This weekend, Mar 14, Chiang Mai-based experimental music collective Delicate Decibel present the 2nd edition of the Experimental Electronic South East Asia (EESE) here in Bangkok. In preparation, we talk to one of the headliners, ambient-noise artist Luong Hue Trinh from Hanoi, who will perform with Thai cellist Saowakhon Muangkruan, and select a number of tracks to give you a taster.
Trinh will co-headline the festival alongside Montreal-based psych-rock soloist This Quiet Army, who will be joined by Bangkok-based experimental artist Koichi Shimizu, of So::On Dry Flower fame, the guy behind Delicate Decibel, Space 360, and rising experimental-pop act Clokue. More on those guys below, but first our talk with Trinh.
You started out with jazz; why did you take an experimental path?
When I was a student in my final year at university, one of my teachers gave me free recording software by chance. Honestly, at that time, I didn’t know what contemporary art or experimental/computer music was because we haven’t been taught about it at school. Then I started to find a way to use it by myself at home. So I chose some sounds and arranged them to follow my feeling. I did small pieces, one by one in that way.
What do you love about experimental music?
Experimenting has helped me realize I have a very big space to express my freedom; I can express exactly what I feel, things in my mind, which I couldn’t do with traditional rhythm and harmony before. I've found my own world.
What's the music scene like in Vietnam?
Pop and rock are the mainstream in Vietnam, as in many other countries in Asia, and experimental music has a quite modest foothold. Since around 1996, there were only 5-6 experimental musicians in the first generation; the second generation has more than that. Hanoi's since got our own experimental music center, DomDom–The Hub for Experimental Music, which was founded by composer Kim Ngoc. The scene in Hanoi is getting bigger and bigger with potential young musicians. However in Saigon, there is really only one musician who plays noise music, but he is also trying to expand the scene there.
Who are some of your favorite artists?
Of course, I admire the big names such as John Cage, Toru Takemitsu and Phillip Glass. However, there is one musician/composer in Vietnam who I consider my idol. He is SonX (Nguyen Xuan Son), living in Hanoi. His background is traditional percussion. He works as composer of the Company Ea Sola, a contemporary dance company. He's also done installations, performance art, written music for films and worked with painters amd dancers. I still remember the first time I listened to his music, it made a very, very strong impression on me. It brought me to a land with many images, movement. It’s very delicate, deep and lonely so that I could not sleep that whole night and think about his music. That’s why after that, I gave him my music and tried to ask him accept me as his student for almost one year. Finally he agreed and until now, I have been strongly under his influence!
What’s next for you?
After Jam in Bangkok, I’m going to Chiang Mai and then Kuala Lumpur to perform with local musicians. I hope to get more new and interesting experiences.
Ahead of Saturday's mini-festival, check out tracks from This Quiet Army, Koichi Shimizu, Space 360 and Clokue below:
