True colours

Friday feel the love

By Tatat Bunnag
Photographs by Varuth Hirunyatheb
and courtesy of Spicy Disc

After four years of releasing mini albums and singles, popular trio Friday have finally produced a new full-length album, called Colorfication.

Friday - singer-songwriter Trai Bhumiratna (Boy), guitarist Adun Ratchadaphisit (Dun) and guitarist Kreiangkrai Wongwanich (Nueng) - have long been loved in the Thai music scene for producing classic pop hits like "Love Sign," "Nid Nung Por (A Little More)," "Tired" and "The Old Love Song."

With Colorfication, Friday celebrate their thirteen years of music making by gathering together all the songs from their previous colour-themed EPs Lavender, Sevres and Butterscotch. The album also includes five brand new songs.

Student Weekly recently caught up with Friday at Spicy Disc HQ to chat about their new release and their thirteen years of making music together.

Student Weekly: How does it feel to finally have a new album released?

Boy: Most bands dream of releasing a full album. We've been around for more than a decade, but we've only released a couple of albums, so it feels really good.

Student Weekly: What does the title Colorfication mean?

Dun: It's all about colours. This album includes all the tracks from our previous three EPs, which were also about colours. With each song, we tried to use different colours to express a variety of moods and feelings of love.

Boy: I came up with the idea a few years ago when colours became a big issue in Thailand. [Laughs.] Political problems changed the way people thought about colours, which is bad. We can't see certain colours the way we used to any more.

Student Weekly: Why did you guys decide to release three mini albums instead of making a full album originally?

Boy: It's all to do with marketing. We used to send our albums to radio stations, but they'd only play one or two songs from the album and ignore the rest. When we started releasing mini albums instead, people got to hear more of our songs on the radio.

Student Weekly: Do you guys have any personal favourite tracks on Colorfication?

Boy: My favourites are "Heart Beat" and "Out."

Dun: I love "Sealed." It's one of the best songs about heartache that we've ever done.

Nueng: I like "Forget." It's a really thoughtful song. People seem to forget things so easily nowadays. There's a lot of conflict in society because people forget about what's really important.

Student Weekly: What themes have you explored with your lyrics on this album?

Boy: We usually write positive songs. We still have lots of songs about love and relationships, but they're from many different perspectives. Our ideas often come from real-life experiences. We also write songs that ask questions, because we don't have the answers for every problem.

Student Weekly: What has been your most memorable concert experience so far?

Boy: I get nervous when I perform on stage, so in the past I didn't communicate with the audience much. But a few years ago I talked to the audience for the first time and it felt great. I ended up running around the hall singing with everybody! [Laughs.]

Dun: I remember when we played in front of more than five thousand people for the first time. We were nervous and made a few mistakes, but it was a great learning experience.

Nueng: We played a bar gig at RCA during the Bangkok riots last year. They announced a curfew, but some of our fans refused to leave, so we decided to play. There were only a few people there, but it felt great. We had so much fun that night!