TEN has always been known for his charismatic personality and sharp wit, but beneath the effortless charm is an artist with a restless creative spirit. In conversation, the beloved Thai artist makes one thing abundantly clear: He is a jump-in-headfirst kind of guy.

For TEN, standing still has never really been an option. He is constantly looking for something new to experience, explore, or create, and it’s that willingness to take risks that has become an integral part of his journey as a solo artist.

He made his debut with NCT in 2016, as a member of the group’s rotational unit NCT U, before joining WayV, NCT’s China-based unit, in 2019. That same year, he became part of SuperM, the supergroup formed by SM Entertainment and Capitol Records. Over the past decade, he has explored singing, rapping, and dancing across multiple groups and projects. Now, as he prepares for his first solo tour, TEN is taking another creative leap: songwriting.

The freedom he describes in this process isn’t necessarily about breaking free in the traditional sense. Instead, it is about giving himself permission to explore, experiment, and tap into parts of his artistry he hasn’t had the opportunity to express.

1883 Magazine sat down with TEN for an invigorating and candid conversation about his decade in the industry, his aversion to complacency, his creative process, his first solo tour in the United States, his new music, and, of course, his beloved cats.

This is TEN, IRL.

Congratulations on your first solo tour. How does it feel, especially after doing this for a decade? What does this moment mean to you? And when you reflect on going from trainee TEN to soloist TEN, what feels different?

Honestly, nothing feels that different from the first day I debuted until now, just because now is my new chapter. I get to really experience so many things that I didn’t get before.

But if you say, like, what has changed, some things have changed. I’m more hands-on with my own creative work, and that’s probably the biggest difference. But other than that, I think nothing has changed that much. Maybe my know-how?

That’s interesting because you’ve been doing this for so long. Usually, people tend to stick to their comfort zone, but you jumped into something new with songwriting and having more creative control. What made you feel like now was the time?

I feel like now is the time because, at that moment, I was at home sitting on my sofa. I felt like, okay, every day I’m getting old, and then I thought, what if I don’t do it now? When will I do it?

I don’t want it to be five more years or 10 more years, sitting on my sofa again, thinking, “Oh, I’m regretful. I didn’t do it at that moment.”

So that’s the trigger that started everything. I was like, okay, you know what? I can just run and I can fall down. Everything could happen, but let’s just do it right now. Let’s just try new stuff and explore something that I didn’t get to do before.

Also, because you mentioned that I keep doing something new, personally, I get bored very easily. I don’t really like to stick to one thing. Even when I travel, I can’t be in the same place for that long. I just like moving around.

My personality really is a big input to my music as well, so that’s why you see me doing a lot of different genres every time I release new music.

Your new music, “OUTWEST” and “IRL,” represents that freedom and ease you mentioned through trying different things. Why are those feelings so important for you to express right now?

This kind of goes back a long time. Like, you know, “IRL.” Nowadays—let’s talk about “IRL” first. The message I want to give out is more like: go wild, be in the moment, be you. Know everyone around you; they’re the important people who really helped you, like your friends and stuff.

I feel like “IRL” really relates to everyone around me, even my fans. The message behind that song is that I want people to just go straight and do what they really feel like they have to do, because the very important stuff is right now, in the moment where you’re standing.

Don’t get stressed over what’s going to happen in the future, and don’t get stuck in the past because of all the things that happened that made you feel insecure. Just enjoy yourself right now.

That relates to me because I want to show them the freedom. In terms of the word “freedom,” I feel like it’s a very big word.

I feel like the freedom that I want to express through “IRL” is more the freedom inside of my head. Don’t let other people or the standards that society has kind of fix you in one way. I feel that’s the freedom that I really want to express through “OUTWEST” and “IRL.”

With “OUTWEST,” even the genre and how it’s going to sound is so different from the songs I’ve had in the past. That can really represent the freedom in music that I want to express to the audience.

What does that freedom look like for you every day? Is it mostly creative?

I have that mentality in me—a freedom that there’s no word that you can’t do it. It’s just like, you have to do it first.

I feel that’s the little freedom that I always have in my mind: Just do it. And then if it doesn’t work out, I’ll find a different way, or just find a solution to that problem.

I think that’s the freedom that I have in my head all the time.

And when it comes to the creative freedom of putting these songs together, what was that process like? You’ve described music as a gift before, so in a way, are you bestowing that gift to yourself?

Songwriting or the whole process?

Both.

For these two singles, I put my hands on a lot of things: the music video, the concept, the outfit, how the song structure is going to be, the lyrics, and what I want to talk about.

All this stuff might not seem that new, but to me, I put 100% into every little art detail, so it feels very precious to me sometimes. You get to really see how the outfit comes out, how the music is structured, how the storytelling is going to be and everything.

