BK: How did you guys get together?
Tun: We started to play music in seventh grade, inspired by Thai and international bands like Pause, Bodyslam, the Eagles, and Nirvana. We’ve been going for about six years now, but our members have changed a lot in that time. Only Tin and I are original members.

BK: Have you ever considered joining a major record label?
Tin: We once worked with a big music company. But when we finished the album, they said they wanted our songs, but would give them to other musicians to play because we didn’t have the right look. So we decided to launch our own label called One Tuesday. We now take care of another couple of bands. We don’t want anyone to change who we are and the music we make.

BK: What are some of the problems facing the Thai music industry?
Tin: Instead of being genuine and original, Thai songs often just copy international singles. Artists take some parts of international songs, whether it is the melody, the beat, or the lyrics, and slightly alter them.
Tun: Big labels care more about the business side of things than the music itself. I want people to be more open to new bands. But bands also need to produce high quality music.
Tae: So many people buy pirate CDs or download music online, which discourages musicians from producing good work.

BK: What’s next for the band?
Tun: We expect to play a lot of gigs once we become more famous! At the moment, we don’t like to play live at pubs too much because we don’t want to cover other musicians’ songs.

BK: What do each of you do outside of the band?
Tun: Tin and I study film at Rangsit University.
Fern: Nothing. I quit school in 10th grade with my dad’s approval. He wants me to take over the family business and learn to live a real life. It’s useless for me to study things I’m not going to use or do, anyway.
Tae: I like cooking ,so I want to open my own restaurant. I’m about to run a waffle franchise. I gave up studying a bachelor’s degree after attending three universities. I even became a monk three times in order to sort my feelings out.
James: I attend non-formal education because I want to focus more on music than studying.

BK: What do you think about the Thai education system?
Tin: Teachers stick too much to outdated textbooks.
Fern: Thai education makes easy things difficult. It’s just pointless.
Tae: Corruption is everywhere. People are greedy. Adults should pay more attention to virtue so that children can learn to be happy with simple things.

Check out Whatever’s new single, “Khang Gai” (“The Ones Beside You”), at www.facebook.com/whatever.page

If I were an animal, I’d be a… pterodactyl.

I smile when… I read about nanotechnology, gene therapy, robotics… futuristic stuff!

The biggest challenge in spinning a mix is… changing up tempos or genres.

My worst habit is… DJing without earplugs.

Sexy is…. being au naturel and proud of it.

My biggest pet peeve is… when flight attendants tell you to power down on a flight when it clearly does nothing to the plane.

I get bored when… life becomes manufactured. Throw a wrench into it!

I am inspired by… science and technology, but mostly the future.

I get turned on when… a girl breaks out of her pattern and smashes her own box.

I would kill for… Ray Kurzweil's same program of 210 supplements a day or robotic blood cells that will make me swim underwater for 30 minutes.

Don’t miss Steve Aoki’s edgy electro dance beats June 1 at Avalon. 
 

As a child… I ate much more candy!

I can play the… piano and guitar.

My poison of choice is… Jack Daniels.

If I wasn’t a vocalist… I’d be out of a job.

Fashion… stops everything from looking the same.

When I am old, I want to… be the guy that looks half his age.

I often fantasize about… how I might answer strange interview questions in the nude.

Honestly, I feel that… most things (no matter how small), are beautiful if you just take the time to soak it in.

Alcohol… brings down walls, only for you to walk into them later on in the evening.

Richard Bedford will be performing with the Trouse Brothers June 9 at Zouk.

When I was young, I wanted to… be a singer, but I can’t sing so I had to be a DJ!

I would kill for… a diet that didn’t involve eating less food.

The biggest challenge in spinning a mix is… judging what will make the crowd go crazy.

My worst habits are… talking far too much, being too noisy and smoking!

My biggest pet peeve is… illegal downloading. Don’t even get me started!

When I’m drunk… I’m very well-behaved and happy—nothing too outrageous!

Sexy is… being intelligent and individualistic.

If I were an animal… I’d be a cat. I have two of them and they have the easiest life ever.

Avalon punters can expect… new CDs, which we're giving away at the gig!

Catch Mark Doyle at Avaland feat. Fierce Angel on June 9 at Avalon. 

As a child, I was... much shorter.

I often fantasize about... finishing my next album.

If I wasn't a DJ, I would be... a journalist.

Alcohol is... killing people.

My poison of choice is... Botulinum.

The last time I danced was… when I missed my plane last week.

My inspiration comes from... the soul and funk music of late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

Twitter is... unfamiliar to me.

When I'm drunk... I’m pretty nice.

When I'm old, I want to... die.

Honestly, I feel that... striped socks are quite appealing.

