Modern love

Champ makes a comeback

By Tatat Bunnag
Photographs by Varuth Hirunyatheb

After a brief hiatus, crooner Suppawat Berananda (Champ) is back and ready to take 2012 by storm with some new songs and his signature smooth singing style. Pop fans will remember Champ's groovy acoustic hits "Non Noi (Losing Sleep)," and "Kid Arai (What Are You Thinking?)," as well as his previous popular album, Perception.

"Online on Love" is Champ's latest single. It's a song about love in the digital age, and comes with a cute video featuring popular actress Ploy Chermarn Boonyasak.

Student Weekly recently caught up with the 30-something star while he was taking a break between recording sessions. Champ told us what he's been up to lately and about the inspiration behind "Online on Love."

Student Weekly: What have you been doing since you released Perception?

Champ: I've been quite busy. I work full-time as a DJ for Met 107FM. I also host the cable TV edutainment show Wuz Ya Flava and the Jukebox programme on channel 9.

Student Weekly: Did you play many live shows during that time?

Champ: I've been playing gigs almost every month, but not as often as before. I've also been working as a host for parties and concerts, and sometimes I end up performing with other singers onstage. I'll be playing more of my own shows now that I have new single out.

Student Weekly: Can you tell us about your new single, "Online on Love"?

Champ: It's about social network sites like Facebook, Hi5 and Twitter. People seem to share their personal lives much more openly than they did in the past. I think it's an interesting topic to write a song about at the moment.

Student Weekly: The song is also about falling in love. Was it based on your personal experience?

Champ: No, it was based on something that happened to my bass player, Kung. He had a crush on a girl he met through Facebook and he looked at her page to check her status almost every day. He'd never actually spoken to her, so he was basically a secret admirer. One day he found out that she was the girlfriend of one of his friends, so he had to back off.

Student Weekly: Your songs are influenced by modern R&B, but you always use an acoustic guitar sound. What do you particularly like about the acoustic guitar?

Champ: I've been using that sound since my single "Abb Rak (Hiding Love)," which came out a few years ago. Since then, every time I've recorded love songs with an acoustic guitar, they've been really popular. My fans seem to like my songs done in an easy listening pop style. Eventually that formula became my signature sound.

Student Weekly: What will be your next single?

Champ: It's a song called "Ngao Jai (Lonely)." We plan to release it during the rainy season. I want people to enjoy the beauty of the song at the right moment.

Student Weekly: When can fans expect your next album?

Champ: It should come out at the end of year. I discussed it with Sony, and we decided to release a new single every three months so that each song can have time to be played on the radio. After we've released around five songs, we might decide to put an album out.