How did you guys meet?
Chris and Tyler were neighbors from Southern California. They were really into music and it was actually their dads who came up with the idea for them to start a band together. And then Chris moved to Utah, and Tyler knew he wanted to play with Chris so he came along to Utah as well. We were all in the same music scene in Utah when the chance for us to play together came about. Brendon was playing bass for a few different bands at that time and was looking for something steady. My band was just about to break up. We’d watched each other play before so there was this kind of music respect between us. And when we finally got to play together for the first time, there was a certain energy to it and we just knew that we wanted to keep playing together. The first documented song we played together was Tidal Waves, which still has a video floating about Youtube.

Who or what are your major influences?
All four of us are all very different, but as a band we like Morrisey, Michael Jackson, The Smiths, Billy Ocean. We like all sorts, really.

How does it feel having your first single “Animal” top the charts?
It feels great! We actually have to pinch ourselves from time to time because it is such a dream. We often have to step back and just appreciate the success it’s achieved. It really is such a blessing. It’s hard to count on something becoming a hit with people, you can only just hope that people will like it and keep requesting for it.

How do you feel about the cast of Glee singing it?
We’re actually really flattered. We’re fans of pop culture in general. And so to have been a part of Glee is just amazing.

How did you pick up drumming?
I initially started out wanting to front a band, so I sang and played the guitar. I only began seriously playing drums when a friend and I would jam together and there would be no drummer, which was a pain. So it all kind of happened accidentally and I picked it up, sort of as a favor, so we could have a better time jamming. It ended up being really fun and I realized that I was better at it than I had thought. It’s become a real passion. I like how physical it is. Drumming is definitely more difficult on the body than playing the guitar.

Which band would you like to tour with and why?
A band from the past would be Fleetwood Mac. We all love the band, and think that it’d be fun. Or maybe Duran Duran. Touring with a band that I grew up with would be really cool. We were actually just on tour with My Chemical Romance. They’re the nicest people! It was like a dream tour. They’re so down to earth and the fans were really kind.

Tell us an interesting tour story.
One of the coolest things that happened was playing at a mall in Canada which had a huge theater attached to the mall. My Chemical Romance actually rented out the theater for an IMAX movie after hours so it was like this huge chill out session with My Chemical Romance, the crew and the band who opened, The Architects.

You haven’t performed in Singapore before, what do you think your fans here are like?
We’re hoping that they’re going to be full of energy. We want them to sing along and dance, basically have a good time with us. We don’t want them to just watch us, because that’d be boring. We hope they’re going to come excited and ready to participate. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

What was the worst performance you’ve had?
I think it was maybe one of our first tours during the fall or winter of 2009, when we first started out. It was at this tiny club and we had maybe only 10 people at our show. Nobody was really interested in us or our music. It was really quite sad.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve had to sign your autograph on?
I signed a kid’s face just last week. It’s crazy. I don’t know why anyone would want to an autograph on their face, but I did it anyway!

Which is your favorite song to perform?
It changes a lot, but right now I really like “Your Surrender.” It’s fun and full of energy. We’ve been opening our recent shows with that song.

What’s it like working with your twin brother?
There is no musician I would rather make music with in the world. We have a very refined system these days for composing, recording and rehearsing, so it's pretty easy to get stuff done. And of course, our taste in music is very similar, so it tends to be pretty easy to write material we both enjoy.

We notice Lymbyc Systym loves experimenting with unique sounds and instruments. Do you think you’ll try Asian instruments while you’re here?
We own a gu-zheng, which is a Chinese harp instrument. We recorded it on our first two albums, but it’s been sitting in the closet for quite some time. I would love to visit a music store with tons of unique Asian musical instruments while here, and go nuts trying every one out.

If you dedicated one of your songs to your mom, which one would you choose and why?
I would dedicate Narita to her. It's a song we named after Tokyo's bigger international airport. Mainly because I think she would have a wonderful time visiting Japan.

Do you guys ever improvise in front of an audience? Or do you find that most of your inspiration comes during the process of song-writing?
When our band began, we used to do quite a bit of improvisation on stage. Song structures would sometimes be open ended and could twist and turn in new directions. That was also when our tight composition skill was less refined, so it worked. But for the past six years or so, we've been all about tightly composed songs, and no open ended sections. These days I would rather perform a song 100 percent perfect than take risks with improvisation. That is of course for this project. It's important to understand that there is always room for subtle evolution in our material, as should be with any musical group. As you perform a piece of music over and over, you can’t help but refine some subtle aspects.

