Music

Singular duo

Mellow popsters hit big time

By Tatat Bunnag

Singular are a new pop group from Sony records who specialise in creating light and catchy songs. With their acoustic pop and jazz influences, the duo -24-year-old singer Tosaphorn Achawanuntagul (Sin) and 24-year-old guitarist Chotiwuth Boonyasith (Nut) - have attracted plenty of acclaim for their tuneful and mellow debut single, "24/7."

• Did you know •

Nut won first prize for guitar playing in a Yamaha music competition.

Less than a month after its release, "24/7" hit the top 10 on popular radio stations HOT 91.5FM and Chill 89FM.

Student Weekly recently caught up with Sin and Nut at the Sony office where they happily told us about their music, their songwriting process and their hit single.

Student Weekly: How did a duo come up with the name Singular?

Sin: Singular refers to one person or thing. Our concept is simple - with just one singer and one guitarist, we have a band.

Student Weekly: How did you guys get together?

Sin: My first musical experience was in Matayom 4 when I sang with the chorus of the Bangkok Opera. Later, when I was at university, I recorded a demo CD of songs that I'd written and sent them to record labels. I eventually met Nut through doing that.

Nut: I was working as a session guitarist for many different artists, both live and in the studio. One day my friend introduced me to Sin, who wanted to record his music. Everything started from there.

Student Weekly: You've described your music as metro-acoustic. What does that mean exactly?

Nut: Metro-acoustic refers to the variety in our music. In one Singular song, you might hear a little bit of jazz, some pop and acoustic sounds all mixed together.

Sin: We try to experiment with our music by using several different rhythms within each song.

Student Weekly: Can you tell us about your first single, "24/7"?

Sin: It's about missing somebody or something so much that you can't think about anything else. It ends up stuck in your head 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Nut: The music has a bossa nova rhythm in the verses, with a switch to swing in the chorus. It's really good.

Student Weekly: Can you tell us about your songwriting process?

Nut: We each have different musical backgrounds. Sin comes from classical and pop singing, while I studied jazz guitar. So when we write a song, we usually meet in the middle.

Sin: Nut always wants to play a full-on jazz music, but I always tell him that it would be too much for our listeners! [Laughs.]Student Weekly: When is your album due to come out?

Sin: Probably at the end of this year. In the meantime, we'll keep releasing singles. If you like "24/7," then you'll love our next single.

Student Weekly: What are your current favourite artists to listen to?

Sin: I listen to many different kinds of music, but I always make sure that I have The Carpenters in my iPod.

Nut: My favourite jazz artists are Miles Davis and John Coltrane. For pop guitar music, I love Jack Johnson and John Mayer.

	specialise (v): to become an expert in a particular area of work acclaim (n): praise or approval, especially for an artistic achievement mellow (adj): relaxed, soft and pleasant process (n): a method of doing or making something chorus (n): a large group of singers metro (adj): connected with a large city switch (n): a change from one think to another, especially when this is sudden background (n): the past events or circumstances which help to explain why something is how it is current (adj): of the present time

Idiom
in the meantime: in the period between two times or two events