What was the outcome of your first album?
It’s as I expected. It’s not like the album sales enable me to go inter, but they’re not so bad that I have to pack up and leave the business. I’m just doing well enough that I could afford to put out a second album. And now my name is recognized by some people.

What can we expect from your second album?
For this one the style of music is changed. The songs on Pop Trade are all in the style of ‘80s pop music. But this album doesn’t have a fixed musical style. What’s consistent is the theme: elusiveness. The album asks if you’ve ever tried to conquer love or rationalize love. If you even think about love in those ways, you’re already wrong. Love is elusive. All you can do is laugh and cry for it and let it fool you, and someday you might be lucky enough to find it for real. The songs in the album are about people who try to control love and try to capture and analyze it.

How did you come up with the title Luang Ta?
I purposely chose a Thai name. Jig Prapas Cholsaranon wrote in his book Yodmanud Lamlong that he looked at the list of nominees for the Fat Award and felt both glad and kind of hurt. He was pleased because kids today are good at making music but was disappointed because there was only one band that named its album in Thai. He wanted to tell the new generation that English might be more compact and eloquent, but finding a Thai word that is as concise and expressive is worth the challenge. When I read that, I decided to find a Thai word with no English translation.

Are you still with No More Belts Records?
Yes, I am. No More Belts stays the same—it doesn’t get bigger or smaller or work under other companies. I’m just asking Sanam Luang Records to help promote and distribute. I still do everything myself—writing, playing, recording, and producing every song. I just want my work to reach a larger audience so I decided to put the marketing in the hands of professionals.

Is it better working with big companies?
It is better. Many people are afraid of Grammy because it’s big and so corporate. They’re concerned that Grammy executives might treat them as if they were born yesterday, but I’ve never met such people there. What I do see are Grammy’s strong points. It’s a big organization with many media resources in its hands.

Mass market is not so bad then?
It’s just the young generation thinking, “I only like neaw songs.” If an artist goes to a big record company, sells more than 50,000 copies, stages a big concert, and becomes well known, these kids stop liking him. ‘Neaw or not’ isn’t all that defines music though. Those who have really learned to appreciate music can understand what makes it worth listening to.