Smarter than the average former teen idol, Montonn (J) Jira has parlayed his notoriety into a successful new career. At 27 years of age, his dream of being a music producer has come true. After studying music in the United States, he returned to Thailand to start his own series of EPs and work with Joni Anwar on the Fat Award-winning Outtaspace. Next up, a collaboration with Thaitanium and Khan to produce ringtones and advertising soundtracks.

To save money for my dream of studying music abroad, I worked as a model. All that was involved was smiling and having photos taken.

I studied economics in California to take a break from music. It doesn’t require any inspiration, just theory. Turns out I’m not good at economics.

Dan, my younger brother, and I are absolutely different in attitude, favorite things, job preference and way of thinking. Dan loves acting, but I don’t. However, we have a good relationship and get along well in some conversations.

I’ve been veggie since I was 17 years old. When I learned about hiking at school, my teachers recommended [vegetarianism] to me so I would have more stamina and endurance for adventure. And it works! But I still eat seafood.

Yoga makes me feel good—light, as if I’m floating. However, I have stopped it for the moment because my foot was sprained. So I’m gaining some weight.

My lover Becky and I have gotten along well for three years, so I’m happy. She’s quite an independent girl and doesn’t request any attention from me. Sometimes she also helps me with my job.

Iceland is my favorite place, but I have never gone there. Many songs, melodies and rhythms from Iceland are quite weird, but they are so heavenly and dreamy. So I want to know why they are that way. From textbooks I know that Iceland has few people, an extreme environment and an enormous landscape as if it’s not from this world.

I love to read equipment manuals, especially for musical hardware. It’s fun and it’s good for me to completely understand the equipment I use.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand is my favorite book. It’s about a smart architect who was always looked down on by his teacher because of his unique thinking. In the end he accomplishes [his goals] by being the black sheep.

I only pay attention to what I want to make first, then I’ll try to get listeners. On the other hand, music companies always try to please the listener first. Then again most of my songs are quite complicated, so few people like them anyway. I don’t care.

“Don’t worry and let it be” is my motto. I think I should be responsible for myself and accept my decisions even if they’re seriously bad.

Joining the American band Kenna was a great opportunity. I was bassist and keyboard player. We were the opening band for Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode on two US tours. And now we are producing our second album, so you can check it out the middle of this year.

Nowadays a lot of crap movies are produced. I don’t like seeing them so much. However, I love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And my favorite movie is Little Otik, a Swedish flick about a wooden boy who becomes a human.

In the next life, I want to be reincarnated as a cat. A cat is always lazy and does nothing, just sleeps and eats. I love cats.

Advertisement

Leave a Comment