When I first entered the Grammy building, I was anxious as it is the place that breeds many celebrities and it indeed bears certain formality and fame. But as I was welcomed into a small meeting room, I was surprised to find Jeffrey Marquardsen greeted and flashed me with a friendly smile and for a moment, I completely forgot that he was a celebrity.
When asked how he entered the singing career, he casually narrated his story. He discovered his singing talents at a very young age, where he and his friends together formed a band and rocked the stages in Bangkok. He entered many competitions and even made it to the final 30 bands of the Yamaha Band Alert, where the band’s luck and talents only got them this far. One significant contest was the Japanese Music Award, where the band took the second place. The trick to this success apart from pure talents was having the band dressed up in Kendo suits with swords on the stage. These are the events, which he greatly took pride of.
Through many experiences of singing and band contests, Jeffrey went a step further by paying a visit to Thailand’s giant music company Grammy, where he dauntlessly showed off his gifts.
“I came to Grammy with a guitar in my hand, strummed a few chords and sang a few songs,” says Jeffrey.
“It was a bold thing to do to walk in there alone without my band but the producers quite liked it and since then I was allowed to come and practice my singing and do the compilation of my first album,” he adds.
Although Jeffrey is half Thai half Danish, he richly absorbed Thai cultures. Unlike many other “luk krueng” or half kids, his father, a Danish man who lives in Thailand for more than 40 years, inculcated him with Thai cultures and values and encouraged him to behave and take pride in being a Thai.
Since Jeffrey’s father does not socialize much with the Scandinavians in Bangkok along with being in Thailand and having attended local Thai school throughout his entire life, Jeffrey is not fluent with Danish and English like many other “luk krueng”, who tend to be bilingual or multilingual.
“It’s a pity that I don’t speak Danish or English well as I should be since Danish is supposed to also be my mother tongue and English is necessary as an international language,” remarks Jeffrey.
“I wish to go to Denmark and feel more Danish about myself. I went there once with my family as my father visited some of his relatives but that was only for fifteen days. I like the place. Denmark is a small and peaceful town and people are friendly. It’s more natural compared to Bangkok but that doesn’t mean Bangkok is not a nice place to stay,” he adds.
“My father took me to The Stable Lodge Restaurant several times down in Sukhumvit Road. This place is mostly packed with Danes and I really like the place. I guess it is a favorite hang out for the Danes,” remembers Jeffrey.
Jeffrey wishes to spend some time studying in Denmark but is looking for the right moment as he is working on his second album. Initially, he was studying at Thammasat University, a renowned university in Thailand, but then he dropped out as looks for another way to fulfill himself, to be what is more like him.
“I want to study English. I need to do a lot of work to catch up with what I’ve missed. I also have to concentrate on my second album and at the same time thinking of studying in Denmark,” comments Jeffrey.
Like many teens, Jeffrey’s dream is to enter the singing career and have his very own album, in which he did quite a good job. Although having reached one successful point, the young man does not seem satisfied, rather he moves on to produce more work that fulfills his dreams of success and fame.
Jeffrey somehow believes that apart from his singing gifts and hard work, being “luk krueng” also has made it a little easier for him to enter stardom as the Western trends prevail in Thai society.
“I say this may be a small part of it, but it is not always true that it is better if you are a “luk krueng”. You may have good physical appearance but if you can’t sing or perform anything then you will not stand out. I know the fashion is strong but it also depends on other factors to become a successful star,” explains Jeffrey.
“The fashion is becoming social values and there is no right and wrong in social values but it is just not very nice that some Thais are literally looking down on themselves,” he comments.
In the end Jeffrey added that he will continue to travel the road of stardom with many more albums for his fans. It is still a long journey for the young kid to make his dream come true and he is in the middle proving his successful career.