You really start from zero to the final output.

I don’t know how to explain that. So-jung-ham [소중함, Korean for “preciousness” or “the state of being cherished and valued”]. It’s like a baby to me. These two are like babies. All the soul that I put into them, it’s like a baby.

But now, it’s like my favorite baby because I put their clothes on for them. You know what I mean?

You nurtured it. You gave birth to it. You dressed it and cared for the music you wrote.

Yeah. And also, because of that, I’m more excited and also scared at the same time. Because with the music video, how it’s going to sound, everything, I really put a lot of input into all of those things.

So I’m really excited about the audience’s reaction to both songs.

What came first, the lyrics or the idea behind the song?

The idea behind it.

When I write songs or when I pitch for demos, I always listen to the whole song itself and also the structure. Then I kind of like to arrange the structure first, and after that, I think of the concept and the lyrics for the song that I choose or write.

That’s how I do it all the time.

Was any part of that process especially difficult? I know, for me, sometimes I get writer’s block.

I feel writing is too hard. Honestly, I have all the song concepts and the narrative that I want the song to be, but by the end of the day, I want to write all my songs in English.

I still need help from a native writer so we can share the ideas and the message that I want to put into the song more accurately. So I feel like writing is still difficult.

But having a strong structure, the idea and the narrative, I feel like that part I’m kind of getting used to now.

For “OUTWEST,” you explored house, funk, and hip-hop. Genres you haven’t really tried before. What attracted you to those sounds? What made you want to put those ingredients together?

Oh, okay. Because I mentioned that I get bored very easily. I just want something different.

I want to sing to a track that sounds so different from what I used to do before. And how I use my voice, how I sing the words. I just want something super new.

I feel like “OUTWEST” is the track that I didn’t try before. Even when you listen to my voice tone or how I sing, it’s just a little different from what I did in the old days.

It’s more, like, rappy but also very straightforward. And, you know, singing in a very straight way is harder than having all the seasoning.

When you come out of your comfort zone like that, do you discover something new about yourself? Are there moments where you’re like, “Wow, I love doing this”?

Yes, yes, I do. Every time you start something new, you get to put some new, like, you update yourself.

Maybe that’s why I really like something new all the time, because I want… Maybe I’m weird, but I do like to get nervous sometimes.

I want to get that little, you know, when you’re so scared of something and you get that feeling inside your stomach. What do you call it?

Like butterflies?

Yeah, yeah, those kinds of things.

I think I’m very addicted to that excitement. So I always try to put something new on.

And as you mentioned, trying something new really gives me new knowledge and helps me with doing something new in the future.

Thinking about your legacy, how would you like to be remembered 10 or 20 years from now? Is it your ability to continuously change? What do you want that legacy to be?

I did mention this before, but I feel like right now, as an artist, I want them to think, “Oh, this guy is like no one else. He’s one of a kind.”

I feel like right now I’m trying to make that. I’m trying to improve myself, but I want people, when someone mentions TEN, you know, when you mention someone’s name, there’s a color that appears inside you, right?

I want my color to be a mixture of so many colors that it’s like, “Oh, he has a very weird sense of color, but at the same time, he’s very charming.”

I feel like that would be nice for the audience to remember me as TEN, as an artist. And also maybe, like, “Oh, this guy, he’s very crazy in a good way.”

Creative?

Like creative and crazy, because being crazy and creative is a nice word.

I think when it comes to the arts, it’s often the people who are different who are remembered the most. What about your fans who have loved you since day one? They thought you were one of a kind from the beginning, and they’ve followed you for 10 years. What do you have to say to your day-one fans?

Oh, first of all, I have to thank all my fans who’ve kept supporting me since day one until now, because I know there’s been so many things that happened in between.

There have been so many shifts; some things got delayed, and I’ve also been to so many places. I was not in one place. I’m always moving around, so that might be very hard for fans to follow me, too.

But by the end of the day, they still root for me and get excited for my new music and how my journey is going to be.

So I really want to thank all my fans who are still with me until now.

How does it feel when they say your music, personality and presence are such a source of comfort for them?

I don’t know how to react to that, but when they say they like my music, I’m very happy.

When I make an album, or when I write a song, or when I pitch for songs, I really put my all into it. I really believe in my own ideas and stuff.

And when they say that they really like it, it’s just like they’re saying, “TEN, you did a great job.”

It’s like a little pat on the back. 

Does that make you think back to when you were young, when you first thought, “I want to be an artist. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life”? Do you remember that moment when you thought, “This is it. This is my life”?

I think not really. I think I’m the person who really likes to stay in the moment and in the present.

I don’t have a lot of time to sit down and have deep thoughts like, “Oh, in the past I did that.” I don’t really have that.

