Maneaters: Look a little closer, they won't bite
Who are Venus Flytrap?
Venus Flytrap are Thailand’s first all-katoey pop group, and they are here to slap convention in the face and make every red-blooded male question his virtues. Hot-, Posh-, Cool-, Sweet-, and Naughty Venus: they could be the Spice Boys, but where else except the Land of Smiles do the boys look better than the girls? Oozing sex appeal and defining grace, these sirens of Siam have been unleashed onto an unsuspecting public.
“I came to Bangkok one year ago for surgery,” says frighteningly confident Naughty Venus Gina. “I heard about a project for a ladyboy group and I wanted to be a singer. I came to casting and I won a place in the band, and now here we are.”
With the backing of Sony BMG, the vixens are out to spread their message with angelic voices and outfits that make Paris Hilton look shy in comparison: “We want to show that we are not different,” says Posh Venus Sasha. “We are not abnormal.”
The music of Venus Flytrap
“It’s a mix of digital sounds, with European pop, techno-house, and electronic music,” says Sweet Venus Amy about the group’s debut album Nu-Able, which was released in December of last year. “It has many different sounds, with Thai lyrics, and one song in English.”
The girls (they refer to themselves as ‘girls’) had to dedicate themselves to the task at hand in the weeks leading up to Nu-Able’s release, as Posh Venus Sasha explains: “Before the launch last year, we had to show ourselves to the public, go on radio shows, perform in clubs, and train hard for singing and dancing.”
The first song to be released from Nu-Able was ‘‘Cause I’m Your Lady’. Sasha describes what it means: “It’s about a couple. When people are together, at first, they care very much for each other. After some time goes by, the guy might start to lose interest. This song is about the girl, asking the guy to hold her hand again, to take care of her. Our songs are about everyone, not just ladyboys. It’s inclusive. It means boys, girls, whatever, can listen and enjoy our songs.”
Venus Flytrap on ladyboys in Thailand
“We don’t care about who has, or has not, had surgery,” says Posh Venus Sasha. “If a person has surgery in a safe way, then it is good for them. We are men. We came from men, and we have to have surgery to become a woman.”
“People who don’t have money don’t need to rush to get surgery,” says Naughty Venus Gina. “They should wait until they have enough.”
“It is possible to be a ladyboy and not care about surgery,” says Sasha. “You can be a human too. People should not be serious about wanting to change. One misconception is that ladyboys become prostitutes to find money for surgery, but actually they must do it to support their families. Society is not open to ladyboys. They don’t want us to work in normal jobs. They push us too much, and that’s why we have to find money. We have to take responsibility for our family.”
What do Venus Flytrap want to achieve?
“Tata Young is our idol,” says Cool Venus Taya. “Everything she does when she performs is great. We love her singing and her dancing. She is the only Thai pop star to go inter, and that is what we want to do as well.”
“We want to show people that we are real performers,” says Posh Venus Sasha. “People will think we lip-sync, but this is not true.”
Naughty Venus Gina adds: “Everybody has their own personal judgment. For now, people are starting to accept us. We trust that our family will support us, and we want to be good people to aid the social situation.”
“Society is becoming more and more open,” says Sasha about the stigma that comes with being part a ladyboy pop group. “We prepared for a lot of negativity, but there has not been much, which surprised us. When people think about katoey they think of a cabaret. We want to make a new experience for ladyboys. We want to say to all ladyboys that you can do whatever you want to do.”
Techno’ tags: Ladyboy, Katoey, Venus Flytrap, Bangkok, Thailand
I was formally the Managing Director of Sony BMG Thailand, and Venus Flytrap was my brainchild, and ultimately, the "fruit of my loins" (every pun intended, but at no time did I have "sexual relations" with any of them even in Clintonian terms) as I hand picked Gina, Nok, Taya, Amy, and BoBo. I'm sure I wasn't the first to think of putting a ladyboy band together, but soon realised it's not easy getting "boys" to sing like real girls. That's probably why no one else has done it. It's too hard!
Let me be honest. My initial inspiration was the band The Pussy Cat Doll's and their song "Dont-cha", which has a hook line that goes "don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me". Well nine out of ten guys whom have seen Venus Flytrap perform think exactly that!
Exploitative? Mercenary? Cheesy? Yeah, all of that! What more do you expect from a record executive working in a Thai music industry that recycles melodies, song structures and chord progressions from 1980's hits, and is totally devoid of any creativity and or innovation whatsoever! But I digress!
Once I got "knee deep in the hoopla" of this project, I soon realised that these people (yes they are people and not freaks) are some of the most wonderful people you would ever want to meet. They certainly are some of the bravest people I have ever had the privilege to know. Can you even imagine the prejudice that these people have had to go through just to be who they are? How many of us live life as someone else would want us to live it? How may of us fall prey to parental pressure, peer pressure, societal pressure, and end up living a compromise? Well these guys/girls/venuses, call them what you like, have enough balls (again pun intended) to be what they want to be and whom they deep deep down know they must be if they are to fulfill their own potential.
They are not freaks at all, and the countless afternoons they spent in my office wondering if I was "for real" in forming the band struck me as being just part of their arduous process of seeking affirmation from a society hell bent on weeding out those who don't conform. They don't see themselves as being freaks, of nature or of human construct. I asked one of the girls one day "if you can change anything about yourself, what would it be?" The answer floored me. "I wish I could be a better man". In that, I felt the dispair, the agony, and the torment that she had gone through all her life. But in her face, and beaming from her smile, I could see that humanity does have hope in that a person so far behind the eight ball can rise above it all, and create a bright future for herself and truly be what she feels she must be, despite all the adversity.
And there in lies the lesson for me (and anyone else privilaged, brave, foolhardy, or just plain lucky to accept). Life is all about "who I am". If you can't even define who you are and even begin to be whom you want to be, then what are you doing here? Get in the game! There are doctors, teachers, lawyers, and now pop artists whom have chosen to live life as "venuses". "Chosen" being the operative (ok that pun not intended) word. Choose whom you want to be and go for it!
To Gina, Nok, Taya, Amy and Bobo, I thank you for this precious lesson. A venus flytrap bloom is beautiful from afar and the brilliant red and green draws the eye. Closer, it is a delicate flower full of mystery, fragility, and a little danger. To anyone reading this, take a closer look. You may be surprised.
"Visa For Love", Venus Flytrap's debut album is in stores now!
i think it's wonderful that there is a group like venus flytrap when are they coming or touring in the uk because they'd get alot of good pubilicity and alot of fans i hope it isn't long because i want them to come over here alot of popular bands, uk is the most accepting in a band like venus flytrap i know for sure that they'll be storming on top of the charts here.
Hello there,
Venus Flytrap picked up my interests when, by luck, I read some news about them and decided to go their myspace website and I was hooked on their songs. I only wished I could understand the lyrics (Thai is too difficult!). Is there a place where we could have them written in western characters? Or English translation of them? If their agent took time to answer here maybe he could show us some help on this matter… Well, I'm eagerly waiting for that.
> Exploitative? Mercenary? Cheesy? Yeah, all of that! What more do you expect from a record executive working in a Thai music industry that recycles melodies, song structures and chord progressions from 1980’s hits, and is totally devoid of any creativity and or innovation whatsoever! But I digress!
Glad and most thankful you have the honesty to admit it!
~R
As someone who knew Bobo (Hot Venus) in her Pattaya days, I wish the group continuing and greater success