Go check out Lymbyc Systym and Caroline!

So what happens when a punk jumps up?
It’s so powerful that the earth stops for a little bit and actually rotates anti-clockwise, meaning that time goes backwards to 1977 for a brief moment.

What’s the best homemade Punks Jump Up T-shirt you¹ve seen so far?
There was this one where someone had drawn us like two Lego men but still managed to capture our features very well. We liked that one, it was cool.

What would you consider your most apt song lyrics?
We got to install microwave ovens / Custom kitchen deliveries / We got to move these refrigerators / We got to move these color T.V.’s

Do you enjoy being alternative, or do you ever just want to sit around in slacks drinking Earl Grey?
It’s perfectly fine to combine the two. If you refer to “slacks” meaning tracksuit bottoms, then wearing slacks is the most alternative thing you can wear in the uber stylish music/fashion scene that we constantly find ourselves in. David used to wear slacks to the trendiest of fashion parties and the reaction was fiery to say the least. The very same night David was denied entry to the local boozer pub, the bouncers considered the slacks dangerous and pointed to the sign “no caps—no tracksuits allowed.” Slacks—the most controversial garment of them all. The ultimate outsider wear!

Neon. Why?
Because it gives everything that nice seedy look.

Check out the duo’s, filthy beats at Kitsuné Club Night on Jul 29.

You said that no picture is worth dying for, but you faced almost imminent death every day for a time—how did you consolidate these two ideas?
You live in a constrained reality. In a sense, there are different degrees of danger, but even in the midst of battle, you can expose yourself and hopefully stay out of trouble. You don’t rush towards the fight, but you obviously can’t go the other way, either.

In the Life article about Larry Burrows, you said he was “either the bravest man I ever knew, or the most nearsighted.” What do you think it was?
Well, Larry did have bad eyesight. What is bravery anyway? I think half the time when you’re in the middle of the shit, you stop thinking and just start reacting. Although there’s nothing you can do about indirect fire, you can learn small tricks to protect yourself; bullets go through rubber trees, so don’t hide behind rubber trees. But you can’t get a picture by hiding; you have to expose yourself, and so I think we became foolhardy because we tried to convince ourselves that we’re bulletproof.

You mentioned that the bonds with your fellow photographers and fellow folks on the battle field were “closer than your mum.” Why is that so?
The emotions were unspoken. You didn’t have to waste time talking about fear. We were close almost by osmosis, when you shared the same women, drugs and gin. It was like taking communion with each other. I really hate to compare it to religion, but it was almost a religious experience in a way.

Did you feel disconnected to the world when you returned home from Vietnam?
I first went home in 1967. Life gave me US$500 to leave because it was becoming too dangerous, so I bought a one-way ticket to London, drove home, and nobody was there. I was adopted, you see, so I wasn’t that close to my mom. I stayed there for two nights, then moved to Paris, moved to New York. It’s a wild place, New York; I was arrested with Jim Morrison there too. But at the same time, I was seeing my friends’ photos in Life, on television; I was itching to go back. So I bought another one way ticket back to Vietnam.

Anything you miss about Vietnam?
The blowjobs at US$2.50 a pop. I did indulge a fair bit.

Requiem runs through Aug 21.

Growing up, I was cheeky, chatty and obnoxious with friends, and well-behaved and demure in front of adults I didn’t know well. Yes, I appreciated the merits of duplicity quite early in life!

I once looked at the light switch on the wall, and truly, truly believed that I would never live to grow up and reach it. I must have been at most six years old. That must have been my first semblance of existential angst.

My father loves to sing. He was always belting out Pavarotti or Domingo around the house and in the car; we would be listening to classical arias. I started to mimic him and when the karaoke craze of the 80s hit Singapore; I followed him to karaoke sessions.

When I was six my mother enrolled me in my first children’s karaoke competition (which I won!). Since then I’ve never left the stage.

I’m not a person who likes routines! My days rarely follow any pattern; whatever urgently requires my attention—memorizing a script, contacting musicians for a gig, warming up before a show—gets done first!

