Disclaimer: None of these photos are mine and taken off of their Instagram. The following are their links. Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right.
March 29th, 2019
Tuan Thailand is a new band and I tried to look up more information about them but couldn’t find much. Maybe I looked the wrong way but I did find their YouTube, their Facebook page, and Instagram. Meeting them was so surreal. My classmates ended up leaving because they didn’t enjoy the music but the moment the band started to play a metal song my heart skipped a beat.
I fell in love with the bass player and apologized to my significant other because I felt like the interaction I had at the concert was too intimate but he laughed at me and said that I was being dumb. He was glad that I had fun at the concert and I’m so happy that I went.
When the first song began I remember watching the faces of my classmates as they looked uncomfortable with the music. Metal/screamo/punk/grudge… These genre are usually stereotyped as demonic and that’s not true!!! But, stereotypes are stereotypes. The Philippines is a very religious country and a person can only imagine how these people misinterpreted the introduction.
My soul resonated with the music as I began to process what was going on between the reactions of the people around me (their misinterpretations) and the lit flame of passion for music that ignited within me. I began to analyze each instrument because the speakers were blasting one portion of the song, there was screaming, singing, and other sounds that alternated between speakers.
In the first song I focused on the scream since it was the attention catching factor in the song. The background (which was very loud at first) was a rhythm that I recognized with the metal genre. First, I faced the band and watched as the bass player’s sole part in the first song was to scream and be background but his mic worked better than the lead singers which was why he was clearer than the lead singer.
There were three guitars in total which I later registered as one bass guitar and two regular guitars. The lead singer was dressed in a punk outfit which was another factor in me trying to understand this band. As an American who was been exposed to this genre and open to different cultures I didn’t feel that there was different culture in front of me. I had already experience this kind of music and their attire which was what made me more comfortable at the concert.
I’ve come to realize how isolated I truly felt in this country until as of late. This concert made me feel at home. Whereas, to them, they were the foreigners but to me, they were like me. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in the New Tandem which is the journalism organization for the University. Well, when the emcee saw me, he approached and put me on spot.
The interesting thing about this interaction was that he said ‘Buenos Noches’ which mean ‘Good Night’ in Spanish. I repeated it, not as a response but as a way to process what language he had spoken. Then, he converted to English but when he converted to English, I panicked and responded in Ilocano. This happened for two replied then I switched to Spanish as he left but he asked me ‘what was I expecting from this band from Thailand’? I told him (through the mic) that I expect them to be something unique, something that I haven’t heard before.
Since I understand the Filipino culture, what they brought in the introduction alone was unique. This genre, without curse words, was being performed in front of Filipinos and not all of them associated that type of music as socially acceptable since the genre is stereotyped as demonic. In that way, they did present something unique but I because I’m American and because I come from a multicultural background they didn’t present something new to me. And truth be told, I loved it.
This band brought out my passion in music again. I got lost in the concert and the lead singer did fantastic in interacting with the audience. He got off stage (which is something that not many performers do) and he walked to the back to bring the people sitting in the back to the front! Or, at least, closer to the front but he was very friendly and social.
I wish his mic had worked better because I when I looked up the band after the concert I got to hear his singing voice clearly and it’s beautiful but because of the mic he had, the quality of his singing was tampered with. In the first song, as I mentioned before, the sole purpose of the bass player was to play the beat and scream which was what caught my attention to him in the first place.
The secondary guitarist was adorable and smaller than the other two guitarist. (The lead singer also played guitar). After their second song they asked for someone to go up there who could dance and my friend had told me to go but I told her, I can’t dance. I can sing, but I can’t dance.
As my second concert experience in the Philippines, I have to say, I truly enjoyed it. The Bridge was my first concert experience and they were not disappointing either! I think I’ll save the Bridge for my next post because I can take them apart in the same way that I am with Tuan Thailand.
This band did not disappoint me and made my day. I didn’t expect to have a good time at this concert. Only because I didn’t feel well before the concert but once Tuan Thailand started to play all of the pain went away and I was back at home at a concert with my concert buddy Gloria. Before I left, she had taken me to go see Breaking Benjamin. Before that, we went to go see Seether. This band took me back to those memories. It was so surreal.
They played another song and then asked for someone to come up again. During their third song I had told the emcee that I wanted to meet the bass player. And he told me that he was going to call people up to talk to the band members at the end and I could talk to him then. Well, the emcee grabbed me when they asked for another person to come up. The bass player and I were to sing Photograph. I know the song by heart but I learned that unless the mic was at my lip, the small space between me and the mic was enough to ensure that my voice couldn’t be heard.
