I felt a lot of pressure to be clever as a kid, because my parents were both professors and my siblings were also smart. They always got scholarships while I was just an average student. Actually, no one was worried about it; it was just me.

It’s good for half-Thai kids, like me, to study in local Thai schools instead of at international schools. I learned what state Thai society is really in.

I dropped out of acting school at Srinakharinwirot University after three years. I thought I would like it, since I’d been working in the entertainment industry since grade nine, but I wasn’t. There were too many patterns and rules. I respect that the arts each have their own science, but studying shouldn’t be so regimented.

I thought my parents would disapprove of this decision, but they didn’t. I think my dad actually approved of my move to Ramkhamhaeng University because then I started studying political science, like him.

I think I absorbed political ideas from my parents, and it influenced my news show “Jor Kao Tuen” (“Shallow News in Depth”) on iHere TV. We can be a bit critical of society and government. It was good for me to have studied political fundamentals and understand the system.

I started doing internet TV with my sister, Rosie, and our friends because it’s full of freedom. We don’t need to beg anyone to have a show on TV, which takes a lot of money and sometimes you have to have connections. We can do any style we want, and people can watch it anytime. The internet is like a free universe!

I am proud that our channel has grown from just a few thousand views to millions. I am happy that people get the message that we’re trying to put out. I want to keep doing this as long as I can. I don’t enjoy anything more than this.

We recently had our TV show on TPBS channel called “Prakad Pawa Chookkid” (“Declare a State of Awareness”) which mostly concentrates on consumer issues. Sometimes people don’t realize that they are being taken advantage of. The main idea of the show is to make them ask questions about their rights.

I accept that even though we have freedom when doing internet TV, we still can’t go too far. It’s not self-censorship. It’s just that everything has limits and we know where our limit is.

Thailand’s educational reforms are always going downhill. Those who have better opportunities are the bright students whose parents are able to send them to tutor schools. Rural kids are still struggling and have to wait for companies to buy them lunch as charity.

I sometimes wonder if there is a conspiracy to deprive people of proper education so that they don’t rise up against the administration.

Our taxes should have benefitted the country way more than it has. I think we’ve gotten only B3-4 from every B10 we’ve paid!

We can’t wait for a white knight to pop up. We should realize that the people we get in government are the same kind of people we find in society, people who would rather pay money instead of getting a traffic ticket, who would rather pay bribes to get benefits.

Though I have worked on many TV shows, what still frustrates me is the hard sell advertising during the shows. I can’t help but wonder if it’s going to be like this forever. I can’t do anything because it’s their show, but people should ask if it should really be this way.

Bangkok is like a half-blood city. It absorbs various cultures—Chinese, Western or Indian— together and becomes a city with rich aspects. The coolest thing is everyone still thinks of themselves as Thai, even though we have different styles of living.

I wouldn’t install a fence surround Sanam Luang if I were Bangkok’s governor. It’s strange to have a fence around an area that has been an open space for hundreds of years. It’s too drastic, just to eliminate vendor problems. There are a lot of other ways to fix this.

I love watching DVDs at home. I used to go out seeing movies at least once a week but now I’m too busy. I spend most of my free time sleeping.

I used to just care about making money but now my job is more than that. I have so much fun working at our company. It’s like our baby and I want it to shine. It’s a good challenge to make people realize that it’s not only free TV.

BK: What is your background?
Pook: My early life was spent moving between countries. I studied in Thailand and Australia before doing a Masters degree in the UK. I went to Australia because my mom worked there, so I wasn’t like other study abroad students. I spoke Thai at home, saw Thai lakorn and read Thai newspapers. I now work at Central Marketing Group as a senior marketing manager for corporate direct marketing. I know Ple-noi from the company’s projects that we’ve done together.
Ple-noi: I grew up in Bangkok and studied communication arts before studying marketing in Australia. I came back to work with my uncle, Nonsee “Oui” Nimiboot, for a while before being a DJ at Fat Radio. Apart from being a DJ, I am also a partner of Stu-fe pub on Rama 4 Road and do freelance work for TV, radio and events. I am also teaching ballet dance at an international school. I’m now planning to open a product design collective.