Catch the techno infection at the Fritz Kalkbrenner with Jeremy Boon gig on June 1 at Velvet Underground.

What have you been doing since your fourth album IV in 2008?
We never stopped playing music, we just didn’t play together or in public much. I started my own music school, where I’m a guitar teacher, and as a Christian I’m now a pastor of a church. Bass player Na works for a beverage company and drummer Kei is also a music teacher and plays with a few bands around town.

How did the band’s reformation come about? We hear you are going to team up with Love Is Records.
A few months ago we played a little pub gig with all the original members, which really caught the attention of our fans. Then Cosmic Café asked if we wanted to perform a proper live concert for the first time in four years. We haven’t had serious talks with Kun Boy [the owner of Love Is Records] but we have plans to join forces for an album.

Has the band’s style changed at all?
Well, I’d say nothing major. But we’re all grown up now and have been through a lot of stuff, which is reflected in the way we now play our songs with a little more maturity. It’s always been our intention to write songs that would never go out of style anyway. We don’t want to be seen as a flash in the pan.

What do you think of today’s indie music scene?
Today everybody is indie, even bands on big labels, which never would have happened before. I think nowadays this term is used only to refer to bands who write their own songs. The catch is that indie has lost some of its identity and is more just a mainstream trend now. On the plus side, thanks to online social networking, musicians have more ways to share their ideas, so aren’t as reliant on record companies as they once were.

How do you define indie music?
It must come from inside you and it must be real. I think of music like any other form of art: to inspire people it must come from real-life experiences and really address your audience front on.

What has been your best moment as an artist?
When we just started the band, we did a lot of great shows at various universities and colleges. It was the age of innocence and I really miss feeling that way.

What’s next?
Earlier this month we released our new single “Tor hai krai mai rak,” and our fans love it. We’ll probably continue down this track: launch a couple more new songs and play some concerts, then see what happens. You’ll just have to stay tuned. Proudpisut Sang-ou-thai

I was inspired to be a musician by 70s-80s acts like the Bee Gees, Thai folksinger Phusming Nosavan and funk/disco band Royal Sprites.

Recording music in the analog era was more sophisticated. You had to play perfectly to get the right sound.

I had to wait until I graduated from high school to earn some money playing music at pubs. My parents would have killed me if I dropped out to be a musician.

My dad [Charoen Wattanasin, businessman and former badminton champ] didn’t care much for my music career. He only realized how famous my band, Nuvo, had become when his friends started asking for my autograph to give to their daughters.

I think a combination of good marketing and a lack of technology helped us become famous. Teenagers didn’t have too many forms of entertainment 20 years ago. Internet was 52K dial-up and cable TV like UBC only had four channels. It was just the right time for us.

Back then, if a pub didn’t have a full band, people simply wouldn’t turn up. But now all they need is a guitar and percussion. Pubs sell expensive alcohol and hire musicians very cheap.

I became fed up with the trappings of being on a big record label so I quit Nuvo after our fourth studio album, Oxygen. Sure, we had success, but I was not proud of the way we were doing things.

It’s really satisfying to create something that is all your own, even if it’s not a big success. It’s just good to have a small corner where you can come up with something that you love, and if someone else appreciates it, all the better.

My brother [J-Jetrin Wattanasin] persuaded me to join Twitter so that I could keep track of the news and follow some of my celebrity friends. But now I have over 70,000 followers.

I never use my Twitter account to promote myself. I just want to express my true feelings.

I’ve been in trouble for some of the things I’ve Tweeted [accusing someone believed to be Nitipong Hornak, veteran GMM song composer, of taking money from the red shirts]. But I’m not afraid to say what I want. You shouldn’t have to please everyone all of the time.

It’s a total mess that our politics are seemingly beyond criticism. You might as well just watch lakorn [TV series] and forget about it.

It’s kind of absurd to see some fans still going nuts about me. I’m already 45 years old, not a pop idol anymore, so please calm down.

The entertainment industry is a place where people come together to make money. But in the live music scene we meet because we love music. I can get paid B30,000 to play a gig, but I’m happy playing for free with the people I like.

I’m a big fan of Broadway productions. I love the attention to detail, everything has to be perfect for every show. I had to watch Mama Mia four times and Chicago five times just to take it all in.

I would love to do a stage play but I haven’t had the chance yet. It comes down to money and timing because of my tour commitments with Nuvo. I would like to try my hand at drama.

I also love being a music critic and I’m now writing for Kom Chad Luek newspaper. I was overwhelmed to be chosen as a judge for Thailand’s Got Talent because I can combine my passion for being a critic and for watching live performances.

I am first and foremost a musician and I will continue playing until I am an old grandpa. I may be famous but at some stage I want to go back and play at pubs in Pattaya or Koh Samui like everyone else.

