After Bakery Music was sold to Sony BMG,
I worked as a consultant at Sony for a couple of years. I wanted to produce a second album for B5, but the company turned me down. Well, they didn’t actually say no, but they kept rescheduling a meeting because of their “internal” problems.

Of course, I was upset and disappointed. But I had gone through a lot worse, so it was fine.

Staying put is very difficult for me. Leaving Sony BMG, I planned to take a year off simply to stay home and enjoy a much-needed rest. But it turned out to be very tiring and boring. To me, taking a break is even more exhausting than working.

I also dabbled in publishing. I launched Katch magazine, but I had a fight with the staff. I asked them to make some adjustments in the magazine layout and they got so upset they all walked out. You know what; kids nowadays, you can’t scold them that much.

Last year was my turning point. It was a bad time for both music and politics. There was the coup and the music scene was pretty dead.

I reached the point where I really needed to go back to work. Plus, I felt that dance music was finally making a comeback after letting hip hop reign for a few years.

I want to create a stir. These past few years, no one has truly stood out. The music scene hasn’t seen a real big act for a long time. Even now, P’Bird still grabs the best male singer title at almost every award show that exists. Come on, we don’t have any new faces?

For Academy Fantasia, music is just a tool used to butter up their real business, which is a reality TV show.

These days, audiences have no connection with music. They listen to a song, but they don’t know who is singing it. It is probably because artists come up with music that all sounds the same. Or maybe because the audiences just download music from the internet and don’t pay attention to the artists behind it at all.

Plenty Music is my new baby. It is a big change for me. I was surrounded by friends when I worked at Bakery, but now it’s only me and my sisters. Plus, I have to find new talented songwriters and arrangers because the ones I used to work with are all working on their own projects now.

Food, fun, family and friends are my four main inspirations. That’s why my new album is called 4F=M. Without them, I can’t create music.

I need to dust off my skills. I haven’t released a single for six years, and a lot of things have changed during that time.

Just before the album came out, I listened to the tracks that I finished and I felt that they were already outdated, so I had to go back to make some changes.

As a remixer, I add new twists to old, classic songs so that the new generation gets to rediscover them.

The Wizard of Dance Music is just a nickname that the media gave me. It is flattering but it is just a part of the media blitz. I would be happier if fans walked up to me and told me they like my music.

I used to have an enormous ego. I thought what I did was so awesome and I didn’t care about the feedback. When I read my old interviews, I almost puke. I was so full of myself back then. I am more mature now.

I plan my future day by day. Each morning I set a goal for myself and try to achieve it.

I still prefer to have my personal space. I am happy to sign an autograph and pose for a photo for the fans, but sometimes I am just not in the mood.

Without music, I would die. In 2003, my parents passed away. Not long after that, Bakery Music went bankrupt. I was very depressed and locked myself up at home. Usually, I was the one who played music for my friends to listen to, but at that time my friends had to come over to my house and play The Beatles and Paul McCartney songs for me.

Music cheered me up and encouraged me to move on. Be honest. That’s my advice to aspiring artists. The more honest you are, the better your music sounds. This might sound like the easiest thing to do, but I don’t see many people doing it.