I always think, “Oh, that was meant to happen because that thing taught me this. If that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be here.”

I do have those kinds of thoughts, but I don’t have a very emotional flashback.

So more of a chain of events, “I did that audition, and that happened, and this led to that”?

Yes. And then sometimes there are things, I would say some hardships that happened in between, or something that I struggled with during that time, but when I look back, I think, “Oh, that thing was meant to happen to create what I have now.”

So I would say thanks to all the events that have happened in my life until now.

It’s like the saying, “When one door closes, another one opens.” Everything is meant to happen in a certain way. Is there any advice or mantra that keeps you going during those difficult times?

For me, it might sound very cliché, but I do have that, like, “Okay, come and fight me.”

I won’t give up. I have that kind of mentality. Okay, just come straight. I will find my way through.

I had that in me. I didn’t show that out a lot, but I had that in my head most of the time. If this doesn’t work out, then okay, I will show you how I’m going to make this work out.

I have those kinds of things in me. Yeah, I feel like it helps me a lot with going forward when I face a struggle or a hard time.

In addition to those mantras, is there a lyric in any of your music, even one of the new songs, that stands out to you and means something particularly important?

I have one, but that’s going to be a spoiler for some of my new songs. It’s so hard to say.

Okay, but in “IRL”: “Jump out the window because I want to fly.”

Why do you like that line?

It just feels like there’s nothing to be afraid of. Even though you jump out the window, you don’t know what floor it is, but it’s time for you to fly.

Just go for it. You don’t have to care about a thing in the world. Just, like, as simple as: go for it.

So I really like that line in “IRL.”

I love that. It’s such a motivator for people: Just do it.

You know, it’s going to be super cliché, but just do it. By the end of the day, just—just do it.

Outside of music, what are you obsessed with? What’s something you could talk about forever?

Art, and also a lot of stuff that I want to do.

I love to explore new stuff, even the business side or art. I want to create something. I want to make something happen.

Nowadays, I’m into character design, making figures or stickers—those kinds of things. Something that relates to characters.

So I’m kind of obsessed with that stuff. I’ve been like, “Okay, I want to go to the factory. I want to see how they make those figures in the factory.”

Those kinds of things. Yeah, I think more of the art stuff.

When you go to a new place, is that something you seek out during your downtime? Do you need to go to a museum or find something cool and different?

It’s funny because I don’t really go to museums that much, but I like to just walk around the city.

You know, there are small—what do you call that? Like a small alley. Those kinds of places.

And in the alley, there are a lot of small, cute shops or retailers that sell antiques or even handmade products. I mean, I go in and just snoop around, just see what they have.

I really like to see handmade stuff.

You’ve mentioned your cats before. Are they your go-to comfort when you need to unwind?

Oh yes, yes, yes. I don’t have to go to them.

They’re funny because I feel like they’re like dogs. When I get home and I sit on my sofa, the three of them just come to me, sit down and purr so loud, like a therapy session.

If I turn on some spa music, and then my cat is going to purr so loud, I feel like, okay, I’m in peace right now.

It’s like healing.

Like, my cat really heals me. And my members [do, too]. Definitely, yeah.

They make you feel like yourself, comfortable. Do you ever miss them while you’re on tour?

My members or my cats?

Both.

My cats, I do miss them. And also during tour and stuff, my parents are on the team, so we do a lot of FaceTime to see my cats.

My mom always sends me cat pictures—your cat in the morning, night, evening.

So I’m like, okay, thank you.

It’s the check-in: “Okay, the babies are okay.”

Yeah.

Finally, what are you looking forward to most about this tour, and what do you want to express to your fans?

Okay, first, I want to connect with my U.S. fans, first of all, because I don’t really get to go to the U.S. that often.

The last time was during SuperM, and also with my solo work, I don’t feel like I ever showed it in the U.S. before.

So it’s more about showing TEN as an artist to the U.S. fans as well, and also going there and connecting with all my fans.

I promised them for like four or five years now that I’m going to the U.S. to meet them, but that’s never happened.

And then this time, I received a great opportunity to really go there, be on stage, perform and talk to them in person.

So I feel like having my time to really connect with the fans is my goal for this showcase.

Is there a specific song or moment that you’re especially looking forward to sharing with fans on the tour?

A specific song? “Shadow”? I don’t know. No, no.

I don’t have a specific song that I really want to give to my fans, but I feel like the whole set list that I prepared might have more on the vocal side, the lyrics, or even the performance, like the dancing.

I feel like I want to show and give all of that to my fans as a present.

TEN embarks on his first solo U.S. showcase on Oct. 17 in Seattle, Washington, kicking off a 14-city run, taking him across the country before culminating Nov. 10 in New York City.

Follow via @tenlee_1001

Interview Amanda Moses