#david coker

[fuckyeahsimongilbert]

Biography of Futon, the legendary Thailand band

As some of you have known, Suede’s drummer Simon Gilbert joined a Thai band called Futon in early 2005 after Suede announced its split in 2003. There are so little info about this band, but when I read their story, i was totally amazed by their personalities and their music. I want to let more people know about them. So here comes the Futon.

Futon, an underground electro-punk band based in Bangkok, was formed in 2003, with 4 members originally:

Paul Bee Hampshire (UK, from Getting The Fear & Into A Circle) - Guitars and Keyboards

David Coker (UK) - Lead Guitars

Gene Kasidit (Thai) - Lead vocals

Momoko Ueda (Japan) - Vocals and keyboards

Their first hit, a cover of the Iggy Pop hit “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, sang in Thai, Japanese and English, was championed by radio DJs in the UK, Australia, Singapore, and (bizarrely) Croatia. Later it was also used in the HBO documentary, ‘Thinking XXX’.

Futon's debut album "Never mind the Botox" is released in Thailand in November 2003 and went massive. The initial run of 4, 000 - a plastic encased limited edition - is snapped up at lightning speed.

London radio DJ's like Radio 1's Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe, Xfm's Lauren Laverne and Eddie Temple Morris also started championing Futon on their Shows. The scene secured Futon shows in London at ace clubs like Nag, Nag, Nag, and Mark Moore’s Electrogogo.

To know more about their concepts, read the interview: Bangkok Post 2004.09.03

2005

After seeing them headline a Thai Festival, Simon Gilbert met them backstage and said they were great but should ditch the drum machine and get a real drummer. They cheekily suggested that he could become a Futon and, as Suede were on a hiatus, he joined the band.

They played their first live show together at the MTV AsiaAid party in Bangkok on February 3rd, and appeared at the MTV Asia Music Awards show (Full report). On February 12th they also played at an Asian Disaster benefit concert on Samae Beach in Pattaya Thailand.

Futon’s 2nd album "Love Bites" (Pics from inside pages) along with the music video for the single "Rich Baby" is released both in Thailand and Japan (titles "Give Me More!").

Futon went on to play shows all over the world, from Ireland to Vietnam, Malaysia, Tokyo, Paris, London to Shanghai, and to over 350,00 people at Berlin’s CSD Pride festival.

2006

OH+ (Hathairat Charoenchaichana) , who previously a model as well as an actress and played bass for Thailand’s biggest rap artist, Joey Boy, joined them on bass.

Futon are chosen by Tiger Beer to front the Tiger ‘Translate’ tour under the banner of ‘taking the best of Asia to the world’. Shows follow in Shanghai (Chinese report), Dublin, Singapore and Bangkok.

(Watch their interview in Dublin: Tiger Translate Event ; more clips)

2007-2009

Futon releases their third album “PainKiller”. The album cover is said to be made by Simon.

After the recording, momoko and David left. Gene left Futon in Oct 2008 to pursue a solo career. (Full Interview)

After that, in 2009, Simon, Bee and OH+ with a new guitarist Tuan (Thai) reformed into a new band called GOO. (I will later write another post to introduce this lineup) However, Futon doesn’t end here. The band, apart from Simon, held several reunion shows between 2013-2024. The legend keeps going…

“Emerging from the Nightlife capital of the Orient, Bangkok based Futon are a band that defy definition and confront the South East Asian pop stereotype with reckless abandon.”

Official Music Videos:

I Wanna Be Your Dog (link currently invalid)

Love So Strong

Rich Baby (link currently invalid)

High

Talk Of The Town

Strap It On

Used

Vlog & Interviews:

Futon in Japan (short)

Futon in Japan (long)

Source: THE BEE NOW (Bee’s personal site), HKW, last.fm, suedepage, xfuton (official Futon site. Check the forum!)

[rainingmusic]

Jon & Vangelis - State of Independence

[fuckyeahsimongilbert]

Thai-dyed and legless

A highly informative and previously unseen interview with Simon Gilbert, who rarely opens up about why he moved to Thailand and joined the incredible Thai band Futon.

From Hot Press Magazine, July 2006 By Ed Power

Following the implosion of Suede, drummer Simon Gilbert quit the rock'n'roll business and moved to Thailand, only to hook up with a pair of fellow ex-pats, making big music under the Futon banner.

Simon Gilbert sits in his back garden in Bangkok, watching lizards scrabble over the hot rocks, wondering how he blundered his way back to a career in pop music.

“After Suede, being in a band is the last thing I wanted to do,” reminisces the drummer. “In fact, I moved to Thailand specifically to get away from the music industry.”

Gilbert, drummer for all of Suede’s ten-year history, may have been ready to give up on music, but music wasn't ready to give up on him. Six months after relocating to Thailand – drawn, he says, by the “sleaze and the glamour” – he fell in with fellow ex-pat musicians, David Coker and DJ Bee (real name unknown) who, under the ephitet Futon, were investigating major-league melodies and stadium-rock choruses. You can hear the result of their collaboration on Futon’s debut album, a juddering soft-rock extravaganza called Love Bites. Set next to Futon’s lascivious anthems, Suede sound like weedy indie nerds.

“At the time I came upon Futon they didn’t have a drummer – it was just a drum machine,” reminisces Gilbert. “You could already see they had potential. These are big, big songs, man. Songs that need, demand, to be heard on the radio.”

With Love Bites vaulting to the top of the charts, Futon have blossomed into Thailand’s favourite rock act. This, says Gilbert, is a more modest boast than it might sounds.

“The rock scene here really isn’t that big. Outside of Bangkok you won’t sell any records. Even within Bangkok, we don’t really fit in because the music scene is very exploitative. It’s all conveyor belt pop acts, so anything different is bound to stand out.” Gilbert says he harbours no ill memories over Suede, who, unlike most bands of their age and stature, were spared a messy death: on the cusp of irrelevance, the veteran Britrockers drifted apart in 2000.

“It just felt right,” says Gilbert of Suede’s last days. “There’s no use flogging a dead horse. If I’m being honest, we were getting a little bit bored. It had started to feel like a routine.” Does he keep in contact with his former band mates?

“Funnily, I was never particularly close with anyone in Suede to begin with. There’s no bad blood, at all. But we’re not on the phone to each other every second weekend, either.”

Having conquered Bangkok and the, er, surrounding villages, Futon now have their sights on global, or at least European, domination.

“We don’t have a major label behind us, so it’s up to us to make this happen for ourselves,” Gilbert reflects. “What makes it so interesting for me is that some of the guys in the band were Suede fans as kids. Now, we’re doing this together. It’s totally crazy.”

[fuckyeahsimongilbert]

Futon - Love Bites, 2005

Found these beautiful inner pages and studio shoots on Discogs and Bee’s Facebook page

Simon’s incredibly hot…

photo by Kornkrit Jianpinidnan