More than seven years since their debut, independent four-man band FREEHAND clinched not one, but two, accolades at music awards this year.
At the Guitar Music Awards 2024, the band won Best Indie Artiste of the Year, followed by the Best Breakthrough Artiste of the Year at the TOTY Music Awards less than two weeks later.
The band hit mainstream success with their stirring single ขอให้เธอใจดี (May she be kind) – released in March 2023 – which has more than 121 million Youtube views to date.
In an interview with ChaPop, FREEHAND speaks about their plans beyond a string of successes, and what to expect for the rest of the year.
2024 has been a good year so far for FREEHAND: you’ve won two awards, you’ve released a new studio album and you have a concert upcoming. How do you feel about the year so far?
The two awards we received this year greatly exceeded our expectations. We were just happy with the music we made and hoped that those who listened would be happy as well. But receiving the awards is like having our efforts and dedication recognised. We have to thank the fans of FREEHAND for their support, which has made our music well-known.
We have just released a new album called ArunSong along with an upcoming concert. We are very excited to play the new songs from the ArunSong album for the first time, as well as some old songs that we rarely perform live. We have prepared well and hope it will turn out as we intended.
Can you talk about the process of creating your newest album ‘ArunSong’? What did you enjoy the most and what were some challenges?
We started the concept by all demos we had and found that our songs are brighter in tone compared to the previous album. So, we named it ArunSong, a mixed word in Thai and English, meaning ‘song of the morning sunlight.’
We had enjoyed to do experimenting with a new way of playing. You will find that the sound is different from the previous album, which had a more darker tone. However, this album is more fun and has a more lively groove.
Your first concert is upcoming in July. What can fans expect?
The upcoming concert is named FREEHAND & YOU because we aim to show relationships between Freehand and our fans. Therefore, fans will feel the love, warmth, and healing energy together throughout the concert.
Freehand has won two awards this year (at TOTY and at Guitar Mag Awards) – how did you feel about that?
We started from bedroom studio,It’s surprise that our almost entirely self-produced songs were recognized at a major awards. It’s a great encouragement and makes us want to improve ourselves.
Could you talk about how the band came to be? What was the inspiration for the name and music?
We came together in university and started making music since then. Now we have released 1 EP and two albums.
We are named FREEHAND to reflect our aim to convey sincere emotions and limitless imagination in our songs, just like drawing with minimal tools in art.
What’s next for FREEHAND this year?
After the FREEHAND & YOU concert, we expect to tour many places, bringing new songs from ArunSong to our friends. We anticipate this will be an exciting year for Freehand.
ArunSong is out now on streaming platforms. Tickets to FREEHAND’s ‘FREEHAND & You’ concert – held on 13 July – are still available on Ticketmelon.
