The Bangkok Five know what it takes to be a success: a love of music. Two of its members, Frost, who does vocals, and Blanco, who plays the drums, talk to us about music and more.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How did you get involved in the music business?
BLANCO:
I started playing music when I was really young, as I’m sure all of us were. I think everybody goes through the phase of, you see your biggest icons and your rock stars, and you want to grow up and do that, but as you grow up and get involved with it, you realize that it’s what you’re meant to do. You have no other choice of doing anything else, and you’re stuck with it. You slowly go from wanting everything in the world to just wanting to be able to continue playing music for the rest of your life, because that’s what you’re meant to do. We’ve found each other, and it’s a very positive writing environment for us. We know exactly what we want to be doing, and that’s playing music with each other, and making the best music possible with each other.
FROST:
Basically, what it really is, is people that really are here to make music, and people who are really here to actually do this for the rest of their lives. This isn’t the kind of thing where you get into it and you give it a year, and you kind of hope that it takes off, and it doesn’t take off, and I go sing for somebody else. We really have found something where I feel like we’re playing with the best people you could ever find to play with, and that to me is what’s really powerful about what we’re doing.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What is the key element that has helped you be successful?
BLANCO:
I think for the most part, you keep it real. You do what makes sense to you. You’re not trying to follow the trend or trying to do what’s cool, or what’s gonna sell. You do what feels right. Regardless of all the struggles and triumphs, at the end of the day, you’re having fun. Your worst day in this music industry…our worst day is still the best day of any life.
FROST:
If you’re making real music that really matters to you, you are a success. The fact that I wake up everyday and I do this makes me a success. I think a big aspect of your question is how do you monitor success? What is success? We are a successful rock and roll band. We tour, we put a record out every two years, sometimes every year. That to me is what it’s all about. I think Blanco said something really important: keeping it real, and that’s doing what really ignites you. That’s about as real as it gets. I’m making music that I love.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How would you describe what the kind of music you make is?
FROST:
I think there’s definitely a lot of strong influences. As a vocalist, I can tell you that James Brown is one of my great influences. Iggy Pop is one of my great influences, a lot of the crooners, and of course Frank Sinatra. For me, it’s about taking what’s great about music that I love…Bringing all of those things together in a really powerful stage show. Passion, when you see The Bangkok Five perform live. There’s a lot of old school punk, and at the same time, there’s a lot of Stones, a lot of Zeppelin in Blanco’s drumming.
BLANCO:
There’s a lot of Motown, a lot of groove. But in the end it’s rock and roll.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What is the creative process like for you guys?
BLANCO:
Well, I’m just the drummer [laughs].
FROST:
Very sarcastically by the way, I’m talking about Blanco. The Bangkok Five is a home depot. Let’s use this as an analogy. Each of us are different tools. Some of us excel at different things. But ultimately you can’t build a house without all the tools, and bottom line is, we’ve got the entire home depot with the five of us.
BLANCO:
That’s a great analogy. Everybody does something powerful and important…we’re very open in the creative process. We constantly write and record. However, only the stuff that all five of us end up putting our final stamp of approval on is what becomes The Bangkok Five.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What’s going on with you now?
BLANCO:
We are always writing. I wish sometimes that we could stop. We’re always writing. We’re just in the very beginning stages of our record cycle. The record comes out on May 13, worldwide. We will be touring.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What do you want say the fans?
BLANCO:
I think the music does the talking. But at the end of the day, we want people to hear our music. We’re very passionate about it. We created it for ourselves. We want to offer it to the world, so we want people to listen. Obviously, if they enjoy it, that’s more exciting for us.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What else should people know about you?
FROST:
We have a very interesting setup, where the singer of the band does a lot of the graphic art. When you buy a T-Shirt, you’re literally buying the artwork of the band, the artwork of the singer. It’s not some guy in an office hired to design this stuff for us. All of the statement T-shirts[are] things that I want to wear, and if I have an idea in my head, and I’ll make a shirt.
BLANCO:
Anytime anybody interfaces with The Bangkok Five on any level, they’re always interfacing with the band. They’re never interfacing with the big record label. It’s the band that does everything.
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