My pet peeve is being called Joanne. My name is Joanna, and Jo is an abbreviation of that. But Joanne? That’s just someone else’s name altogether!

I’ve been told the same thing by a few people—that anxiety inhibits performance (it’s true in bed and true on stage), and that anxiety stems from the fear of failure. I was not a particularly disciplined or motivated child, but I was conditioned to believe that failure was permanently debilitating, so that fear propelled me to study harder.

To enjoy and embrace failure is something that I’m only just learning to do in recent years!

A lot of people give me advice, and I am always respectful of it, even though in actuality I accept very little. I believe advice always comes from good intentions. If it’s “bad,” it’s probably because it was given to the wrong person at the wrong time, and it’s my responsibility to be reflexive and discerning.

I can spend hours trawling the Internet for cult label items on discount.

I believe that there are no absolute moral rights or wrongs—only that which is normative or deviant to social expectations. Even murder or rape can be considered a triumph in certain socio-historical contexts. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have a personal moral value system, or that I condone these acts. It simply means that we cannot claim that any act or lifestyle is in itself right or wrong. As members of society we need to accept the responsibility that we have chosen collectively to define it as such.

Don’t do today what can wait till tomorrow! This is a play on an old aphorism. I’m not promoting irresponsibility! It’s just my way of expressing carpe diem. I think Asians have a deep sense of duty, but often we forget that it really is just work and much of that is mundane and not terribly time sensitive.

If tomorrow never comes, I’d be glad that I put off my chores, and spent today with my loved ones or doing something I enjoy. 

What were your favorite moments on your tour so far?
I’ve played three times now at the most amazing festival in the world called Glastonbury, and twice I’ve been lucky enough to play on the main stage. For me, I can’t describe the feeling, really, looking out at something like 80,000 people in the English countryside. It was amazing.

What country impressed you the most and how?
I played in Beirut which was really an amazing place. It’s a fantastic mixture of Arab and European really—of Muslim, Christian, and Jew, and French influences. The scars of war, the amazing old buildings, people’s passion was all amazing.

In “If Time Is All I have,” are you singing to someone in particular?
Yes, really. All my songs are about real life and real experiences and real people, and I don’t name them in songs because I don’t think they necessarily would want to be named but yeah, I write about real experiences, which is why I hope an audience can then relate them to their own lives, because we all feel similar things.

Who’s your dream collaborator?
You know, I’m quite selfish in the way that I write songs normally for myself and about my own experiences in life. It’s my way of understanding the world, but you know if I were to have a band, it would be fun to have Jimi Hendrix in it. In “Stay The Night” I had a collaboration. It was Ryan Tedder from One Republic and my producer Steve Robson but we also wrote with Bob Marley which is pretty cool because we thought he was dead!

Among your songs, which one is your personal favorite and why?
There’s one called “Superstar” which is so much fun to play; it’s the song I’ve always wanted to write; it’s the song of a teenager who feels frustrated that every time he turns on the TV, there are talent shows telling him that he should try and be rich and famous, magazines telling him what music he should like or clothes to wear, and he says, You know what? I don’t want to follow this path, I want to be myself. Interview by Vasachol Quadri and Sasinipa Wasantapruek

James Blunt will be performing on Aug 9, at IMPACT Arena. Tickets cost B1,000-4,000 from Thaiticketmajor.com.

What’s the story behind Storyline?
Ton: Boy and I studied together at Mahidol College of Music and that’s where we had a chance to dabble professionally in the music industry. We composed scores for shows. One day while working in the studio, I just said to Boy, “We make so much music together. Why don’t we make our own songs?”
Jeep: I joined the band when my brother quit. He’s the former bassist of Storyline.
Kazz: I met Ton at a studio where I was playing drums for some singers. I showed him the Boys Like Girls MySpace page then bam! We really connected.
Boy: Actually all of us share a common musical style. That’s why we get along really well and getting along well is the key to holding the members together.

Why did you name yourselves Storyline?
Jeep: We chose the name Piglet at first, but we later realized we wanted a name that reflected our concept of keeping memories in our songs. Then Jeeb came up with the name Storyline, a screenwriting term for the plot. It reflects how we tell a story in our songs.

