BUS because of you i shine is arguably one of T-Pop’s most prominent boy groups – and they are barely two years into their music career.
Fan-meetings sell out in just hours, and songs trend quickly – sometimes hitting the million-view milestone in under a day.
They are also one of the country’s largest groups, at 12 members. Formed in late 2023 after the idol survival show 789 Survival, BUS would go on to release nine singles, including their latest Boss In The Building.
Along the way, the Sonray Music group has built up a sizeable fandom – called BEUS – and clinched key product endorsement deals, including with Thai telco AIS, Nestle Pure Life water, and more recently, the 7-Eleven chain.
In their first English-language interview, ChaPop catches up with BUS members Alan, Heart, Jungt, Khunpol, Marckris and Nex at this year’s Summer Sonic Bangkok. The group was one of several Thai acts at this year’s Summer Sonic Bangkok, an experience it has called “refreshing”.
BUS’ Bangkok performance follows their debut at the flagship Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, coupled with their first fan-meeting in Tokyo.
Fresh off its successes in Japan, BUS has now set its sights on expanding its global reach – or as member Alan puts it: “Right now, we want to go all around the world.”
It’s been almost two years since BUS’ debut – how would you describe the journey?
KHUNPOL: It’s been quite a year, and we’ve been through a lot. Well, there are lots of ups and down…but you know, we can go through it and still be us today.
How does it feel to be performing in Summer Sonic Bangkok?
ALAN: It’s very refreshing. It’s a new kind of audience, because Summer Sonic is full of big names from all around the world. The people that were watching us just now – there were a lot of new faces and it was very refreshing for us. It’s our hometown where we feel very comfortable, we feel very safe…we feel settled down.
MARCKRIS: it’s good to be back home.
You’ve also recently performed at Summer Sonic Japan and had your first fan-meeting in Tokyo. How was Japan like?
JUNGT: We are thankful to be invited to Summer Sonic Japan. We also had our very first fan-meeting (in Tokyo)…and we enjoyed it very much, and we want to thank you for the very warm welcome. We hope we can meet again in Japan – we’ll come back!
Speaking of Japan, are you looking to go on an international tour? What are some countries or cities you hope to go to?
ALAN: All of them, actually! [laughs] We’re just starting internationally and I feel like we’ve done quite a lot in Thailand, so we want to expand our fanbase all around the world. Actually right now, we want to go all around the world.
Are there any artistes you wish to collaborate with?
MARCKRIS: We would love to work with everyone! (laughs) We love singing and we love performing…and I think each of us has our own favourite artistes and a lot of people that we want to work with.
Mine right now is (J-Pop girl group) HANA. I just discovered the group from when we were in Japan.. and the music came up while I was doing make-up…and I just really liked the song. We got to perform after them at Summer Sonic (Japan), and I got to listen to them through my in-ear monitor. They’re really good! In the future, if we have the chance we would love to work with them.
Did you get to say hi to HANA?
MARCKRIS: Yeah, they actually said hi to us backstage as they came down from the stage. Some of us took (social media) content with them.
ALAN: All of us have our favourite artistes that we would like to work with as well…so you guys can follow us on our social media [laughs], and maybe check out who we will be posting on our stories next.
You have launched the BUS Cover Project. Could you share what fans can expect?
HEART: For the cover project, you will see us sing the songs from other artistes, and you will see a new side…a new style of us.
MARCKRIS: We got to choose our own songs…
HEART: …that we like.
Any clue who’s next after Alan?
KHUNPOL: You’ll have to guess!
HEART: I guess it’s me?
ALAN: Who knows…nobody knows who it is?
Editor’s note: BUS has announced Heart would be releasing his cover track soon.
What’s your favourite part about being in BUS?
NEX: For me I like that we’re chill when we are working…when we are practising. We’re chill, we’re not stressed, but we still get to do good work – I love that part.
What can we expect next from BUS?
NEX: We will still keep making our good quality music…you can see our unique characters from all our works.
The group will be releasing a second album this year, and will be holding their second anniversary concert in December.
You can follow BUS on Instagram, X, Youtube and TikTok.
