Thai idol TEN discusses his songwriting and production debut: ‘It’s therapy for me now’

Artist and idol TEN has had many iterations to his music career. As well as being a member of three idol groups: NCT, WayV and SuperM, the Thai musician also launched his solo career in 2024. After co-founding the company ILLIMNT earlier this year, he has collated all his music experience and ventured into songwriting and producing for the first time. 

To begin his new creative chapter, TEN has simultaneously released tracks ‘IRL’ and ‘OUTWEST’ with starkly contrasting music styles. ‘IRL’ is a more melodic, introspective song that honours the community that have supported him through his decade-long career. ‘OUTWEST’ sonically strays from what we’re used to hearing from TEN, with a tech house sound.

It’s an impressive freshman venture into the dance genre and it’s abundantly clear that TEN and his team have taken the time to respect the rhythms and rules of dance music with ‘OUTWEST’. It’s hard to believe it’s his first attempt at house music, as he manages to hit many nuances and cadences of the genre, creating a track that would easily fit into plenty of huge DJ sets. The track is accompanied by laser-filled, hydro-heavy music video that evokes the dewy-dawn that has bled into the night before, as he careers though verdant surroundings. 

TEN has been involved with the whole 360 creative process, from the songwriting and production, right down to to the visuals. Everything from the outfits to the choreography to the music video have had his involvement, and every element is impressive curated. As he ventures into this new chapter of his solo career with more creative freedom, and a US showcase tour that kicks off in Seattle on 17 October and concludes in New York on 10 November, we spoke to him about both the joy and the pressure that comes with creative freedom.

Though immersing himself so deeply into the creative process, when he sits down to talk with us, he radiates an infectiously excitable aura whenever he talks about songwriting. The twinkle in his eyes and beaming smile beneath his tousled brown hair really shows that despite the pressures, he clearly relishes being involved with every aspect of his solo career. 

You’re very creative person. When songwriting, did anything particularly inspire you?

I think it would be my emotions. Every day I do a lot of surfing on social media platforms, looking at art, short stories and think about how those things relate to me. I try to put all those things into one place. Then I would start with the team [and say], “Ok, I want to talk about this kind of thing, and these sounds…is it going to be more RnB or acoustic?” That change depends on what I see and what I feel during that time. 

How does it feel to be emotionally vulnerable in your songwriting and talk about your inner feelings and connections with people? 

It’s very good! It’s my first time songwriting and being in a room with amazing songwriters and producers. I feel like songwriting is therapy for me now – to be in a room, just sitting there, sharing my stories and then the other writers sharing their stories, then finding a middle ground and writing it down, or singing a melody. I had a lot of fun. During my free time these days, when I don’t have any schedule (does a texting hand gesture) “let’s do a song section” and then we meet up and we start writing things.

Is it intimating being in a room like that? 

At first. In LA, it was my first time doing a song. At first it was very hard for me to express myself in front of all the songwriters and even the producers. I was too afraid to say what I really wanted at that time. I would be like, “This sounds good,” but I didn’t really express things like, “I didn’t like the beat right here,” or, “I think the melody could go up higher, or even the key could change.” As time goes by, I get to work with a lot of songwriters in Korea and in the US. Even my friends from far away send beats and demos, and I really got to talk to them, [saying], “I really like the demo you sent me, but it would be nice if we changed verse one into a more rap sound, or verse two more singing.” I really got to direct and structure my own songs and I feel like I have gotten more comfortable saying what I really want with more expression.

In your track ‘IRL’ you are singing about your connections to people and your ‘day ones’ Who are these people? 

I would say it would includes everyone that are important to me. In past days, in my old company, all the managers and the team helped me grow as an artist and all my members. Right now, all the staff, the creative directors, directors and friends I have had who have helped me create the visual and the music videos. Also all of my fans. ‘IRL’ communicates to all of them. I want to give the message that, if you have a dream, just go for it. There is nothing that can block you. It’s just you yourself that’s going to push you through for all the stuff you want. Live your life, have fun! 

The music industry is a very demanding world. You are often travelling, doing long schedules and working hard. Do you have many idol friends in the music industry that you have become close with over the years that help you through the tough times? 

I do have a lot of friends in the industry. It’s weird because I don’t really share my work with them face to face, it’s more chatting. I talk a lot with TAEMIN hyung from SHINee, and I talk to EXO’s DOH. All my seniors give me a lot of advice on my new start and music advice. They always have things to talk about. When I don’t know where to go, I just text them. I call them ‘Hyung’ (the honorific term for someone seen as an older brother figure.) I say “Hyung.. this is what I am going to do, what do you think? do you have any advice?” I feel like my seniors at my seniors really help with my decision making and when I have some hard time figuring out things. 

Who do you turn to for comfort or to lift your mood out of your industry friends or your fellow members?  

Yes I do! My WayV members, I hang out with them a lot, and my NCT members! Because during our trainee days we [were] stuck together 24 hours a day, we know each others pros and cons. It’s easier for me to really open up, sit down and be zero filter with all to them [and be] upfront and open-minded. So when I have a very stressful day, talking to my fellow members really helps.

Is it important to have these hyungs who can truly understand every aspect of your life as an idol? 