I was singing though. Which at one point, I tapped the mic to see if it worked then I turned it off and on again. Instead, I shrugged and went with it. Before I was dragged onto the stage the singer had asked for the lights to go out and for everyone to take out their phones and turn on the flashlight. I wish the mic would have worked or I would have placed the mic closer to my face but it bothers me to have the mic that close which is why I didn’t put it there.
I got lost is the song and singing it but all I could hear was the bass player’s voice which wasn’t bad for me because I liked his voice but I wish the mic would have worked. Maybe it was my voice but I had fun regardless seeing the audience interact and having the band around me was so exciting! I wanted to get a picture with the bass player then but I didn’t because they were in the middle of getting to the next song so I got off the stage and returned to my Physics friend.
After that I enjoyed the songs that they sung and at one point, the lead singer got off stage against to interact with the audience. He got pictures with everyone who wanted pictures and the secondary guitarist was also being interactive but didn’t get off stage. I looked up at the bass player who was defiant to the idea of getting off stage. He saw that I wanted to take a picture with him and he had thrown something off stage but (me being blind) didn’t see it until someone else grabbed.
After they sung their last song the emcee announced that anyone could interview the band members and was welcome to go up and interview any of them. The first girl who got on stage was the first to go up and interview the secondary guitarist. Then, the emcee eyed me and I was so nervous. I didn’t know what I wanted to ask.
Once I marched up on stage. The emcee asked who I wanted to talk to and I pointed at the bass player. Part of him was surprised but not because he knew I had paid attention to him throughout the concert but the lead singer and the other band members encouraged him as he grabbed mic and I was handed the one that the emcee had.
His English name was Win (pronounced like Won). The first interview with the second guitarist was short and conveyed a Filipino cultural interview where the girl has asked if the guitarist was single and he said that he was. Then he asked if she was single. Filipinos get a kick out of these kind of interactions and I’m not entirely sure why but I do know that it’s very common to want to flirt publically. It defuses the nerves in them.
Coming from a different culture, I didn’t focus on trying to flirt. The emcee wanted me to hug the bass player but I was more interested in who he was and how/why he was the bass player in the band. I personally have always wanted to be a bass player but it was also his voice that captivated me into wanting to get to know him.
My first question was, “How many years have you been doing music?” And he was surprised that I asked him that but he said twenty years and then said that he was twenty-one.
I don’t know if that’s true or not. I’m Asian and I can never tell the age of an Asian. Most Asians tend to either look really young or really old and I’m on the younger spectrum so I get mistaken for the wrong age all the time. So, I figured he was joking. But, I replied with, “Oh whoa! I’m twenty-two!”
What I loved the most about interacting with him was the silent conversation we had as I interviewed him. I eyed his arm which had tattoos and I asked how many tattoos he had. He laughed and said, “Ten.” I then smiled and showed him only a portion of my tattoo on my left arm. “That’s so cool! I have three!”
The third question I asked was ‘what is your favorite color’? His reaction was so cute! He lifted up his foot and pointed at his sock and goes, “Green!” And it was so adorable I couldn’t help but laugh. He was laughing too (nervously) but I think it helped defuse the actual nervousness he felt. The interaction in general was great.
His English was broken, of course, but as I asked him questions he realized that my accent wasn’t the same as the emcee’s or the other Filipinos so he was looking at me trying to figure what was different about me. I was wearing a dress with boots (not cowboy boots but the term escapes my mind). I looked Filipino but I didn’t sound Filipino. So to him, he I wasn’t what he associated with as ‘Filipino’ by personality but by looks I was Filipino. Then he noticed that I even looked different than the others in a way. I didn’t match the attire of the rest of the Filipinos that were there. I had a more gothic look to me which isn’t an attire that is common, especially among the University students.
Then I asked “Would you enjoy coming back to perform for us again?” And he was like, “Yes! I’d love too.” (Speaking on the behalf of the band).
The emcee then told me that I could only ask one more question and I went with, “Why did you start playing music?” And again he made this expression that said that’s a good question. Then he replied with, “Because…” He couldn’t exactly say it. But I understood it. He gestured at himself and said, “This… It’s…” Then he closed his in front of his chest and I said, “Because you can get lost in it?” And he was so happy that I understood what he was trying to say.
I told him. “I understand! I feel the same way with music.” I was able to get another picture with him and when he got behind me to take the picture, he asked, “Do you play music?” And I said, “Wen” (Because it was automatically but his name is similar). He stopped and I realized that I had said ‘Wen’ instead of ‘Yes’ so I had to translate myself.
