Family comes before fame for the Groove Riders vocalist, which explains why, despite the huge success of the disco-funk outfi t’s masterpiece The Lift, he’ll soon be returning to his role as executive director of Toyota Mahanakorn.

We’re insane. We spent almost two million baht on the production of The Lift. It was a crazy move, but we all wanted the album to be the best. Thirty years from now when I look back at the album, I will proudly call it our masterpiece.

The Last Call for GR007 might be Groove Riders’ farewell concert. Like The Lift, I want it to be the band’s masterpiece.

We reach out to the fans through our performances. We always update our gigs to keep the public entertained; that’s something we’ve always taken pride in.

We get better and better every time we play. I think we’ve played more than 2,000 shows in the past seven years since we formed the band.

I love everything I do, but, honestly, I’m totally exhausted. Since the release of The Lift, our second album, I rarely have time to drop by the offi ce. When I play at pubs, sometimes I get to sleep at 4am.

At first, I thought I would take only a few years off to pursue my musical dream. But it has been almost eight years now. What I thought was just a dream has now become a full-time job.

I am grateful to my family. They encourage me to do what I love, allowing me to put the business on hold. But my father is getting old. I don’t want him to work that hard any more, so I think it’s time to take care of my family business.

When it comes to music, I never feel pressure. Really, what we’ve achieved is well beyond
my dreams.

I’ve never considered myself a singer. I don’t have a beautiful voice. I like to play with the rhythm and melodies of the songs, so I just have fun and go wherever the music takes me.

My proudest achievement is to be able to get thousands of fans on their feet and have them singing along when I perform. It gives me goose bumps.

I will definitely miss performing and making music. But you know, as we grow, we all have to take on more  responsibilities.

I am not, and won’t probably ever be, romantic. Shouldn’t I get a credit for being so consistent? [laughs] You can ask my wife. I rarely give her flowers. Being “romantic” doesn’t necessarily mean flowers or candlelit dinners. In my opinion, the fact that you are honest to your other half, treat each other well and have a steady, positive relationship is romantic enough for me.

Being a father dramatically changed me. Before, I was adventurous and enjoyed risky activities. But now life is not about me anymore. I have a wife and a son to come home to. If something happens to me, who else is going to take care of my family?

I give all my free time to my son. I don’t get to see him as much as I want to because of the constant touring. Now, if the press wants to interview me, I try to have them come over to my house so that I can have at least 10 minutes more with my son.

I’ve kind of improvised my parenting style. I read books, surf the internet and watch documentaries to get ideas. But I think each child is different and you can’t apply one fixed approach to all.

I have many heroes in many different fields. For music, I admire James Brown. He sang with soul. I also do voice-over for adverts, so my other hero is the BBC’s Sir David Attenborough. He has such a pleasant and sophisticated voice. As for business, I look up to my father and my grandfather.

“Be honest to the customers and treat them like family,” is what my grandfather taught me. I hope I can be half as good of a businessman as him.

My biggest challenge is to figure out how to be able to take care of my family business. We have some 900 employees. It’s not easy to take care of all of them.

Fame has never been on my wish list. All I want is a warm family.