BK: As a child, what did you want to be?
Mo: I dreamed of being a flight attendant because they looked so pretty walking along the plane and seemed to not work too hard. But when I grew up and saw the reality of their job, I knew that I couldn’t be one of them. I couldn’t possibly tolerate bad passengers. I would have a fight with them.

BK: How did you break into acting?
Mo: A modeling agency took my picture when they saw me with my friend one day. Then they called me to audition for a TV commercial and I got it right away. Anyway, I don’t like to do commercials because I don’t like to go to castings. It takes up so much time. So I ended up being in some music video instead.

BK: How did you become involved in Love Julinsee?
Mo: I did a music video that was also directed by Chainarong “Kay” Tampong, so he asked me to join the cast when he got this film.

BK: Tell us about your character.
Mo: I portray Eue, a girl who falls in love with her close friend (played by Jirayu “Kao” La-ongmanee) but things getting complicated after they become a couple. They can’t talk the way they did before.

BK: Have you experienced that in real life?
Mo: Never. I don’t like to date friends. I used to see a lot of cases among my own friends who fall in love with each other, but it’s really awkward for all the other friends when they break up. It’s like we have to take sides.

BK: So you don’t believe that friendship should become love?
Mo: I think friendships are much longer relationships than romantic ones. I would care more about a friend than just someone who comes and flirts with me because with the latter, you have to go your separate ways when you break up.

BK: The movie trailer was banned because of a shot of teenagers kissing. What do you think about that?
Mo: I’m okay with that sort of depiction, but in Thai culture, it’s considered inappropriate. Teenage kissing isn’t especially appropriate even in Western countries, but in Thailand, it isn’t appropriate at any age.

BK: How do you like working in show biz?
Mo: I was surprised that most actors and actresses aren’t at all snobby. Like Kao; he’s so funky. The other thing that I learned is that there are no true allies and lasting enemies. It’s all about the money.

BK: What are your plans for the future?
Mo: I want to finish my coursework at Srinakharinwirot University first, then follow my dream of becoming a chef. I love cooking so much. I love to see how happy people are when they eat my food.

It has been almost six years since your last studio album Tales from Turnpike House.
We are working on another album and have recorded a couple of songs. It took us so long because we had no time. Pete and I had children and Bob’s writing a book.

Any plans for a new release?
We just felt that now was the right time. It was a very natural and organic process. We got the itch, started sharing ideas and are fully inspired.

How do you think music has evolved over the years?
One of the things I go on about is that in the 90s, you will have a secret band you liked. Now, everything is out there thanks to technology. I guess it’s a natural progress with more online music stations, blogs and people have become more in-tuned to leftfield music. I am not a big fan of technology.

Do you think your vocals have changed over the years?
Yes, it has gradually changed. Bob and Pete think that my vocals has gotten deeper and stronger -its melancholic. Other than that we are still keen on melody and write our songs mostly in the third person.

What can we expect from your gig at the Mosaic Music Festival?
It’s going to be up-tempo and danceable. We’ll be playing a lot of our singles that spanned the last 20 years.

Catch St Etinenne on Mar 19, 7.30pm and 10pm. Esplanade Theater Studio, 1 Esplanade Dr., 6828-8377. $40-48

So, what have you been up to?
I’m doing a lot of different projects. Just had a recording come out with (pianist/composer) Keith Jarrett called Jasmine; just did a new recording with my Quartet West called Sophisticated Lady; and I just did a new recording with (pianist) Brad Mehldau, (percussionist/composer) Paul Motian and (saxophonist/composer) Lee Konitz called At Birdland. I did a recording with Hank Jones, a wonderful pianist whom I played with many years ago when we recorded an album Steal Away: Spiritual Hymns & Folk Songs. We have another – a new record called Come Sunday. I’m planning a book and I’m planning a new numeration orchestra recording, working with my wife Ruth Cameron who’s my producer and my manager, and hopefully do another country record with my kids.

You’ve been pretty busy!
Yeah! Too busy. I devote the rest of my day to the stock market—I’m over at Wall Street everyday.

How do you define jazz in your terms?
Well, you know, the definition of the art form of jazz is different for every person because it depends on a person’s ability to comprehend beautiful harmonies and melodies and chord changes… So, the definition is kind of up to the person and I really don’t recognise categories. I don’t think about categories; I think about beautiful music. And nowadays especially there aren’t really any forms of music that are attractive to me, like hip hop & rock… I know some great musicians who are involved in rock music… it’s not my cup of tea… And the thing that I try to make better is the music of beauty.

