Jeff Satur Opens Up About ‘Red Giant,’ Learning Trust, And The Rise Of Thai Pop

As a multi-hyphenate artist, Jeff Satur has never backed down from trying to chase perfection in his work. Whether that’s in his acting, production, fashion, or songwriting, the Thai artist has shown dedication to his craft on another level — so much so he’s established his own personal studio, Studio On Saturn, as of 2022.

Recently, as well, the artist travelled the world, bringing his ‘Red Giant’ album tour to spots all across the globe, from Asia to the United States. Here, the producer-songwriter sold out arenas across major Asian markets, like his homeground in Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong. As one of the most-streamed Thai artists globally, he continues to grow his influence as a dominating force worldwide, introducing Thai music to the mainstream.

On that note, Billboard Philippines held an exclusive interview with Jeff Satur regarding his recent ‘Red Giant’ world tour, the intricacies behind his songwriting, his perspective of the rising Thai music scene, and more.

Billboard Philippines: How are you feeling today?

Jeff Satur: I’m excited to perform here (Los Angeles) and also to meet the fans.

First and foremost, we’d like to congratulate you on your recently concluded ‘Red Giant‘ tour that spanned locations all throughout the globe. So how does it feel to receive so much love throughout that tour and your album of the same title?

I mean, to meet all the fans, I mean, like, I have reached out to all my energy, and also to meet them in their own countries, it just feels amazing. I mean, we’ve been together for a long time, and we like to talk about how I’m going to just meet them in their countries to have some good times. To have it succeed, it’s just amazing.

How does it feel to receive so much love for the Red Giant?

I’m a bit shy, so it’s, I mean, it’s good to feel that much love from them and but also to just wrote a song that really helped and inspired the fans and to connect with them with like English version or English track that I’ve never been done before to put out those track is just a way to connect to them. It’s pretty amazing. So yeah.

Delving more into the album itself, Red Giant feels like a cohesive world rather than just a collection of tracks. When you started building the album, what was the emotional or conceptual core that you were after?

It connects to Space Shuttle No.8. It’s about Sunshine and me. Sunshine is like another part of me, who’s very fierce and confident in himself. I mean, every solo concert of mine, we have like a two-part where I’m going to be just me, and then we’re going to have a darker part where I’m going to sing like all the dark songs like “Dum Dum” and like all the like dark five song. So Sunshine is always a part of me.

On the other hand, Red Giant is a stage of the sun where it’s about to explode. It’s going to become a Red Giant where it’s going to be the brightest and going to be at its hottest stage, and then it’ll explode to become something else. So I mean, this Red Giant, it just felt like my entire journey as an artist since I was a kid. It’s just been like this, especially since four years ago, when it just went through the roof like this. It just felt like that sun was just going to explode, where I just want to release this feeling in some way.

In this way, I chose to put out an album where I just spoke about the feeling that I just want to explode or just want to be born again as something new. So I don’t know what I’m going to become after this explosion, but it’s going to be something new. So that’s why I released Red Giant.

Compared to your earlier releases, what did you want to grow from? What did you want to evolve or challenge in this album? 

My first goal was to just connect to the international fans because in Shuttle No.8, we only had one English song. But this Red Giant, almost all the tracklist is in English, the only song in Thai is “Golden Night.” So my goal was just to connect with all the international fans, who can understand English, and also to explore areas where I’m not comfortable doing it with myself.

So this album, we had a Swedish producer to help me and to just guide me through, like a very new sound and a new experience. I don’t really do song camps, I don’t like it. But this time, I went to Sweden to just do the tracks “Ride or Die,” or “Tell Me The Name.” It just got me a chance to do something with other people, not only just me in the room alone writing by myself. So, I mean, it’s good.

You normally produce your own work. Since you mentioned you worked with Swedish producers, what was it like letting other people in on your creative process this time?

I mean, it’s hard because I want things in a certain way way, I wanted to be that way, like it’s always been me, just like straight to this direction. But to have another person or like somebody who has this expertise in that area, like writing melody, and to just like produce, everything went so fast. Like, I remember “Ride or Die” was finished in just one day, like the demo was finished in one day. I learned to trust other people more. And also to just like let other people in, to tell this story, my personal experience about love, about life, and everything.

