Unity Nguyen [p.3]

NHA: How does the Vietnamese language play a role in your music?

UN: Every language carries a unique interpretation of reality, and the Vietnamese language shapes my consciousness. The language, the music and the culture have subtleties of expression that I think the English language and American culture don’t capture in the same way. I find that comparatively, English words are like building blocks, and you create thoughts and lyrics in logical fashion. Vietnamese poetry uses words like paintbrush strokes, creating a feeling and impression.

NHA: Do you think it is important to explore and learn about different cultures rather than stay within one’s own culture? How does one break down that boundary?

UN: Especially where I live [in the Bay Area], yes it’s necessary. First of all, I’ll say that I think it’s really crucial and powerful to explore one’s own culture and history. If you don’t, there are holes in your identity that you might not even understand that you have. Family and culture affect us deeply on a subconscious level. In order to respect and live peacefully in this multicultural community and world, we have to have awareness of our neighbors and fellow human spirits. Especially in the United States, we are living off the riches of other worlds and thus have a responsibility to know our impact, both culturally and physically, on the other worlds. Also different cultures are just rich and fascinating.

This past summer I was very blessed to travel in Central America, performing and also doing a lot of organic farming. I was amazed to find that many indigenous Mayan folks of Guatemala look just like Vietnamese people! I also learned that they suffered horribly from a war provoked by the CIA, a fact I never heard in school.

NHA: What is the biggest challenge of being a Vietnamese musician? And the greatest benefit?

UN: As a musician in general, I’d say the marketing aspect of the business is most challenging. As a Vietnamese musician, the main challenge is that there aren’t as many Vietnamese performers to collaborate with and share inspirations with as non-Vietnamese.

As for the greatest benefit, there is a lot of richness from the Vietnamese culture and history to be shared, both for the Vietnamese community and beyond. It’s important to have that representation and voice within the rich mix of other wonderful cultures that surround us. It makes me feel very honored to share some of the voices of my community. Currently there aren’t many of us so a lot of the time I see the same Vietnamese performers such as Bao Phi who comes from Minnesota, and Lan Tran who comes up from LA.

NHA: Would you say that the voice of Vietnamese artists in America is mostly a voice of the younger generation? How would you compare the voice of the younger generation with the older?

UN: I think all the generations have a strong interest in cultural art performances. Most of the Vietnamese performers, especially in San Jose, perform more traditional and folklorish genres. There is Paris by Night, a wildly popular series of music videos that belong to the pop genre of Vietnamese music. It’s a trend that you see in many countries, a hybrid result of trying to copy American music. The majority of the older generation is folklorish or pop whereas the younger artists I’ve been meeting in their 20s and 30s are moving away from those two genres and getting into the more personal and less predefined sounds.

Besides the contrast between folklorish/traditional versus more individual, the young emerging artists often have some hip hop influence in their music and art. This is significant to me because the voice of rap and hip hop is not an Asian traditional voice, but it is also the voice of another minority culture. To me, that’s an example of crossing the cultural boundaries and potentially looking beyond the Asian community for alliances and connections. Even though hip hop is such a powerful force that it’s become mainstream, the fact that young Asian artists are picking up that voice is a big departure from them following the stereotypes of playing classical piano or trying to look like Paris by Night.

NHA: Does that connection with a hip hop voice apply to you personally?

UN: Yes. I’ve been collaborating with two Magnetic North artists named Derek Kan and Theresa Vu. I laid some music and vocal tracks and they created a hip hop beat around that. It’s quite a mix because it is a Vietnamese folk song with kora and hip hop. And I really like the result. The songs should be released on their new album in a couple of months. I also do a Vietnamese fusion project with a fabulous artist named Charles Moselle. He’s a crazy funky white guy who does these incredible hip hop music projects with youth in the juvenile prisons. I’ve done music with kids in Juvie Hall myself, and have such respect for his positive work. He also plays exquisite Asian flutes and saxaphone and jazz keyboard. I’m very excited to be working on an album with him too.

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