BK: Why did you want to create Tue’sday?
Ple-noi: We felt jealous of all the famous musical artists. They’re always performing at concerts or doing glamorous photoshoots. Their lifestyle is just so cool. So I talked about it to some famous artists like Boy-Tri Bhumirat or Singto Namchoke. Pook totally liked this idea so we chose the name and created a Facebook fan page in the same night even though we can’t play decent music. This was October last year.
Pook: I can play piano, but stopped studying after grade four. Now I’m bringing back my old skills!

BK: What happened after that?
Pook: We got a show at the Big Mountain concert. At first we just wanted to post on Facebook that we were going to play at Big Mountain. We were absolutely terrified once we realized that playing music wasn’t that easy. It was pure luck that we got so much help from our artist friends. We forced our friends to stay up until 3am to watch us practice. We only played for a minute and a half, but it felt like the last scene of Saving Private Ryan. Everything happened in slow motion. It was like I had tinnitus in my ear.
Ple-noi: Though our music wasn’t that good, it was an extraordinary experience! I can’t explain how great that was. We also went on stage at a theme park event and the Melody of Life concert. We now have our own reality show on Pop cable channel, too.

BK: How do you feel now that you have thousands of fans even though you can’t play music well?
Pook: I think they are all friends who don’t want cool music from us. It’s like having a friend who believes in you and is ready to push you to do whatever you want.
Ple-noi: I think they just have fun with our imperfections. We have the right to have a good time, even if we’re less than perfect. It’s like living in a fantasy world where we can do things we would never get to do in real life. We didn’t expect that the creation of the band one year ago would bring us great experiences like this.

BK: Any last words before we wrap up?
Pook: Don’t lose your craziness. Your life will be empty without it.

Tell us a bit about your latest album, Suharit Luen Kan Thep.
It is about my past experiences, music that I like and a mix of electronic genres with Brit pop, and alternative rock.

Who designed the album cover?
It comes from my inner self, which I like to express to maximum levels, then comes a discussion with the costume and graphic designers. And voila!

What is your inspiration when mixing sound?
My inspiration is sounds that make me travel to heaven on earth.

You listen to?
The Cure, Depeche Mode, Radiohead, Blur, Muse.

What can we expect from Bat Blast?
A new sound blending funky guitars and alternative guitar sound with my electro house sound. It’s my first time ever doing this. You can expect to move and, please, do get wild.

Who’s on the playlist?
Of course, Depeche Mode, Lady Gaga and Bird Thongchai.

Why was it important to you to make a film about Tatsumi and his work?
When I was approached by Times Publishing decades ago to come up with a graphic novel, I was really excited but was told I had only three months to deliver the finished product. Then, destiny came into play—a friend passed me a collection of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s short stories and I was blown away. I was on such a high that it took me only two weeks to come up with over 90 pages of stories and I made it in time for the book fair—all thanks to Tatsumi Sensei. Some of my early short films were also inspired by his stories.

This is your first foray into animation. How different was it to your previous work?
As I started as a comic artist, it helped a great deal in I saw the final product to be, and for some of the stories I directed actors to play out the parts and have the animators follow the timing. I usually direct a film in two weeks so this was my longest project to date—eight months for directing the animation.

Tell us more about Tatsumi’s travels.
Tatsumi has been invited to over 50 international festivals but it’s tricky to let the film travel to all. I’m so honored that it went to Cannes, Annecy (the world’s leading animation festival) and Sitges, the most influential and fantastic film festival.

Tatsumi is now screening exclusively at GV VivoCity and Plaza Singapura.
 

Knob twiddling is... great exercise for the fingers and promotes a healthy lifestyle.

If I could go with another DJ moniker, it would be... DJ Small but that’s already taken.

If I weren’t a DJ, I’d be... a deadbeat.

Disco balls are... sharp, I cut my finger open on one before.

Groove is… the center of the disco universe.

Boogie like Travolta with Stephen Day at Zirca on Wed, Fri and Sat.

How does being Portuguese-English affect your sonicscape?
Growing up in Portugal was great as the electronic movement was based around house and techno. I moved to the UK when I was a teenager, and was exposed to sounds much more eclectic in range, from house, trance, garage, happy hardcore to drum ‘n’ bass.