Who are some of the most interesting musicians you’ve worked with?
Well, you know, I’ve played with some great musicians during my career and I’m playing with more great musicians... I’m lucky like that, to find dedicated musicians who feel the same way I do about music, and have the same musical values that I do, and that’s what I always look forward to.

Let us in on some names.
Well, you know, (saxophonist/composer) John Coltrane, (saxophonist/violinist/trumpeter/ composer) Ornette Coleman…many, many great musicians… Why? Because they are innovators. They want to make music that’s never been made before.

Who would you like to collaborate with that you haven’t yet?
Oh…umm…That’s difficult to say. I’m thinking all the time about what I’m going to do next but I always look for opportunities to play with great musicians.

Who or what are your influences?
Life is my influence—A mockingbird, a beautiful trumpet, a beautiful mountain, my children, my grandsons, my three wonderful grandsons… When I see them smile, it’s inspiration. My daughters and my sons are always making great music so I listen to them.

How do you think jazz has evolved from when you first started playing, to this day? I think it’s most important to listen to it, rather than try to analyse it. Who is Charlie Haden? Well…that’s too complicated for me to figure out; that’s a question to ask someone else.

Soak in the aural beauty of Charlie Haden’s Quartet West on Mar 12, 7:30pm at the Esplanade Concert Hall, 1 Esplanade Dr., 6828-8377. $25-100 from Sistic.

How did you become a photographer?
When I started art photography in 2003, I had been working as a reporter for almost 10 years. As a journalist freelancing for magazines, I was usually sent on assignment, in France or abroad, with a photographer. At the very beginning, I started to imitate them. I found out I was not really successful, and I gave up photography, more or less. I took out my camera again in 2003. I was based in South Korea, and the cultural shock I felt there could not be decently expressed through writing, my usual medium. So I started my first real art photography series which then got published as a book called Transkoreana.

How do you think being a journalist translate into your photography?
It defined my work at the beginning. Working closely with press photographers for many years, and sometimes assisting them, I became very aware of the way they frame the world through their lenses. I insist on the word framing: in English it means both “to put in a frame” and “produce false evidence.” The way most photographers picture the world, as they are usually asked to by the media, is very archetypal. They produce, or nurture, clichés we have of “others,” especially distant, “exotic” foreigners. Think about the images produced on Thailand, and how this country is then perceived from abroad, and this will make my point very clear. And also think about the way any photographer, even amateur, tends to shoot pictures of places and scenes he has seen before, based mostly on déjà vu. So what I do in my art work, and not only with photography but also with performance and installation, is to cast a doubt on the way the world is framed by photography. I do not trust the journalistic vision anymore. Though my photography is not documentary, I still use photography to talk about the world, and I use the world to critique photography.

What’s the idea behind this show?
It starts with the idea of the reservation. National parks and indigenous reservations were created in the US at the end of the 19th century, when the wild west was being domesticated. At the same time, outdoor photography was blooming with adventurous photographers traveling around the country to keep records of those fast-disappearing landscapes and Indian tribes. Most of the time, we look at minorities through photographs, in a magazine, or if we travel to their villages, through the compulsion we have to shoot pictures of them. The problem is that ethnic photography, whether professional or amateur, tends to represent these “exotic” people as if they were still stuck in an indefinite past. Traces of modernity, like plastic basins, are usually kept out of the frame. By choosing that kind of shot, we deny minorities an access to modernity. We keep them in a reservation. With this exhibition, I want to cast a doubt on the way we look at so-called traditional people.

Tell us about your stay at the Lisu hilltribe village.
Ban Sam Kula is a very small village with around 300 inhabitants, halfway between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. It’s 5 km of difficult dirt road away from the nearest concrete road. Apart from the school and the unoccupied church, there are no concrete buildings and no mobile coverage. But the villagers have satellite TVs and there is a government farm nearby. Most of the time I had a lot of fun, but in the winter months things were much more difficult. Though the villagers were very welcoming, mentally and physically, this project is the most demanding thing I have ever done. When I left the village, I was in the “never again” mood. But what I experienced there, and the bond created with the villagers, were so strong that I’m thinking of going there again—at least to tell them about the exhibition.

