Major Magazine | Page 15

Do you have any rituals or routines when it comes to writing or playing music?

Absolutely when I am creating songs I will create different pieces of music on different days and when I have enough pieces I try to put them together to make one song. I do this alone and then I’ll play it with other musicians and they will add their ideas and usually the song will change and become more collaborative. Finally, when I record the songs I never record before midnight, I like the vibe of recording after midnight.

After making a go at it in the U.S. ultimately what made you decide to move to Vietnam?

Vietnam’s music scene is very different from America’s music scene. Most people have never seen live rock music before. When I play the reactions are always interesting and always positive. There’s also not many bands here so I get a lot of gigs at local bars.

How have the differences in culture and daily life affected your perspective on people?

Living over here is completely different they seem to be stuck in a weird time period, it’s not quite 1960 but its far from 2018. They’re stuck in a grey area, some parts are very traditional while the touristy parts are becoming very westernized. Many people are happy with living a simple yet hard working life, they’re very proud of what they have even if it’s very little.

Has this change in social perspective changed your perspective on music? Has Vietnamese music influenced your sound at all?

At first I didn’t like Vietnamese music because I couldn’t understand the lyrics but after giving up trying to understand it I realized that the music itself is very good. Once I had one of my favorite Vietnamese songs translated I realized the lyrics were clever and much deeper than they appear. In the end it made me aware there’s great music to be discovered everywhere.

Where was your first gig in Vietnam, how did it go?

My first gig in Vietnam was at a popular bar/club I played electric guitar after a man who played acoustic music. So my music seemed to wake up the bar and add more energy to the place. I played a lot of famous American music, Sweet Child O’ Mine, by Guns N’ Roses and Free Bird, by Lynyrd Skynyrd . Most of these people have never heard these songs before so it was an amazing experience to share with them.

I understand to pay the bills you are an English teacher, do you ever play guitar for the kids, if so what is their reaction?

Yes, I play guitar for two reasons in class, first is to have fun with the kids, there’s not many fun things for the kids to do. There are no parks playgrounds or sports fields so most kids will play music or videogames, so when a kid brings in their instrument we will both play and the rest of the class will always willingly and happily sing along. The second reason is for learning English music for the younger kids, like playing hokey-pokey as they dance.

What are your long terms plans with music? Do you ever see this as a potential full-time career?

As many musicians its my dream to live off what I make playing music but if I don’t that’s ok it is what I love to do.