Nat’s back

Singer talks music and more

By Suwitcha Chaiyong
Photos by Varuth Hirunyatheb

Singer Nat Sakdatorn recently released his first single in 18 months, the beautiful and heartbreaking “Ying Kui Ying Ngao (The More I Talk to You, the More I Feel Lonely).” The song received a warm welcome from listeners, and in February, the radio-friendly hit won the popular vote at the EFM Awards.

It isn’t easy to survive for a long time in the competitive world of showbiz, but this 31-year-old Harvard graduate has done well throughout his seven years in the music business. Nat has never stopped learning new things to improve his abilities.

Student Weekly recently met up with Nat at the Music Cream music label office. Nat spoke to us in fluent English as he told us about his childhood, his passion for running, and how he improved his singing skills.

Student Weekly: What were you like when you were younger?

Nat: Before I went to study in the US, I was a really studious kid. When I had free time, I played video games. After I moved to New Jersey in the US to study in grade nine, I started becoming involved activities like singing, acting and producing school newspapers. Americans tend to value having diverse lives more than just studying hard.

Student Weekly: What was main difference between studying in Thailand and the US?

Nat: The biggest difference was the encouragement to participate in the classroom. In Thailand, a teacher usually tells students to write down whatever they say. But in the US, every class includes discussions. A teacher raises a topic, and the students discuss the topic and express their different opinions.

Student Weekly: How did you react to the class discussions?

Nat: I was initially very shy. I was worried about whether my opinion was right or wrong. In Thailand, there was always one correct answer for a question. But there’s always more than one answer in the US. I eventually became more outspoken because I wanted to get good grades, and there were scores for class participation.

Student Weekly: What do you miss most about living in the US?

Nat: I miss my friends. When I came back to Thailand I had to make new friends all over again. It was sometimes hard to become friends with people who didn’t have similar academic backgrounds, because they had different thinking processes and perceptions.

Student Weekly: How did you become interested in marathons?

Nat: When I was at Harvard University, I always ran along the river. I missed running, and last year my gym trainer asked me to join his marathon group. I remember the first day when I ran the Bitech Half Marathon at 5:30 am. I saw people running beside me, and I looked up to sky with music from my iPhone playing in my ears. I felt that life was good. Since then, I’ve been running regularly. It helps me to feel energetic enough to do lots of things.

Student Weekly: How did you feel about releasing “The More I Talk to You, the More I Feel lonely” after a long hiatus?

Nat: I felt excited because I’d waited for this moment. A lot of fans kept asking when the single would be released. I was so glad when after the first three hours of release it reached the top of the download charts on iTunes Thailand. There were many people waiting for my work. That meant a lot to me.

Student Weekly: Since your new song is about loneliness, do you have anything that you like to do when you’re feeling lonely?

Nat: I try to do things that make me happy, like going out to watch a movie with a friend. I like all kinds of movies except for films about war. I also like eating something I enjoy, like Japanese food, to cheer myself up.

Student Weekly: How did you improve your singing?

Nat: By singing at various different events. Whenever I came back from a gig, I watched every performance on YouTube from clips that my fans recorded. I evaluated myself and tried to find out what my weaknesses were so that I could improve.

Student Weekly: What’s it like have dance training with professional choreographer Sven Taylor?

Nat: Sven makes me to do movements that I’m not familiar with in order to make my body more flexible. It helps me to move more naturally onstage, instead of just standing there and singing.

Student Weekly: How did you feel about performing at the Thai festival in Osaka last year?

Nat: I was surprised to see a lot of Japanese people who knew Thai songs and enjoyed Thai music. Since that event, I have a few Japanese fans that follow my Instagram and Twitter accounts.

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

Nat: Thank you to everybody for supporting me throughout my seven years in the entertainment business. I promise to do my best with every song that I put out. I hope you enjoy my new single, and that you’re looking forward to my next single. Please follow me at @NATsakdatorn on Instagram, Twiiter and Facebook.

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