What about the participative aspect of the show?
My project is connected to the global market in many ways: tourism, migrations, production of cash crops for export, to name but a few. The simple fact that the whole village has welcomed the experiment shows how much they are open to modernity. So my idea was to create scenes, and participative situations, in which contemporary objects photographers usually keep outside the frame are not only inside of it, but also in excess. I have used items like PVC pipes, jelly pots, plastic film or fluorescent lights to project the villagers into science-fiction like environments. It’s also a poetic reflection on photography, trying to use the medium not to document what has been and what is fast disappearing, but as a way to explore, or invent, fictional futures. Fluorescent lights, which produce auras in the pictures that the naked eye doesn’t see, are especially interesting for that.

You focus a lot on ethnicity in your work.
It’s identity I’m concerned with, that fascinating feeling when you meet a foreigner and tell yourself, “He’s so different from me, and at the same time, he’s so similar.” In my work, I explore how images, especially photography, produce archetypes. In most cases, taking pictures when you travel, we don’t pay much attention to people’s real identity. We produce, and reproduce clichés. I love travel, but I’m not trying to reduce people’s difference with a camera. On the contrary, I’m trying to seize and decipher this difference. Sometimes, this even requires leaving the camera at home. The beauty of this world is its diversity. And when different cultures meet, they create fascinating hybrids. Chanun Poomsawai

Keeping up with Marc Lathuilliere at Fluorescent People

Technique & medium: Collage on paper made from vintage magazines adhered to heavy watercolor paper.

How did you get involved with this exhibition?
In 2008-09 I was the Visiting Lecturer in Painting at Chiang Mai University for one year. I taught all levels of painting as part of the regular curriculum for Thai students. In 2010 I returned to Thailand to exhibit my work in Bangkok. Brian Curtin, the curator for this exhibition, came to that show, and then he invited me to participate in the show at NoSpace.

Why do you choose to use collages?
I often make large-scale, highly realistic oil paintings, so the collages are a way for me to process fresh ideas. I can work more quickly, and add images from different sources. The collages help me develop my paintings, but they are also finished pieces on their own.

What’s the story behind this piece?
This body of work is a sincere ode to longing and the beauty of men’s bodies, but it also contains small jokes, ideas about history, references to our relationship to photography, and some formal and painterly ideas about the physical and sensual quality of the pieces themselves. The project is about men’s bodies seen through a woman’s eyes—the woman’s gaze, the body as landscape with hills and valleys to roam. The collages are made from 1970’s Playgirl magazines combined with American landscape photographs, also taken from vintage magazines.

How does fit in with the exhibition?
Images of naked men are more often meant for men than they are for women. Playgirl, the magazine that these images are from, was only truly targeted at women during its first few years. During those years (mid-1970’s) it contained articles about women’s health, fashion, and relationships, in addition to the explicit photographs. These magazines, intended for women, were repurposed over time for the gay male gaze, at first covertly and then blatantly. My work has similarly been repurposed for this exhibition; its meaning can change depending on the context and viewer. This change questions issues of authorship, the role of the model vs. the artist, and the meaning of the identity of the viewer of a work of art, all themes that the exhibition addresses.

Keeping eye on artist Rene Smith at her exhibition Figure with Gray Tree

What inspired A Life in Her Day?
I spent a few years working on a show of the same name about an actress who moves to New York for an acting career and finds work as a clown. She is never satisfied with what she considers a lesser career until she finally understands the power of the clown and the depth of the art of the clown. This was my personal journey, and once I accepted this path, I was able to create a clown show. And I mean clown in the sense of a personal character who is an exaggeration of myself in the world, confronted with all of the foibles and follies of life, not a red-nosed circus clown. I started with some of the old show waking up in the morning and going about my day and created the world of this character rather than the story of an actress. Much of the material in the show comes from assignments in workshops with my director, Avner Eisenberg.

What are some of the challenges in doing a solo show?
It’s lonely out there! On stage, back stage, at the airport, in the studio, on the internet searching for work, building sets, tech rehearsals. What is a challenge can also be a blessing. I am my own boss, who makes most of my decisions based on my needs and I have autonomy over what I do. My successes are mine and they give me a strength in my life I may never have found otherwise. And I have the opportunity to create a wonderful relationship with my other partner, the audience.