DJing seems easy. What are some of the biggest misconceptions in the age of Genius playlists?
I wouldn’t say it is easy in any way shape or form. Even if you are using a laptop and working off Serato or Traktor Pro software, you still have to be a good DJ. If you don’t play the right music and you don’t read the crowd properly then people leave and no one has a good night. The equipment can vary but at the end of the day, if you don’t have a talent for this kind of thing, you won’t make it.

What kind of a night can Avalon punters expect?
I have some great bootlegs that people won’t be able to get hold of or buy in the shops, which always makes playing them a little more special. I will also play my new material, including an as-yet-unreleased track with George Michael.

Catch Marc Vedo with Boy George and The Chemical Brothers on Sep 25 at Avalon.

Yayoi Kusuma experienced a bleak personal life, but her works are so vibrant. Why do you think that’s the case?
Kusama herself has said that had it not been for art she would have killed herself a long time ago and I believe this to be true. Her artwork is a therapy for her illness and she paints her hallucinations which relax her. I actually think that one of the great things about Kusama’s artwork is that each individual who views it will take something different away from it. It’s not only her canvas work that is like this as her printwork shows a similar creative vitality.

Is all of her work abstract?
As one of the greats, she is able to transverse genres like surrealism, pop art and minimalism to freely create her masterpieces. She holds no interest in these labels and is absorbed in living her life by creating. There are actually many pieces that fall into the non-abstract category, but one in particular that may surprise people is Yangzte River which could be described as Kusama’s version of a landscape.

Learn more at The Dots Within: Yayoi Kusuma through Oct 2 at ION Art Gallery.

According to my family, I lived up to my name growing up—quite the ham and very much into movies, science fiction, horror, the weird and unexplainable, and ever the joker.

My first crush was on a girl that was staying in my neighborhood. She was a thing of great beauty but she never noticed me.

I have to thank a neighbor who wanted to audition as a sports presenter on Ovaltine World of Sport back in 1980/81. He asked me to accompany him for moral support and after he finished his audition, Gregory Rozario popped his head out and asked me to audition as well.

They called me back, but not my neighbor; the following week then I was on the show co-hosting with Brian Richmond. My neighbor didn’t speak to me for a few months after that.

I am grateful that I am able to utilize my god given talent and get paid for it.

A great work attitude is also essential as well as the ability to be versatile.

The older generation remembers me from my days hosting World of Sport, It’s Your Move, Videoblast and POSB Show but the younger generation has far more distractions on social media so I am not that recognizable a face for the “now generation.”

Film was my escape growing up.

Having a 16 year gap between my second sister and I made me look for imaginary friends and the like, which I found on TV and in the comic books.

I was influenced by Rod Serling and the original Twilight Zone, the original Star Trek, Land of the Giants, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Night Gallery, Banacek, The Six Million Dollar Man, Jaws and a little movie called Star Wars.

Watching them made me forget I was alone at home and I used to mimic Rod Serling and Captain Kirk and his star date reports every week.

Being part of the SIFF is sort of a dream fulfillment. Watching the movies is one thing; actively being a part of the festival is something else and being able to interact with some of the idols that made the movies is the icing on the cake.

I don’t like missing out on trailers before a movie, movie patrons who keep using phones once the movie starts and drivers who cruise at speed limits in the overtaking lane.

The best advice I’ve been given: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. The worst: Any time someone says, “Trust me.”

My guilty pleasure is Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals—my wife can’t keep me out of the kitchen.

I believe in ancient astronauts. The evidence is everywhere.

Congratulations on your upcoming concert in Dewan Filharmonik Petronas – an impressive venue! How do you feel about performing here?
At first I thought it was a joke when my manager told me that I’ll be performing there! I am so happy about it and honoured at the same time.

What’s your plan to bring down the house?
It’s a secret! So many things crossed my mind as I love to experiment with my music. Hopefully fans will love what I have in store.

What do you look forward to with your performance?
It’s been a while since I last performed in Malaysia as I’ve been very busy in the US recently [Yuna is signed with Fader, a New York-based record label based]. I am really looking forward to sharing my new music with the fans.

