Thai pop duo Hybs on why new album will be called Midnight Moo Ping – Style Feedzy

It’s starting to feel like 2023 is Hybs’ year. Formed amid pandemic boredom in 2021, the dreamy, wistful Thai pop duo quietly dropped their snappy sepia-tinged debut album Making Steak barely a year later – complete with irresistible, slow-burn earworms “Ride” and “Dancing with My Phone”, breakout hits with a combined 100 million Spotify plays and counting.

The ever-sharp duo – model-turned-singer/songwriter Alyn Wee (29) and model-turned-actor Karn Kasidej (26) – just gave us a taste of its follow-up (spoiler alert – believed to be dubbed Midnight Moo Ping – see below) with new single “Tip Toe”, dropping on vinyl on October 16 (grab it quick – LP copies of their debut album now sell for between US$40 and US$100).

Despite being a direct result of the dreaded C-word, the duo are now breaking free from its clutches and making up for lost time with a string of big live dates – in Taipei (September 8), at Head in the Clouds festival in Guangzhou, China (September 23-24) and South Korea’s Busan International Rock Festival (October 7-8) – which mark Hybs’ second regional tour this year.

This earlier outing included a stop at Hong Kong’s Clockenflap festival, where we caught up with the pair – donned in matching all-in-ones custom-made by Bangkoki brand Painkiller – to hear the whole story, and settle the debate about their head-scratching name once and for all.

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It must be good to finally get out and play these songs you made in your bedroom to actual human beings.

Alyn Wee: Oh, it feels like such a pleasure.

Karn Kasidej: It’s not just the two of us dancing in silhouette in our homes any more!

So let’s rewind. You guys knew each other way back when, fell out of touch, and reconnected during Covid-19, right?

AW: We were old friends – nine years ago we were in the same modelling agency and that brought us together. We both liked music, so back then we jammed a little bit, but we didn’t do anything serious. For me, back then, I was already a musician, he was an actor, and we were both doing modelling as a side job.

Who became the most successful model in the meantime?

Both: None of us! That’s why we’re here.

How did you reconnect?

AW: About a year into the pandemic, he DM’d me and, said do you want to make a Reels video on Instagram? We were pretty lonely …

KK: And we just need to look cool, anyway.

So it was like a branding thing?

KK: Just to look cool.

AW: Not even for branding.

KK: I’m a producer and I need to hop in on some singers, so I was making a Reel every week.

AW: His plan was to change singers on his IG every week.

KK: And now we’re stuck.

When you sat down to play together again, how did it compare to nine years ago?

AW: It was a totally different dynamic. He was mainly a guitarist back then, and I played a bit of acoustic guitar and wrote some songs. It was more like an acoustic folk kind of thing.

Did any of those songs survive into Hybs?

KK: None of them!

AW: I was writing a lot of Thai songs back then, but now we’re doing English songs. I was always more into English songs, and him too, but back then we just didn’t really think it was possible …

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I’m sure you’ve grown as musicians and people in those nine years. Be truthful: what was your first impression of each other back then?

KK: He looked like a girl, his hair was all long and curly. Even my girlfriend – I mean my ex-girlfriend back then – she got jealous of him. She was always spying on my Instagram, saying, “Who’s this girl?”

AW: He looked like an irresponsible kid to me … because he was.

What was the vibe at that first session?

AW: The real first session was unproductive. We just played video games and got high.

KK: Making some steak …

AW: But then he came back for some real work. He came to my house, he had some beats from home he brought over, and I took 10 minutes to write and record something over it. Then we filmed a 15 second video on Reels, and that actually turned out to be our first single [“Ride”].

So, Karn, it was kinda your project at that point.

KK: I guess, but there were so many people messaging us and communicating with us, saying, “we need to see these guys in person”.

Is that the same dynamic today – Karn does the beats and Alyn comes in with the chords?

AW: It kinda intertwines. I would say we both do what we can, but he’s more of the beat arranger and beat maker, and I’m melody and riffs. But we help each other throughout the whole process.

At what point did you realise this was more than one track, that you guys were a band?

KK: We didn’t even realise it.

AW: We don’t realise it now. It started with that one Reels video that went semi-viral. I was already on a label as a solo artist, so I sent it to them. We just had 15 seconds to show them, but they were interested, so we decided to have a go at it. We really didn’t expect much.

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How long was there from that first session and finishing the whole album?

KK: Maybe three months.

AW: That’s too fast; probably five months in total.

KK: Let’s say less than five months.

AW: About five months.

So what was the hardest part of making Making Steak?

AW: Making it on time – there was a deadline. Karn had to finish the arrangements while he was in Korea on holiday, and we had to finish writing one of the songs in the studio while we were paying for the session.

The whole album is self-produced – and it sounds great. I hear a lot of 80s but also contemporary references. What were you listening to in crafting the sound?

AW: We listen to a lot of Prep.

KK: That was a big, but also The Beatles.

AW: The Beatles are more like our upbringing idols. I listen to them all the time at home – my family are big fans.

It seems like the perfect sundown album – it has this glow, the day is drawing to an end, but it’s not dark yet …

AW: We called it tropical music at first. We were hitting in that direction. And then we experimented with some songs that are a little bit darker. We try to make good vibes. We enjoy listening to music while doing other things we like. This album is something you can put on anytime to have a good time and just vibe.

There’s a certain humour and even cheekiness to the lyrics. Which one of you does that come from?

AW: Both of us, really. That’s just us.

KK: We don’t get too serious about the lyrics.

AW: For both of us, English is our second language. So we try to stay true to ourselves and write what we know, and I guess that’s what Hybs needs.

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So – the name. It’s something about shrimp that I won’t understand?

KK: Yeah, it’s the short form of, “Have you been shrimp?” It’s a Thai inside joke. Saying, “Have you been?” in Thai also means krill. So most Thai people are arguing about: is the krill the same as the shrimp?

AW: Yeah, so it’s like a trick question. The first time you hear it, it sounds like you’re asking, “Have you been a shrimp before?” But the actual question is: are the krill and the shrimp the same thing? And that is kind of funny to Thais, I guess.

KK: At that time we were so f***ing high.

AW: So, long story short, we were just into that joke at that moment, and when we had to come up with a name. Also, we feel like we have the words “vibes” and “hype” together. For the days we don’t feel like explaining we just say that – but you got the long story!

So what’s the next album, Grilling Shrimp … ?!

AW: The second album actually has to do with cuisine also – it’s called Midnight Moo Ping.

KK: It’s a traditional Thai grilled pork [skewer].

AW: Which is normally had for breakfast, but one night we craved moo ping at midnight, so it became our title.

KK: It was so delicious, so we said, damn, and started singing “midnight moo ping” …

AW: It became a song, and then that became the title of album.

It seems you guys eat a lot – how do you stay in such good shape?

AW: I’d say we enjoy food a lot, but we struggle to eat a lot.

Speaking of looking good, as former models, what are your style inspirations?

KK: I just put on whatever I can grab.

AW: I guess we got some taste from our modelling days. I’ve always been into fashion, and he’s a good dresser as well. If we do dress up – sometimes, hardly ever – we’re going, “white today? OK, we’re both going with beige” – but that’s it.

Southeast Asian music, fashion and culture seems to be breaking through globally in a way that wouldn’t have been possible 10 or even five years ago.

AW: Definitely. That’s why we didn’t expect this at all. We’re in Thailand making English music and because of social media – we owe it all to that, and the people listening to us all around the world. So thank you for supporting us if you’re reading this – we really appreciate what we have right now. We hope to see you around – stop dancing with your phone, and come dance at the concert with us!