Scrubb clean

Pop duo simplifies their sound

By Tatat Bunnag
Photos courtesy of BEC Tero Music

Beloved indie pop duo Scrubb — singer Thawachpol Wongboonsiri (Muey) and guitarist Torpong Chantabuppha (Ball) — have just released their brand new single, “Roi Yim (Smile),” taken from their sixth full-length album, Clean.

With Clean, the duo dabbled in new musical territory while also providing their fans another healthy dose of the fresh indie pop they know and love as the Scrubb sound. “Smile” is a typically catchy pop tune with a music video that at the time of writing had attracted more than 900,000 views on YouTube.

Student Weekly recently caught up with Muey and Ball just before their free concert at Bangkok’s Terminal 21 shopping mall to chat about their new single and their latest album.

Student Weekly: Why did you name your new album Clean?

Ball: Many people think that our sound has become softer with the new album, but I don’t think it has. The title Clean refers to the type of minimal sound recording that I’ve been interested in for a few years, with fewer layers of guitar and less overdubbing.

Muey: We still play fun pop rock music like we used to, but the sound on Clean is more sparse and minimal than our previous albums.

Student Weekly: How would you describe the songs on Clean?

Ball: We tried so many new things that we’d never done before on this album, like funk-inspired song “Lala” and the electronic sound of “Dai Yin Mai [Can You Hear].” It’s also the first time that we’ve included instrumental tracks without singing, like “Good Morning” and “The Picnic Song.”

Student Weekly: What is your new single, “Smile,” about?

Muey: It’s a song that makes you feel nostalgic about your first love. When you met the person you had a crush on, it suddenly feels like time stops.

Student Weekly: The video for the song has a cute high school love story and is a big hit on YouTube. Why do you think the video is so successful?

Muey: We have to thank the director and the production team who came up the idea for the video. I think the video attracts people of all ages, because it tells a love story from teenage years to after graduation. It’s the kind of video anybody can relate to.

Student Weekly: Singto Numchoke is a guest singer on the song “Khao Jai [Understand],” and cartoonist Wisut Ponnimit did the album artwork for Clean. How did you guys come to work with these artists?

Ball: Singto wasn’t actually our first choice when we were looking for a guest singer for “Understand.” We talked to lots of people, but we ended up with Singto because he had what we were looking for, which was the ability to be a convincing and natural motivational speaker.

Muey: Working with Wisut on this album was like working with the artist Lolay Thaweesak on our last album, Kid. We just let him listen to our album and come up with his own ideas for the artwork.

Student Weekly: Do you guys have any personal favourite songs on Clean?

Ball: I’m proud of all the instrument tracks on the album, because it’s something that I’ve wanted to do with Scrubb for a long time.

Muey: I like the new single, “Smile,” because at first we didn’t plan to include it on the album. The song just seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere! [Laughs.]

 

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