The good, the bad and the memories

The good, the bad and the memories

A pop trio celebrates a decade in the music business with a charity concert

Published on November 6, 2007

The young generation could be forgiven for not immediately recognising the three guys pictured in the poster advertising Friday, the name of the pop trio who are celebrating their 10 years in the music business with a concert tonight at Royal Paragon Hall.

While a decade represents a respectable career in a fickle business, the band has only released three albums: "Friday I'm in Love" in 1997, "Magic Moment" in 2002 and "Song for Tomorrow", which has just hit the stores.

"It's rather like going back to the beginning; once again it's our friends that are helping us. That's why we've managed to stay in the music circle until today," says bassist Kriangkrai "Nueng" Wongwanich.

"We've had some bad times - the commercial flop of our debut due to a lack of promotion - and some good times. But the past 10 years are full of memories," adds songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Trai "Boy" Bhumiratna.

The trio, which also features guitarist Adun "Dun" Ratchdapisit, will be entertaining fans at the "Love is Sharing 2: Yesterday, Friday and Tomorrow" charity concert being organised by the Rotary Club of Bangkok and Love Is. Showtime is 7pm.

"The first album showed that we had the guts to try, while the sophomore was more a reflection of our freshness. We've matured now and we all worked on 'Song for Tomorrow', getting involved in the songwriting, vocals, melodies, mixing and mastering.

"The album title comes from the song, 'Bot Phleng Khong Wan Phrungnee' and offers words of encouragement. We are always hearing complaints about the worsening situation of the music business here and we wanted to say that tomorrow will be better," says Boy.

The concert will also feature some of the trio's special guests. "We'll be playing 30 songs selected from all three albums and our side projects. Our friends will join us," says Nueng.

Kriangkrai, Trai and Adun formed the band while studying at Rangsit University's architecture faculty.

"I always kept a four-track tape recorder handy so we could play back our own material," recalls Boy, whose favourite songwriters include Prapas Chonsalanond, Yuenyong Ophakul and Boyd Kosiyabong.

"The first song I wrote was about the shattered emotions of a friend while we were at high school. The second was about my own feelings after I failed the entrance examination. It's true that a good songwriter should really be proficient in the Thai language, but I still find my feelings tend to guide my writing," he admits.

A friend sent their demo to Music Bugs, then a fledging recording company. The label liked it and the boys set to work, seeking out materials and writing songs. It took them a year to record "Friday I'm in Love".

"In between sessions, we would sit by the studio door and stare at the calendar showing our taping schedule. It was full every day. We figured that someone should throw a party every time we got through a Friday," says Boy.

Nueng adds: "Yeah, we really needed to relax," he grins.

But despite their best efforts, the debut album was a commercial flop, selling just 20,000 copies. Part of that was due to a lack of promotion by the label, but matters weren't helped by Adun leaving to study in England for three years.

Nueng played music at various Bangkok pubs then returned home to Koh Samui.

Boy wrote songs for Bakery Music artists, then in 2001, formed the new band, Two Days Ago Kids, as well as new label, Undertone Records.

Later that year, the trio reunited and played tracks from their debut outing at a Two Days Ago Kids' concert. They were pleasantly surprised to find the audience singing along.

A few months later, they returned to the recording studio for "Magic Moment". Although independently released, the album sold 50,000 copies.

So will they be sticking together for another decade?

Boy grins. "No, I don't think so. It would be cool to be like Western artists, get together for reunions now and again, though."

Tickets for the charity concert, "Love is Sharing 2: Yesterday, Friday and Tomorrow" are going Bt2,000, Bt1,500, Bt1,000 and Bt600 from Thaiticketmajor.com.

Proceeds will go to the Rotary Club and the Chai Pattana Foundation.

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

The Nation