[image]
[title]Flure is a Thai pop-rock band formed in 2002 by Suveera “Q” Boonrod (lead singer), Theodior “Teddy” Gaston (guitar), Wararat “Wi” Puapairoj (guitar), Rathapol “Aon” Treerath (bass) and Asadej “Earth” Limtrakarn (drum)
We haven’t seen you in the spotlight in nearly a decade. What have you been up to all these years?
Teddy: I’m still working on a music career as a guitarist for Ghost Cat.
Earth: I’ve been teaching visual communication at Kantana Institute for five years now. It’s kinda fun.
Q: We haven’t gone anywhere. We’re still here — only without new songs to our name. We did tours and events — not much in the spotlight, though. I, myself, was involved in stage plays and collaborated with other artists.
Wi: I’m a freelance product designer and I also opened a café called Velayenn BikeCafe with Aon.
Aon: Apart from running the café, I also have an architect studio, but I jam with my friends sometimes.
Why did it take so long for you guys decided to make a comeback?
Q: We have been talking about [a comeback] over the years but it never happened. We were always involved in something else. Of course, there were discussions, and arguments, about how will we continue our music career. But in the end, after yelling and whatever, we’re still together. We are getting older everyday so if we wait any longer, nobody may care about us anymore. They may know the songs, but they may not know which songs are ours. So we feel like this is the right time because we all really want to make it happen.
Wi: Well actually, it’s partly because Q almost died in a motorcycle accident.
Teddy: Yes, I agree. There was a feeling like... we could lose a friend at any minute. There can be no more Flure at any time. That made us realize that we should really do something.
Wi: That made us think about making a new song. It’s like now or never for us because you never know what’s going to happen in the future, right?
Q: We had been practicing for a comeback for a while before I had the accident. So when [the accident happened], we knew it was time.
How are you going to survive this age of streaming music?
Q: Well, I think there is no difference between the time when we released our first album and now. Then, it was a transition from cassette tape to mp3, and now from physical albums to online streaming. To me, I don’t think it’s a big deal because the most important thing for Flure is our live performance — it shows our character — and I think we are lucky to have that. It’s even better now with Facebook and stuff so that fans can feel closer to artists. I don’t actually care much about other things.
Wi: it’s all about adaptation. I’m glad to see Thai bands singing songs in English and go out and perform abroad. That means a big development in our music scene.
Q: If no one wants to listen to your music, it’s you who’s the problem, not them. That means you need to keep improving yourself, not bashing on people’s taste. If your music is good, people will want to listen to it. [Technology] is actually an advantage.
Earth: A number of views on YouTube makes us feel good but it’s not our most important concern.
Teddy: It’s the performance that is the real deal.
About your latest single, “Bome” (Ripe), why did you choose this song for your comeback?
Wi: We had a few songs chosen for our comeback. And then Q, who usually writes our lyrics, had an accident so we decided to change the way we work. We tried something new. We asked Golf from Superbaker and Tum from Monotone to compose the lyrics for us. We have knowneach other for years so we knew they can reflect our stories [through words].
Q: When I recovered, I listened to it and felt it was the right choice. It’s so Flure. It portrays our journey. The song expresses our gratitude to our fans who have been longing for our comeback over nine years. The song can also be an inspiration to everyone.
So do you have a plan to release an album anytime soon?
Wi: We will but not soon. We are working on songs and will release them this year.
Earth: But, yeah, eventually we will gather all the songs and put them in an album.
Teddy: 2017 is Flure’s.