I love diving so much but it’s hard to find a group of friends to go with. They are all having family or health problems. I want go diving somewhere exotic, like the Galapagos Islands.

It’s better for me to be single. I would love to get married but it’s hard to find a woman who understands that I sometimes need my own space.

It makes me sad to think I’m getting old. I sometimes cry when I feel lonely. But I’m lucky that ordinary things like playing video games or watching movies can cheer me up.

It’s kind of a pity that so many talented musicians can’t make the kind of money I do. I’m really blessed. But even if I wasn’t where I am today, I would still thank God.

Do you guys have day jobs?
Hao: We get together to practice at least once a week, usually on Thursdays but I also teach at a music academy.
Noom: I used to be a tour guide in Koh Samui but now I’m a tattooist.
Tong: I play as a backing musician for other artists, such as Palmy.
Ake: I’m an interior designer.

Tell us about your music making process.
Hao: Except for the sound engineering, we do the whole thing ourselves—writing the lyrics, producing the music, making and selling the CDs. The budget is our own money and we even play gigs for free. We take part in underground music festivals such as Kodindy where we sell our albums.

Why are your songs more concerned with social matters than personal feelings?
Noom: It’s normal for foreign bands to write songs about social matters, but it’s very rare in Thailand. We think there are already so many Thai songs covering relationships, romance and love—there are many more things worth thinking about. We’ve all lived through political crises and the Red-Yellow dispute of the past few years, so what better way to express how we feel about those social issues than through music? As a group, we first discuss what we want to say then I write the lyrics.

How has the Season Awards success affected the band?
Hao: We get to play more gigs, there are more people on our Facebook fan page, our songs on YouTube are getting more views, and we’re doing more media interviews than ever before! But none of this will ever change our attitude, or the message we want to get across.

Do you ever think about taking a more mainstream approach?
Hao: We know full well that our songs won’t be hits. That’s why we’ve never sent our demos to the major music companies. We’ve submitted our songs to radio stations with little success.
Noom: Although we’re happy with the underground following we have, we do want our songs to be heard by a wider audience. Joining a major music company could be good if they let us continue making music our own way. But if the company wanted to compromise our identity, we’d rather stay independent.

What do you think of the alternative music scene here?
Hao: It’s getting worse. The copyright issue doesn’t only bother the mainstream music industry, but also underground bands. The underground scene nowadays is different from before, too. Previously, everyone really supported one another. But these days, with the whole social media thing, the audience divides into cliques and supports only particular bands. Benjamaporn Meekaeo

What does the Jade Bird symbolize for you?
He's a hero. He is the last remaining Jade Bird, the others have long since flown from the world of man because man no longer appreciates or values their qualities. But he refuses to give up. He wants to believe that the world has value. So he's a real strong one. He may bend but he doesn't give up hope.

How did you pick a title for the piece?
It's actually descriptive. It's the crucial act in the show when the Jade Bird decides to fly and go on his quest.

How long did the performance take to complete from conceptualization to finish?
Two and a half years. Everything was challenging. Everything asked for creativity as I searched for something real, something worth giving to the audience.

What is your favorite part of creating a show—the conceptualization, writing, composing or directing?
I think it varies from show to show. But I am more a writer and composer. That's where I find my truth.

What do you look for in a performer?
Humanity touched by the divine. Sensitivity combined with repeatability. Also, I want someone with a strong work ethic, a desire to try new things and who can weave their own magic around my writing.

What do you want the audience to take away from the performance?
I want their heads and hearts touched by the music, the story and the telling of the story. I want them to enjoy themselves but also leave slightly changed because they have been given something worthwhile.

The Flight of the Jade Bird runs May 18-19, 7:30pm at the Esplanade Concert Hall.
 

Growing up in Los Angeles was great because…hip hop there is fresh, cool and rebellious.

As a teenager... I experimented. I emceed and did some free-styling during lunch, outside of clubs while waiting in line, and inside clubs battling. There was also free-style fellowship with acts such as King Tee, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and the Dogg Pound, Onyx, Tribe Called Quest and the Wu Tang Clan.

We were digging... for new stuff to be original. Nothing was handed to us.

I decided music was my career when… I signed the contract and realized I couldn't be out. Didn’t know how scary this contract could be.

My biggest music influences are… what I grew up listening to and all my ex girlfriends.

The Korean music scene hasn’t changed… it has just gotten more money-centric and systematic. Plus, it's gone global.

I work best with… fly ladies, because they are fly.

I deal with my disease by… knocking hate out with love. But it's an ongoing battle. Hope love prevails.

If I get tired on tour…I drink Redbull. Sleep helps too.

Tiger JK will be performing on May 24, 10pm at the Clarke Quay Fountain Square.