Talking with Louis and Joni | Bangkok Post: learning

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The Sunday Brunch magazine editor had a long chat with Louis and Joni of the 90's group Raptor. Find out why they are back in the news and also what they said about their early days.

Louis (left) and Joni in a familiar pose.

If you are a Thai pop music fan, you'll certainly know of Louis and Joni who made up the group Raptor which shot to popularity in the 1990's and then abruptly quit when their fame was at its highest. Now, after 13 years, they are planning two reunion concerts. Last week they sat down with the editor of our Sunday Brunch magazine Kritini Upayokin for a long interview. You can read it in full here: http://bit.ly/nL27uk

To get you started, here is an excerpt in which they talk about their lives as child stars. It gives you a good idea why they decided to call it quits. I'm sure you'll enjoy it and you'll enjoy the full story even more.

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Not all fun and games

Kritini Upayokin

The young boys perform in rollerblades and clothing they would never wear if they had a choice.

Recalling their days as child pop stars, it's the fashion they remember first, and not with fondness.

"I have good memories mostly, until I remember what we were wearing!" says Louis, blushing. "When I'm watching one of our videos, it's like 'Geez, turn that off!' The music is still good, but it's what we were wearing that bothers me most."

Joni agrees. "Before we used to grimace but now we giggle about it, because we're past it. But still, bright coloured jacket, shirts all the way down to the socks, hideous hairstyle. Come on! It's funny that's how people remember us."

After reflecting on their days of rollerblades and outsized shirts, do they think they began their careers a bit prematurely?

Joni says they were too young to consider their work from that perspective "It wasn't our career – it was our life. We didn't choose to work for money. It was a life choice made for us."

He says he's always loved music, but there was a "bad side" to the industry that he detested and being asked to do "ridiculous" things was a part of that.

"[I would ask] 'Why do we have to do this and that? I can't believe we're doing this! I can't believe we had to wear this!' It's so fake," he says. “I always asked too many questions like that. I rejected that part of the entertainment business."

You're just like 'I don't want to do anything today.' Do we have a choice not doing anything today? No we don't."

Louis and Joni explain there reasons for quitting on a TV show 13 years ago.

Responding to the pressure, the two sought fun wherever they could find it, running wild in studios and on set, hiding and generally misbehaving – "dek narok" (children from hell) was the nickname adults around them had for them.

Looking back on their abbreviated childhoods, Louis says the sacrifices they made have proven worthwhile. ''They gave me a name. If it hadn't been for that, I'd have had a hard time getting into acting later on,'' he says.

''I don't know,'' says Joni, smiling. ''I mean we're not like Michael Jackson but we did miss out on a good portion of our younger lives. We were just kids.''

popularity – a situation in which someone or something is liked by many people ความเป็นที่นิยม, ความเป็นที่ชื่นชอบ
abruptly – suddenly and unexpectedly, and often unpleasant อย่างกะทันหัน
fame – the state of being famous or very well known ชื่อเสียง
reunion – a situation in which people meet each other again after a period of time when they have been separated การพบกันอีกครั้ง
excerpt – a part of a longer story, speech, song, text, etc. บทคัดย่อ
recall – to remember จำได้ นึกทบทวน
fondness – a fondness or liking for something ความชอบ
blush – to become red in the face because you are embarrassed or ashamed อาการหน้าแดงเพราะเขินอาย, ละอาย
bother – to make someone feel worried or upset ทำให้รำคาญ, ทำให้วิตกกังวล
grimace – to make an ugly expression with your face to show pain, disgust, etc ทำหน้าตาบูดเบี้ยว,แหกหูแหกตา, ทำหน้าบูดบึ้ง
giggle – to laugh in a silly way because you are amused, embarrassed or nervous หัวเราะคิกคัก, หัวเราะต่อกระซิก
hideous – very ugly or unpleasant น่าเกลียดมาก, น่ากลัว,น่าตกใจ
reflect – to think about something carefully ไตร่ตรอง, ครุ่นคิด
outsized – larger than the usual size, designed for large people ซึ่งขนาดใหญ่เป็นพิเศษ
career – a job or series of related jobs that you do, especially a profession that you spend a lot of your working life in  อาชีพ
premature – happening too soon  เร็วเกินไป
consider – to give careful thought to something before making a decision พิจารณา
perspective - a particular way of considering something ทัศนคติ
detest – to hate someone or something เกลียดชัง
ridiculous – silly or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at น่าขัน, น่าหัวเราะ, ไร้สาระ
fake – made to look or seem like something real to trick people ปลอม, เทียม, เก๊
reject – to not agree with ปฏิเสธ ไม่ยอมรับ
pressure – a worried feeling that you get when you have to deal with a difficult or complicated situation ความกดดัน
seek (past form: sought) – to try to obtain or achieve something พยายามได้มา
misbehave – to behave badly ประพฤติตัวไม่เหมาะสม, ประพฤติผิด
nickname – an informal name for someone or something, especially a name which you are called by your friends or family, usually based on your proper name or your character ชื่อเล่น
abbreviated – shortened สั้น
sacrifice – important or valuable things given up, so that you or other people can have or do something else ความเสียสละเพื่อส่วนรวม
worthwhile – useful, important or good enough to be a suitable reward for the money or time spent or the effort made คุ้มค่ากับความพยายาม
prove worthwhile – to be shown to be useful, important or good enough to be a suitable reward for the time spent or the effort made มีคุ้มค่ากับความพยายาม
portion – a part of something ส่วน

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