Reality check

Jui Juis steals the show

By Tatat Bunnag
Photographs by Varuth Hirunyatheb

Singer-songwriter Suttipong Sutinrum, better known as Jui Juis, has earned his fame after spending several years toiling away in the local music scene with a bunch of releases.

With his knack for writing songs with memorable melodies and humorous, sarcastic lyrics, the 32-year-old artist has had a parade of chart-topping folk-rock hits including "Ya Kee Mo (Don't Lie)," "Eek Mai Nan (Soon)," "Anatawa," "Su Si Su (Keep on Fighting)" and "Lesson One."

Jui Juis recently visited Student Weekly HQ to tell us all about his latest single, "Kuen Pai Kuen Ma (Returning Back and Forth)," and his new album, Channel Four Reality Show.

Student Weekly: You've been releasing music very frequently over the last few years, with four EPs and several singles. How do you manage to be so prolific?

Jui Juis: Writing songs for me is like writing a diary. It's something that I do almost every day. I always have ideas in my head, so I can turn them into songs at any time. It seems to come naturally to me.

Student Weekly: How did you come up with the title Channel Four Reality Show?

Jui Juis: The idea of a reality show defines the lyrics on the album. Everything I sing about is stuff that really happened, either to me or to people that I know.

Student Weekly: What can fans expect from your new album?

Jui Juis: With my previous releases, I usually recorded my songs with acoustic guitar, bass and drums, so every track sounded quite similar. For Channel Four Reality Show, I tried to experiment a bit more by using other instruments like keyboards, electric guitar and melodica. I don't want to limit myself to a folk-pop sound.

Student Weekly: Most artists these days seem to release singles rather than albums. Do you prefer releasing a full album?

Jui Juis: I prefer albums to singles. I want to have a collection of my own albums on CD. I love CD artwork and packaging. If I only released singles and sent them to radio stations, then each song would just be a computer file, which is something that you can't touch.

Student Weekly: Can you tell us about your new single, "Returning Back and Forth"?

Jui Juis: It's a slow song. I wanted to give my listeners something different, to show that I'm not just being funny and happy all the time. It's about how when people break up, they sometimes have some of their ex's belongings in their house. They know they should return the stuff, but they kind of want to keep it so that they don't completely forget.

Student Weekly: You're known for writing darkly humorous lyrics. Is that still a feature of your new songs?

Jui Juis: Definitely. Most of my songs are about everyday life, society or politics. We all know that our society has both good and bad sides. When I talk about these issues, I like to put a twist in the lyrics to make them more interesting. I guess it has become my signature style now.

Student Weekly: Do you consider yourself to be a funny guy?

Jui Juis: Not really. [Laughs.] I'm actually a very quiet and shy person. I don't talk much, especially when I'm with people I don't know. I just express my funny side through my songs.