“Yes. I played trombone.” When I said that he made another inquisitive look. Throughout our conversation he had made expressions that indicated that he was intrigued by me and my interest in him. When I had pointed at him he had said something in Thai (I don’t want to say Thai because I don’t know because I know there are many languages but ‘Thai’ will have to be the word since I’m not sure) to the other band members, then he grabbed the mic.
It was as if he thought ‘why me’? I chose him because of his voice and his performance during the concert. I fell in love with how he sung in English. He could scream, sound like Mayday Parade, or 3OH!3, but we sung Ed Sheeran together and based on the different styles that I heard from him I simply felt the need to get to know him.
The experience was worthwhile but what I loved the most about interacting with him was the fact that we were both able to communicate on a higher level than our verbal communication throughout the interview. The expressions he made and what I saw as I tried to read him was that he was doing the same to me. As the interview went on it we hit a mutual understand between each other than is rare especially during first impressions.
Personally, I felt like we synced and there are only a few people in this world that I’ve ever synced with in that way. Especially through the fact that we didn’t speak the same language. Yes, he spoke English. Which, the emcee was able to portray that Filipinos are highly adequate when speaking English. But, when he heard me I didn’t meet his image of a Filipino.
It always confuses people since I am Filipino by race so I look like the people around me but once I speak, there’s something different. There’s something that doesn’t match with the public. If I had chance to get to know Win on a personal level I’d be super stoked.
After the interview I got off stage and the emcee announced how the band members wanted to interact with the audience. They wanted to spend twenty minutes or so giving autographs or taking pictures. I went back up and took a picture with Win for my friend. Then, I went to get autographs from all the band members. When I returned to Win later, I asked him to sign my cellphone case (which he was like are you sure???) Right now I have a plane back to my cellphone case which is white because I layered in in nail polish (which isn’t evenly layer and I suck at painting but anyways). I told him yea, and then I told them I liked his voice. It’s very common for me to hone in on introverts or people who are shy.
People who are introverts or shy usually are more observant than extroverts. I find the story of an introvert more interesting than an extrovert. This may seem amusing to hear but I’m an introvert. An introvert likes to keep to themselves. And I do. But I do know that I have to socially interact with people especially in the situation that I’m in. I can’t learn without socializing which is difficult on my anxiety but it helps it too.
Extraverts tend to be very charismatic. They pay attention to themselves rather than to others which is why I rather be around an introvert than an extrovert but people aren’t limited to one type of personality. When two introverts come together. One of them can be nervous about something and the other can step up because they understand the feelings of being nervous but if it means that their friend is more comfortable not doing whatever it is, they will take action.
Overall, the experience with the band and the concert was fantastic. I asked the lead singer, who do I contact to get information of getting you to perform somewhere? And He gave me a name but now I have to figure out who that is because I don’t know them but I wanted to get their information so that I could take it with me back home and see if I can get them to perform back home.
I want to post this all at once but I also know that I don’t want to intimidate my readers by posting all of this at once. So, if you are interested in reading the whole thing I will link it to the parts of the post but I post it all at once because I don’t like writing more than a thousand words per post on this blog. This is meant to keep my readers in touch with me but I do know that I have a habit of going into detail when it comes to what I write about and to prevent boredom or disinterest I like to cut up what I’ve written in the end. The concert lasted from 6pm-10pm. At 8:30 Tuan Thailand played.
This experience was worth it and I forgot about how sick I felt until after the concert was over. I enjoyed my time and I have to say that this concert will be one of my favorite memories of this semester. I hope I can get this band to perform in the U.S but I don’t know what regulations need to be met in order to do that so I’ll need to look into it.
Now that my readers have made it this far I’d like to share Tuan Thailand’s information and I want you all to check them out! Here’s a link their music.
Spotify: Two of their songs are available on Spotify. One is 1,000 miles and the other is written in Thai so I don’t know what the name is but it’s good!
I’d like to do another post about this band and what I’ve read about them but it is two in the morning and I need to sleep so I’ll have to wait on writing about The Bridge and Tuan Thailand. I hope you all enjoyed reading about my experience at this concert. This is a new band I’m looking forward to seeing their progression as time passes!
Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts and questions through the below links
DJ/Nar/Cho
#TuanThailand #UNPconcert2019 #UNP #University of Northern Philippines #Metal #Concert #Blog #About Music #Philippines #Study Abroad #Travel #Travel Blog #Filipino #American #Journal #Personal Journal #Personal #American Filipino #Culture
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