Yes. Because they had their debut before me, six-to-ten years before me, they know a lot of stuff. So having all those hyungs guiding me really helps me with my decision making. Though everyone has a common thing they always say to me. They say, “You know what you really want and you know what’s best for you, so we can just guide you, but at the end of the day, you have to be the one who decides what you really want and which way you’re going.” I feel like that’s the most important advice. It’s true, because at the end of the day,  I have to figure out my own way that I want to go and finding a good team, and also everything is by me and the team. 

Can you tell me about your songwriting process. What do you enjoy about it?

That there is no right or wrong in the songwriting process – there’s no stupid ideas. That’s the rule that we always have. We won’t say, “This is right” and “this is wrong,” or, “This is stupid” or “This is bad” – we won’t say those words. Being so carefree that you can sing random stuff, say random words in this section and no-one judge you – I think that’s the best thing! After we have written the song and it’s finished, then the second day, that’s the section where we’re like, “This part needs to be changed!” [laughs]. But at the time, everything is so carefree and that’s why I like being in the room.

Was there anything that you struggled with or didn’t anticipate when you started songwriting? 

Because I have just started writing melodies and directing the structure of the production itself, right now I haven’t had that much experience in writing the melodies, so sometimes I got stuck to the same melodies. I think that might take time for me to elevate myself to be a better songwriter. Changing the melodies and having different ideas in a very instant moment, that’s still hard for me, but everything else is OK! I’m still learning. 

It sounds like you really enjoy that?

Oh I do! Even in my free time, I text [my team], “Let’s just do it!”I feel like they try to turn off their phones now “because TEN contacts us too much” [Laughs].

Do you feel like you have a different connection to your songs when you write them yourself? Do you feel more connected or more pressure? 

I would say more excitement, because even my old albums Ten or Stunner I didn’t write my own songs, it was all pitching for demos. At the end of the day, the lyrics or how the songs going to be structure-wise, I really did put my hands on it, so the old songs that I have and the new songs have the same connection to me. I wouldn’t say the songs that I wrote by myself have more connection than the [older] songs. I liked those songs because they connected to me and I pitched for them, so I chose to do them. But, as a [songwriter] right now, and the songs that I’m preparing right now, all the lyrics show a more vulnerable side of me.

Are you excited or nervous to share your new music with your fans? 

Both, because if we talk about ‘OUTWEST,’ the sound is really different from what I used to release, and even how I use my vocals. It’s so different from ‘Stunner’ or ‘Nightwalker’ that I’m excited to show the fans something new, but on the other side I’m very scared on how they’re going to react and how it sounds because people have expectations. “TEN might release this kind of stuff, or sing like that,”  but ‘OUTWEST’ is going to be a totally different vibe to what people expected, so I’m very excited to see how everyone’s going to react to it.

It’s exciting to release these two songs, but seeing the fans reactions is nervewracking because everything from the concept and lyrics to the song structure, I really had a lot of input in it. I used a lot of my ideas in both of the songs, the music videos and everything. I can’t wait to see if they like the music video or not, or even the song itself. 

You are experimenting with different genres in this song. How do you have a connecting thread between tracks that have very different sounds? 

I think the two songs don’t have a connection that much. ‘IRL’ is more of me as a person, the life that I have been through  and this period of time after I left my old company and started my new company ILLIMNT. The song is about me during that period of time and the people around me. ‘OUTWEST’ is more me experimenting with this kind of sound and try something that I haven’t really touched on before. It’s a tech house kind of vibe. You’ve never seen me do this house music before, so I’m like, let’s experiment those kind of new choreography, new voice tones, new vocals. ‘OUTWEST’ is more experimental and ‘IRL’ is more personal to me. 

Are you currently writing at the moment? 

Yes! Every time I have my free time. We decided to put some of the songs [written] during my free time in the new album. 

You have lots of hobbies – are you being inspired to draw or photograph anything at the moment? 

Right now I have been doing a lot of character design. Because nowadays I’m more into packaging, posters, characters. Those kind of things I have had interest in, and I really want to make one of my own  figure, like a 3D design, so I have been studying a lot with that equipment. I am very bad at using the computer so that’s why it’s very hard for me to concentrate whilst doing all the programming! [Laughs].

It sounds like a lot of hard work, but creatively rewarding, being so involved?

Yes! I got to realise how tiring it is! Before, the system was so well prepared. The visual team, the album [team] –  everyone prepared everything and then just came to me and said, “OK TEN, do you like this?” That’s how it used to be. But right now, I have to find my own references, and really sit down and do the research. For ‘IRL’ and ‘OUTWEST’, [I had to think], “What kind of outfit do I want to wear?” and do a lot of mix-and-match by myself. Those kind of things make me realise that all the staff that worked [behind the scenes] and  how tired [they must be]. I recently went to my old company and saw my team when I was in SM, and I was like, “Now I understand you! Thank you so much!” Doing five months of this, I get to learn so many new things and I think I understand [things in the past], why this had to be like this, and that had to be like that. It’s a lot of self learning.

Which of your new songs are you most excited to perform and which of your old songs do you love to perform? 

I’m very excited to perform ‘OUTWEST’ live, and I can’t wait for the the fans to see ‘IRL’. We have so many surprises after that too. I can’t wait for them to see the visual art as well. From my old songs and playlist, I love to perform ‘Stunner’, ‘Nightwalker’ and ‘Shadow’… a lot of them!