Green Olives

Girl group gets better

By Suwitcha Chaiyong
Photos by Varuth Hirunyatheb

Last year, local girl group Olives burst onto the pop scene with their smash hit “Young Sod (Still Single).” With lyrics that many single people could relate to, “Still Single” won the girls the popular song prize at the Kazz Awards in May this year.

Olives followed up that chart-topping track with the fun song, “Mai Dai Yin (Can’t Hear You),” released late last year.

More recently, the cute quartet launched their third single, “Fan Narak (Nice Boyfriend).” The song was penned by veteran songwriter Chestha Yarosake, best known for writing Ice Sarunyu’s international hit, “Kon Jai Ngai (Easy to Fall in Love).” Like “Still Single,” “Nice Boyfriend” features a fun beat and simple dance moves, however the lyrics seem to imply that the girls are no longer single.

Student Weekly recently met up with Olives — Nitcharee Kijviriya (Best), 19, Natcharee Kijviriya (Book), 19, Oranicha Krinchai (Proud), 19 and Krittaphorn Monteerarat (Mook), 18 — at the GMM TV office, where they enthusiastically told us about their first award and their latest hit.

Student Weekly: How did you feel about “Still Single” winning the popular song award?

Mook: We were delighted. We trained for two years before releasing our first single, and sometimes we felt discouraged and fatigued. But all the tired feelings disappeared when listeners said that they liked our song.

Book: “Still Single” was our debut song. We hoped that people would like it, but we didn’t expect it to be so popular. We were really happy!

Student Weekly: Can you tell us more about when you felt discouraged?

Book: When we were in training, we were tested every month show how much we’d improved. We felt under pressure because we had to practise and study at the same time.

Proud: Mook once felt really bad after being criticised by a trainer about her singing. She came to us and cried, so we consoled and encouraged her. Then we all sang together. We’ve always supported one another like that.

Student Weekly: Was “Nice Boyfriend” inspired by your real-life relationships?

Mook: Not at all. It’s a fantasy about our ideal guy. We all hope to have great guys to take care of us. But our songwriter Chestha has a lovely girlfriend, so he probably wrote it about himself.

Student Weekly: What would you do if somebody snatched your bag like in your music video?

Proud: I’d beat the person up if I could!

Best: I used to learn the Japanese martial art Aikido. I leaned some great self-defense techniques, but I’ve forgotten them now, so I probably wouldn’t chase after a thief.

Student Weekly: How do you feel about student romance?

Mook: There’s nothing wrong with it, but students shouldn’t make a big deal out of their relationships. They should mainly focus on their studies.

Best: Some student couples actually help each other to study.

Student Weekly: Did you know that your first live performance of “Nice Boyfriend” received a lot of criticism?

Book: Yes. We listened to the criticism so that we could improve. We weren’t annoyed by it.

Best: It was our first live performance. Rehearsing in the training room is different to singing onstage. But the more we perform, the better our performances are. We learn from our mistakes and try to develop our skills.

Student Weekly: Which one of your three songs is the most difficult to sing and dance?

Best: “Nice Boyfriend” requires a lot of energy to sing. There’s no break in the song and the dance moves are very dynamic. It’s quite exhausting.

Student Weekly: Do you have any special message for you fans?

Best: “Nice Boyfriend” is a good example of our fun style. We hope that listeners support the song and download it legally. Also, fans can contact us on our Facebook page — facebook.com/oliveska.

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