Do you make any adjustments to the show to better suit audiences in different countries?
There are moments in my show that are culturally very American. While I don’t mind them not being fully understood, I don’t want to lose the attention of the audience for too long. Therefore I move though those moments a little faster than I might with an audience who understands more fully. There are very few words in the show, so when English is not the first language, I try to learn a few words of the language from the country that I’m in. People love to hear me speaking their language and it creates a wonderful bond between us.

What makes your show universal?
The pathos of the clown is universal. I find that much of the physical business of the show is understood anywhere and everywhere. It’s the details that distinguish it as American.

Other than this show, are you working on any other projects?
I am currently working here in Thailand with my friend and colleague Rima Miller. Though we are working solo in this current show (Rima is doing a comic introduction for A Life In Her Day), we’re developing a new show about two retired vaudevillians—kind of an “Odd Couple” theme. We’re also co-teaching physical comedy at the Patravadi High School. I also tour worldwide with my solo short comedy variety numbers. In the US I work with a company from Dallas, Texas called The New York Goofs and in New York with the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Hospital Program entertaining hospitalized children as “Nurse Nice”.

Catching up on stage with Hilary Chaplain at "A Life in Her Day "

BK: Tell us about your background.
Pango: I was a pampered girl at home and didn’t like to do things for myself. My mother worried that I would stay like this and be unable to support myself, so she sent me to high school in New Zealand.

BK: How was life over there?
Pango: It was pretty good. Even though my first host family was awful, my second host family was really nice. They owned a Chinese restaurant, so I was filled with good food every night. The other thing was that I learned to live on my own. Then I came back to study hotel management at Mahidol University.

BK: Why did you choose that field?
Pango: My mom opened a bakery, and I liked to travel, so I figured it would be a good choice, but it turned out not to be that great. I didn’t think would be so serious, so I dropped it and took up what I really loved, which is design. I studied a lot of art and photography when I was in New Zealand and I loved it. I was lucky I managed to get into King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi on the last day they accepted applications.

BK: How did you start posting your music clips on Youtube?
Pango: After I appeared in Singular’s music video, Bao Bao, I had an opportunity to talk with Believes record label. I taught myself to play the guitar with a handbook, and I always loved seeing women play guitar. It’s kind of cool. But at the time that I was posting clips on Youtube, it was just therapy for myself because I wasn’t doing my own music back then. I was still working on my Master’s thesis.

BK: You couldn’t do the two at the same time?
Pango: I know that I am the kind of person who can’t handle too many things at the same time. There was also a producer who contacted me to do a soap opera, but I had to decline, because I wanted to work on my music career and I wanted to do my best. My first single will come out next month.

BK: How do you feel about becoming a Youtube hit?
Pango: I’m really surprised! I didn’t know my video would have so many viewers. I just did it because I wanted to sing. I only did four or five videos, but soon after, it turned out that I had a fan page on Facebook. I also started an official page, because people kept adding me as a friend on my private account.

BK: Do you ever dream of doing anything else?
Pango: I want to travel around the world. It sounds clichéd but I really want to do it. I want to catch a train and travel as far as I can. I also want to open a coffee shop that’s open 24 hours and open a graphic design studio. I do design work on a freelance basis at the moment.

Watch all of Pango's clips right here.

I really feel I was raised by movies, by VHS rentals at my favorite video library every weekend. And going to the cinemas was nothing short of a religious experience. But I never thought of being involved in film as a career.

I started filmmaking while I was in college and shot my first short film myself. I guess I was about 20, and something just “clicked” in me. It felt really, really right.

The university I went to did not have a film department, so I had to become an Art Semiotics major in order to do more film classes.

In school I learned to think laterally, turn clichés on their heads and that eating too much turkey causes drowsiness.

My relationship with my family was a bit distant and as with lots of families, a bit dysfunctional. But when I graduated from college and moved back home, my relationship with my family slowly blossomed. Probably explains why I’m married and still living at home!

My handful of best girlfriends have shaped my character, some of whom I’ve been blessed to have in my life since I was in primary school. I love and admire them greatly.

I’ve found a gratifying and creative outlet for my OCD tendencies, without which, I would likely become like Joey, the eccentric love-a-holic lead in Forever.

My husband’s talent as a visual artist inspires me to be a better filmmaker and his honesty inspires me to be a better person.

I perceive myself as hardworking and goofy but I guess the world perceives me as privileged and goofy.