What’s the story behind your first hit single “Chun Bok Ter Laew
[I Told You]”?
Boy: It’s inspired by Ton’s past love. He was with this girl who always put him through a come-here-go-away trip. Then one day she actually left him for another guy, who Ton knew and warned her many times that he wasn’t good for her, but she never listened. Eventually the girl came back to Ton with tears in her eyes.
You say you’re power pop. Can you explain what that means?
Jeep: Power pop comes from pop punk and a little touch of electronic. It’s the combination of powerful, high-pitch vocals and popish melodies. An example of such style of singing is Toh from Silly Fools. Now we’re releasing our new single “Pen Arai” which we covered from Indonesia’s Mahkota as a swap project with them. They covered our “Chun Bok Ter Laew” song.

If you weren’t in Storyline, what would you be doing right now?
Ton: I would be making my way into the national table tennis team. That’s what I loved before music.
Jeep: Own a business involving musical instruments or a studio or something music related.
Kazz: Everyone in my family is or was a soldier. I would have been one too if music hadn’t wowed me first.
Boy: I’d be doing the same thing I am doing, which is playing piano but in a classical style. I’ve been taking classical piano lessons since I was five.

What is your biggest dream?
Jeep: We want to tour around the world like Simple Plan. I think they are a fun rock band and we want to be like them. We want to be an inspiration for the young generation like Simple Plan was for us. Interview by Nat Tantisukrit and Ubonwan Kerdtongtawee

People live and breathe football in the UK. It was all I wanted to do ever since I was little. As soon as I could walk, I would carry a football around with me.

I never wanted to be anything else, being a footballer is what I’ve always wanted to do.

My dad was instrumental in a lot of things when I was growing up. He used to give me extra coaching, taught me how to kick with both feet. He really helped me become a good player.

I grew up at Liverpool FC. I was there from when I was 10.

My coaches were a big inspiration. I had the Liverpool way of doing things instilled in me from a young age. Steve Heighway [a former Liverpool player] made an especially big impact. He told you what was right, was wrong. He was very successful at bringing players through.

You live a life removed from reality as a footballer. But there’s good and bad in anything you do, and no one ever made me become a footballer.

You have to make sacrifices if you want to be a good player.

You get judged on what you’ve won. I’ve enjoyed everything about my career but I don’t think there’s one moment that really stands out.

If you’re successful in this sport you get recognition; people want to shake your hand, wish you well. But there’s always a flip side. You have to take the good with the bad.

I don’t call myself God, but I can’t deny it’s a great nickname. I’ve been called a lot worse as well. I guess it shows what people think of me, that I’ve done stuff right. It’s not like I go around telling everyone that’s what they should call me.

Life has to move on. As much as I had a great time at Liverpool, there’s always someone else ready to follow in your footsteps, ready to take your place.

Most things happen for a reason. If you start having regrets or looking back at the past you might start wishing things went differently, but you can’t change anything. I’ve had a good career and I wouldn’t swap anything.

Playing is living the dream. You can set goals for what you want to do, but in this life you don’t always get to achieve them. I’ve managed to achieve my dream.

I get paid to do a job I love. You don’t play because you need to, you play because you enjoy it.

I’ve had loads of operations and lots of injuries but that’s all part of the job. You’re going to get kicked, you’re going to get injured; it’s just part of playing football.

I’d never heard about the Thai Premier League before. But when the deal came up I did some research and I liked what I saw about the game here. Some of the stadiums aren’t great but Muangthong is really the blueprint for other clubs to follow. They have a good stadium, good fans and good owners. Potentially this league could go on and on.

I don’t really have any expectations. I’ve only just arrived but, potentially, this club could be huge if they can keep progressing.

You don’t want to let yourself down. If you want to keep playing, you have to keep yourself fit. You train to stay healthy. But it’s also about having pride in what you do. You want to perform to your best ability.

I’m here for football, not for a holiday. If I didn’t want to do well then I wouldn’t have come. Thai people are so friendly and down to earth, so I want to do well as I can for them.

I am only as good as the team, though. It’s not just all about me. There are 15 other players in the squad. The team is far more important than the individual.

If someone offers you X amount of money to play, you’re not going to turn it down. It’s not the players who should be blamed for the huge salaries that they get these days.