It’s just amazing to sometimes just give your material and just let someone else work with your material to create something that no one’s ever seen before. It’s going to be something only we can do.

This also marks your first album in almost two years. What made you want to commit this time to releasing a full album? What message did you want to get across in this full body of work?

I just want to continue telling the story of Shuttle No.8, but it’s not really connected to each other in like the main timeline. It’s kind of like a spin-off if you’re watching the “series.” It’s kind of a spin-off a bit to tell a story about Sunshine, and I wanted to do something that’s outside of the main theme too. I wanted to put on more songs too, so when we do a tour, we have more songs to sing together than the last album.

It’s fun that you describe it as a spin-off. I also wanted to ask how your background in film and television sometimes influences how you write songs or music.

Most of the time, or sometimes, some of that song is not based on my personal experience. Sometimes it’s based on what I was as a character when I was in the theme. In Rain Wedding, “Why Don’t You Stay?” came an experience from those characters. Because if I’m writing from the Jeff Satur, I couldn’t think of that kind of melodies or that type of song. So it just helped me a lot.

I mentioned earlier that you’re very involved in composing and producing your own music. What does being hands-on in the studio allow you to express?

Because I’m pretty introverted, when I’m in pretty bad mood, I try to put everything into the song. Like the song “Dum Dum” is just me wanting to punch someone, or it’s just me wanting to take revenge on someone. So I try to like put that in a song. When I’m in the studio, I’ll be like, “Oh, okay, whatever first emotion gets to me, I’m going to keep that emotion and put it into the song.” It’s like a blank canvas where you can just pin everything on it. 

Looking more into the growth of Thai music and the popularity of Thai music, what do you think makes Thai music resonate internationally right now?

I think every country has its own sound. In Thailand, we have a pretty, I would say, a very native traditional instrument where everybody knows as a kid, we grew up with this type of sound. I think the Philippines also has that type of sound. In Thailand, we have Molam, or Luk Thung, or It’s pretty hard to sing, but it’s resonant with us all in Thai.

We don’t really notice, but we put it in songs without knowing it is there. So that makes Thai songs pretty special in a way that, everybody knows that’s a Thai song. That’s a Thai melody. That is like a Thai vibe. I think that is really connected because I mean, people from around the world, they’re curious about how another country’s music is going to be like. Thai music is also very authentic, very down to earth. We’re very honest. I think that is what people are looking for in this type of era.

As your neighbors in Southeast Asia, we can definitely relate. You’re currently also one of the most-streamed Thai artists globally. How would you like your work to represent Thai art and culture across the globe?

I don’t. If I carried that kind of responsibility, I couldn’t create something new or something out of my comfort zone if I cared too much about that. But if you’re doing good work, if you put out something that you love, even if it’s T-Pop culture or T-Pop music sound or whatever, it’s going to be there. If you’re a Thai artist, it’s going to work in its own way. My only job is just to do my work to the best as I could. So the Thai vibe or Thai music or Thai sound is going to carry with my own work throughout the world. If that makes sense.

Yes, it makes sense! That’s what’s authentic to you, so it will come out either way.

Lastly, you spoke earlier about how you’re currently in the Red Giant phase of the star. What can fans expect in your next chapter of music? Are there any projects that we can look forward to?

I’m about to release music, a new piece in Thai, but it’s going to be me exploring new stuff again because it’s past the exploding phase right now. It’s past the Red Giant phase. It’s going to be new stuff. I don’t really know what it’s going to be like, but each track is going to be different from each other from the past, also different from each other this year too. I’m curious to what it’s going to be like, but let’s just explore it together.

Are there any kinds of sounds or maybe collaborations that you’re looking to explore in this new chapter?

This year, there’s going to be a collaboration I’m looking forward to, but I can’t say anything about it but I’m looking forward to it. The sound, I think I’m just going to delve more into a very traditional Thai sound or another country’s sound. I went to Indonesia. There’s a bell, the type of bell, where it’s only in Indonesia. I travel a lot, so I kind of gather all the sounds that I just want to try to explore more in my music. Doing a tour around the world is gonna show up in the new tracks.

So on that note, when can Filipino fans expect to see you live?

Of course, definitely. I’m going to go to the Philippines for sure, but I don’t know where, when, or how, but I’m going to go there for sure. They’re waiting for me, so it’s my responsibility to go there.