The most interesting moment in my life was when I was about seven, my father was very good friends with Matthew Tan, a Singapore country and western singing sensation. One day, my dad told me that he was in fact Matthew, and he moonlighted as the Singapore cowboy at night and went to work in the day at a tire factory.

They kind of looked alike and I was somehow convinced and thrilled that my father had a double life. But shortly after that he told me he had been bluffing and I was really disappointed.

The challenges of filmmaking in Singapore seem to be getting less and less, and I’m feeling optimistic. There seems to be a groundswell to ensure filmmakers with worthy projects get a chance to realize their stories and attain some form of distribution.

Audiences are warming up to local movies due to several excellent Singapore indie and studio films being released these past two years. This is encouraging.

My peeve is that there seems to be this pressure to define what a Singaporean film is with tiresome clichés.

My films are not perceived to be very “Singaporean,” but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

The way our local film industry can grow is when we focus more on the people and less on the pizzazz.

The most important thing needed to succeed is to love what you do and never get cynical about it.

What are some current trends you’ve seen in the cocktail market?
Having travelled around the Asia Pacific region recently, I have noticed a lot of creativity where bartenders create drinks based on homemade ingredients. They use almost everything, from bitters, infusions, fat washing* to syrups, to create interesting cocktails with great flavor. The ritual theater behind a memorable serve provides that real “wow” factor when the drink arrives at the table. Just as spirits are known to age in barrels, cocktails today follow suit.
* Fat washing involves mixing a melted fat with a spirit, chilling the mixture until the fat solidifies, then skimming or straining it to get the fat out.

What’s the next big thing in cocktails and spirits?
Gin has made a big comeback. One of my favorite brands is Tanqueray No. 10. Also, many spirits which were made back in the old days are being reproduced again. Cocktail trends wise, there is rapid progress in new techniques applied behind the bar to create new cocktails that involve methods using homemade ingredients and barrel-aged cocktails.

What’s your advice to the home mixologist?
Less is always more. Fresh ingredients, good quality products and proper ice cubes!

Rising To The Sky by Erik Lorincz
What you need:

• 45ml of Tanqueray No. 10 gin
• 10ml Yuzu juice
• 22.5ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 15ml pressed pineapple juice
• 10ml shot Fino dry sherry
• 15ml sugar syrup 
• 8 fresh coriander leaves

Method:
Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into a chilled martini glass, serve alongside a tumbler of botanical steam (for an extra sensory experience, not to be drunk).

Botanical steam:
Macerate coriander leaves, juniper berries and grapefruit peel in hot water, then pour over dry ice.

What influenced your decision to return to the role?
Emily of Emerald Hill was W!ld Rice’s very first production so it seemed a fitting finale to our 10th anniversary season of smash hits. Also, Glen Goei, a very fine director and one of my dearest friends, agreed to direct me in it.

It’s been awhile—has it been challenging returning to the role?
Stella Kon, the playwright, wrote to me to say that it must be like wearing an old kebaya; that one has to work to get into it but once it feels on, it feels very comfortable and familiar. I agree with her but have also come to appreciate a quote from Bette Davis who said, “Old age ain’t no place for sissies.”

Did you have to work closely with Margaret Chan, who has been playing the role the past few years?
No, although I did see her performance last year. This is a new creation.

Tell us a little bit about the creative concept of the show; particularly the wardrobe.
As far as costumes are concerned, everything’s designed by fashion maven Frederick Lee, who has created an entire wardrobe to reflect Emily’s global outlook. Emily had the means to wear the latest fashions of the day. As for her kebayas, they have always been custom-made and hand-embroidered for me.

What do you enjoy most about playing Emily?
Emily is a child bride, daughter in-law, wife, mother, grandmother, and matriarch.  I relish every single one of these roles. I also love being with an audience; hearing them, feeling them.

What was toughest about this role?
Making each and every performance new and true.

What can we look forward to from your performance?
There is a great deal of laughter and tears that come from an audience recognizing themselves and their relationships with their mother and grandmothers, as well as their sons and husbands.  Ultimately, Emily is a powerful experience because it is a play about what it means to love and be loved

Make a date with Emily of Emerald Hill on Mar 3-12, 3pm, 8pm at the Esplanade Theatre, 1 Esplanade Dr., 6828-8377. $29-99 from Sistic.