Grooving with love

A group of graduates fresh back from earning master's degrees in Australia are celebrating the day of love with a concert titled "Everyday I Love You" but proving that the date isn't really all that important by holding it on Sunday the 17th at Thammasat University's Auditorium.

The group, collectively known as Gigglenize, features project director Autthapol Pohundratanakul, financial manager Waranon Sirinith and public relations manager Viron Sophonpattana.

Sponsored by Samsung, the concert will tell several love stories through a list of songs performed by Boy Trai, Burin Groove Riders, Yai Monotone, Yong Armchair, Koy Saturday Seiko, and Lipta's duo, Tan & Cutto. The curtain rises at 7pm.

"We really wanted to launch our company by organising a concert with our favourite artists, mostly indie bands," says Autthapol, who's applying the know-how he gleaned from a degree in marketing at Sydney's University of Technology. "I'm a major fan of Bakery Music."

"The concert title simply means that we can express our feelings to the one we love everyday, not just on Valentine's," he adds. It's a message that will be underlined in a brand new song - "Everyday I Love You" - written specially by Tan, and sung by Trai. The track can be heard on 5,000 of Samsung's new Music Edition mobile phones.

The idea for the concert, which they describe as "conceptual and trendy for Bangkokians" came after the three returned to Thailand last October.

"The concept is based on the timing - the season as well as other circumstances - while 'trendy' is about satisfying both the audience and the sponsors. That means coming up with a good show, good artists and good music," explains the project director. "Most importantly, we want to make a concert for city people - for Bangkokians.

"Right now, with the flagging economy, it's a risk investing a lot of money in a concert. But I believe if you put on a good concert, the audience will come - and we're really only talking about a small-scale show with a capacity crowd of about 1,000 not 100,000.

Gigglenize, coined from of "gig" and "organise", is currently planning three or four small shows a year alongside a few medium-size concerts and one larger spectacle. The next event is scheduled for around the middle of the year.

Among Autthapol's ideas is a plan to bring foreign DJs to spin grooves in the City of Angels.

"While studying in Australia, we arranged a party at a pub with a show by DJs. Most of the pub-goers were Asian students. We'd like to do that for Thais here but we're not yet sure about DJ music in Thailand," he says.

Tickets for the "Everyday I Love You" concert are available at Bt500, Bt800, Bt1,200, Bt1,500, or Bt2,000, which includes a single CD, at Thaiticketmajor.com.

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

The Nation