Frequency and Depth

Meet the man building his own sound diffuser panels for better listening In Thu Duc District in Ho Chi Minh City, accountant Pham Khac Tuong is turning discarded wood into one-of-a-kind, handmade sound diffuser panels worth thousands of dollars. Used by professional musicians or the most discerning music lover, a sound diffuser is an acoustic … Read more

In Harmony

Building cross-nationality bonds through music and singing Born out of desire to deliver a platform that enabled Vietnamese locals and foreign expats to create music together, the International Choir and Orchestra of Ho Chi Minh City (ICOHCMC, icohcmc.com) was established in 1996. The man behind it all, Graham Sutcliffe, who was the-then cultural attaché to … Read more

Sounds of the Wild

A showcase of live alternative music by artists for artists Locally trapped wildlife started with the idea that Ho Chi Minh City has always had a vibrant metal scene, a vibrant hip-hop scene; it’s always had a coming-up experimental scene, and we found ourselves in the place and time where we wanted to make song-based … Read more

Turning The Tables

Homegrown Vietnamese DJs are stepping up to the international stage thanks to a DJ contest called Mix Us Happy Six months ago, 20-year- old Duc Hoang started learning how to DJ for the first time as a hobby, a nice change of pace from his work as a public relations student. Last weekend, he performed under his stage name Dazed P playing for … Read more

Become A Fan

Some of the best live rock music in Saigon is made by the band Ly Le Quyen If you’ve gone out looking for live rock music in Ho Chi Minh City you’ve probably come across the band Ly Le Quyen (www.facebook.com/lylequyens), or as they say it in English because of phonetic similarities, Little Wings. If … Read more

The Tokyo Blues

In conversation with Shun Sakai, a talented jazz singer who has truly followed her heart musically When Shun Sakai was a young woman, jazz music was popular across the world; however, in her home country of Japan there weren’t many opportunities to listen to it. She had only heard traditional Japanese songs until after the war when American army bases around the suburbs … Read more

Beyond the Expected

Cultural exploration through music  Wherever there are people in the world, there is music. It truly is the global language. Growing up just 65 miles from Mexico, my own childhood was spent singing songs I loved in languages I did not fully understand—it was only years later that I realized I had been singing happily … Read more