What was your first-ever gigs like?
I used to perform at small gigs and school proms. There would be only 50 people in a venue! I still can’t believe I’ve made it this far in my career. It’s like a dream! But with the support from my family, friends and fans, here I am. I’m also so thankful to God.

Who are you currently listening to?
All sorts! But now I am listening to Hanson, the Foals and the Fleet Foxes.

You’ll be opening for Ray Lamontagne this month in the US. Must be exhilarating to be associated with such a big name.
It’s an honour. I am really looking forward to it. It’s exciting!

What are your fondest memories about being a musician?
It has to be when people started listening to my music on MySpace. I went from having three people to nearly a thousand in just three weeks!

What do you miss most when you are away from home?
Definitely my family and friends. But I also miss Malaysian food – can’t deny that!

Anything you want to say to your fans here in Malaysia?
Thanks so much for supporting me all this time. It’s an honour to share my music and I hope my fans will keep on supporting me.

Yuna kicks off Dewan Filharmonik Petronas’ 2011/2012 Spotlight series on 13th September 2011, 8:30pm. This concert is in addition to an earlier sold-out show scheduled for 12th September 2011. Tickets are priced at RM80. For details, log on to www.dfp.com.my.
 

How do you think you’ve changed from when you first started?
Totally, both as a person and an artist. I feel music in a different way. Before as a DJ I was checking for new tracks and played my sets—that was it. Now my life is taken over completely by my work: the way I dress, the way I think, they way I design my day—it’s all about the music.

How does your family handle your fame?
My family can’t really imagine what’s going on, except when they see me on TV in Thailand. Then they get some idea something big is happening. They are happy and proud of me. It’s always great when I have time to visit and go back to my old life. When I’m back home, I’m the same little girl I was 10 years ago.

You have been touring a lot. Which has been your favorite gig and why?
It’s so difficult to say, because everyone is different and there are so many great nights. Last August, I played my 500th international gig—no other DJ from Asia has played so much around the world. With every gig comes more experience and more to learn. My favorite club is D’Edge in Sao Paulo but Berlin is my favorite club scene in the world: it’s all about the music there. And then there are the summer festivals in Europe. Just in Holland I play 6-8 festivals every summer and some of them have more than 50,000 people. As I said: too many favorites.

What is the difference between Thai and International audiences?
It’s always great to play in Thailand and I have so much fun here, but in Thailand I miss the real music lovers—the people that come to the club to hear exciting new music. In Europe there is a very hard split between the “commercial” scene and the “cool” scene. As a DJ you have to choose what scene you want to belong to. In Thailand we don’t have this “cool” scene. It makes playing in Thailand easier because the dance floor is already happy if you make a good party—they will not disrespect you if you choose a wrong record. But for all the electronic music artists in Thailand, it is very hard to get work because most clubs just want the same “standard” music and most dance floors don’t want to take the journey into new sounds. I hope that in the future more Thais will have a passion for music and look for something exciting in the music.

What is the most important thing about being a DJ?
When you start as a DJ, normally your goal is to find a club where you can play as a resident DJ. In this case you have to make your boss and the dance floor happy. When I started touring internationally I was working in the same way—trying to make the dance floor happy and getting success that way. But I got to a point when I had to think what I wanted for my life: continue to play music you don’t like and make money, or go your own way and play music that you love. Last week I got an amazing offer to become part of one of the world’s biggest DJ brands. I could make a lot of money immediately with much less work, but I did not even have to think about it—I immediately refused because I want to go my own way.

Which Thai or International artist do you want to work with?
My biggest idol is Richie Hawtin. I already played one event with him in Switzerland this year, and from that day on, he is the one artist that I respect the most. I never really liked his productions, but as an artist on stage he is the best and a big inspiration! In Thailand I have the most respect for a young artist from my hometown Korat: TJ Tiesjungle. He has so much talent, plays great sets and produces amazing music. Artists like TJ should get more chances in Thailand and abroad.

What is next?
I am working hard on my first album and I am also planning an album with some Thai jazz musicians. The jazz album is something that I am really excited about and I hope it will be finished at the end of 2012. My focus is on producing now and I already have a number of great tracks ready to be released.