Players are like actors. They are there to entertain. No one moans when actors get paid millions for a film. They are there to give people enjoyment.

I want to be involved with the game as long as I can. I think I have one or two more years left of playing but then I want to try and go into coaching.

It’s one of life’s mysteries. I don’t know why England never does better at major tournaments.

I wouldn’t want to be anyone else. I am more than happy in my life.

Why did you decide to be a part of this film?
It’s because of Pee Tom (director Yuthalerd Sippapark). Plus the story is quite different from other films, and my character, Pong, is interesting—a deaf orphan gifted in kung fu.

Did you have to learn kung fu for the film?
I had to learn a bit, but I only took 3-4 classes because it wasn’t that necessary. It was simply the gestures, the ways of posing that were useful. And luckily the action in the script wasn’t too hard, so I did it all myself.

What is the difference between acting in a film and making a music album?
Acting in a film is a science that is quite similar to real life. It’s different from acting in a soap opera. And making an album is totally different from acting. A song is composed and created by me, while a film script is written and I am paid to perform the role. But I do love all the work I do.

What is the most difficult thing you have deal with?
There are parts of the film, where I have to really create a strong feeling. That feeling has to be there at that certain time, so I must have that mood before I come to act for the scene.

How do you keep the quality consistent with all your projects?
The quality will never be all the same. When I start to work, I have to be a new person. It is how I can make myself fresh and ready for every project all the time. Aimmarin Siritantitam

You’ve said that you’re a big Alexander McQueen fan, and that he doesn’t like to play it “safe.” Do you think all writers and artists should aspire to do the same?
It depends whether the artists are mature enough to take the risk and take full responsibility for that risk. I believe that great art often comes hand in hand with being risky and being willing to push the way people respond and perceive art. However there are also plenty of examples where artists aren't mature enough to handle the risks they take and this in turn not only has a negative impact on themselves but those involved in the work as well as the audience who receive the work.

You’ve also mentioned in the creative process of writing: Never forget who you are writing for. Who did you have in mind when writing Twice Removed?
My mother—not only a woman but also someone who doesn't frequent theater very often. It was important for me to ensure that I wrote a piece that was relatable and accessible even to non-theater goers. While the play deals with women’s issues I wanted to write a play that can appeal to a diverse group of people and affect them on a number of levels.

Why breasts?
They're so topical! Throughout the ages breasts seem to be a recurring symbol of femininity, virtue and sex appeal and even after decades of equal rights legislation, feminist movements and sexual harassment cases breasts still seem to play a key role in defining a woman's femininity. In an era where getting a breast augmentation is as easy as ordering delivery for dinner I wanted to explore how a modern woman could confront the issue undergoing a full double mastectomy whilst still preserving her integrity and sense of self as a woman throughout the process.

It’s rare for men to write pieces about women. What drove you to do so?
The initial spark that spurred my desire to research and consider the topic further came from a conversation I had with a friend whose aunt had recently under gone a full double mastectomy. Even though I didn’t know his aunt, I remember being so affected by the fact that this woman didn’t have a choice. It was either remove her breasts or die. This led me to consider whether I, in that situation, would remove my own breasts to safeguard myself against cancer potentially developing? Based on the fact that to this day I (and many others) still can’t answer that question, it means that this is an important and relevant topic to be discussed.

Do you think it is unjustifiable for a woman to be viewed as unfeminine?
I think being viewed as feminine or masculine is a dated ideal that society has held on to for too long. Why should a strong woman be perceived as masculine? How does strength actually translate into masculinity? Similarly how does being a sensitive guy translate into him being feminine? Femininity in some parts of the world means being big and curvy and hairy and in other parts it means being super skinny with large breasts and blonde hair. I think a woman should be able to look and feel however she wants and shouldn't have to feel pressured to try and fit the mould society prescribes as being feminine.

Do you think of yourself more as a playwright, actor, or producer? How do these different roles intersect with one another?
Like many artists I choose to wear a few different hats. However, to this day, my first and foremost passion is performing. My work as an actor fuels my work as a playwright and producer.

Are you a feminist?
I believe in equality. As for “feminist” that's a term that seems to get a lot of people in trouble and I'm not taking that risk.

Watch Twice Removed to fully experience Girardi's intuitive prowess.