piano when I was three. But after I had the chance to hold a guitar in junior high year, I fell in love with it. So I started learning and playing from classic to rock and ended up doing jazz. I also won a national Yamaha guitar contest when I was in high school.
Sin: Because of my love for singing, I chose to learn classical music. Later, I got a chance to be part of the Bangkok Opera.

BK: So how did you charm people with only two singles?
Nut: Well, I think it’s because of our new style of music that mixes several tunes.
Sin: I think our songs are easy-listening songs, so people can enjoy them anytime.

BK: How do you define your style?
Nut: We call our style “metro acoustic.” It’s a combination of pop, jazz and acoustic styles. For example, our first single, “24/7,” starts with bossa, which is another kind of jazz, then shifts to swing, which is jazz, too. It’s like you are playing bossa on one stage while another stage beside you is playing swing, and the two tunes blend into each other. For our second single, “Bao Bao,” we feature 80s-style melodies with a twist of pop jazz.

BK: What is your plan for the future?
Nut: The full album will be launched Oct 27. I want to work in music as long as possible, to share our ideas and our styles with others.
Sin: Apart from singing, I’ll see if I can try doing some other things in the music industry.

Fashion was never my dream career. I was an illustrator when a senior from my university, Silapakorn, told me to apply for the job at Greyhound.

I wasn’t sure if it would work out. I like fashion, yes, but designing fashion is another thing.

It took a couple of years for me to earn the respect of the sewers and tailors. I didn’t have any background in tailoring. I just had to stick to talking about what I was good at. I might not know how to sew difficult stitches, but they don’t know about art and color matching. We are all experts at what we do.

The fashion world is like any other world. I thought that the industry was full of people with big egos and bitchy designers. But then I realized that the fine art world I come from is also full of egos and competitive people. If you want to be somebody, you need to win at least one award. In fashion, you need to compete with other brands, other designers.

I didn’t care about the market until the economic crisis in 1997. That’s when I had to start combining art and marketing so that we could survive. Since then, you can see that Greyhound and Playhound clothes never feature complicated patterns—just detailing and prints. We just can’t do things like deconstruction or superfine tailoring.

Playhound is more me. I switched to the line in 2002. It’s my wildly experimental project where I can try combining techniques and styles to create different, or sometimes weird, looks.

I don’t wear my own designs. It doesn’t mean I don’t respect what I do, but I am just too shy to be in my own creations. I think other designers are like me, like McQueen or Marc Jacobs. The people are the ones who should like and wear my designs. That’ll make me happy.

I want to go where others don’t. I always look for things that are fun, that people don’t wear. That might explain why I like school uniforms, although I’m too old to wear one.

I like that people try to be naew [hip]. It makes society more fun. It’s fun seeing people trying to express individuality. They dress naew fashion, get naew hair, drive naew cars, ride naew motorcycles. And they end up all doing the same thing. Naew is now mass.

Stop wearing nude-colored underwear with outfits that aim to show some flesh. If you want to show something, show it.

Guys should stop wearing short socks, too. They’re vague. Either wear proper ones or just don’t wear them at all.

I prefer being a dog’s head to a lion’s tail. It’s been 15 years, thanks to my bosses who allow me to do what I want to.

I don’t have designer’s block. I have opportunities to do my own art projects which are then used for inspiration for Playhound’s fashion collections. I also allow my juniors to work on their own projects too, to generate new ideas. I don’t limit them to the Greyhound and Playhound’s image but I harmonize their ideas with the brand’s identity so we are always fresh.

Though I am older, my ideas are still young and fresh. I’m always open to new ideas, getting ideas from others and learning from younger generations. You probably complained about the dinosaur folks when you were young, so don’t behave like them when you’re older.

I never planned on having my own label. I’ve never thought of becoming a designer in my own name. I am just happy with what I am doing.

Owning a vintage clothes store is one of my dreams. I want to mix and match looks from cool vintage items. I’d also like to have a gallery and focus on my art. But I always have new projects coming so I don’t know when I’ll do this.

I don’t plan ahead. Just be ready when the opportunity comes.

I wish to be remembered as a person who has made changes, good changes, either in art, fashion or anything.