Forward Flight

The Ginkz

Youtube

The only link I have left to share is Win's Instagram. If I had the Instagram of the other members I'd share them but Win commented on my Instagram post and the Instagram of Tuan Thailand also commented on my post so the official overall Insta is what I have as well as his.

My classmates are tired of me fangirling over these people, I'm sure. The Ginkz is another band that Win is in. His actual name is Warut Onoonjit. (Which I can't say properly probably). In The Ginkz, Win is one of the main singers I wanted to check out the background of this band he's in more. It's also metal but it's different from Tuan Thailand. I still like both bands.

Let me know what you guys think about Tuan Thailand as well as this whole interaction that I've posted about this week! I'd like to hear some comments from y'all. You can either clock the 'Ask Questions Here' button on my blog, you can message me on Facebook, you can comment below even if you don't have a blogger (I allow anonymous questions).

I'd like to do a Q&A eventually over the content I'm sharing!

Tune in every week to hear about my experience in the Philippines. I have a lot of content written. All I have to do is schedule it for you. Please tune in next week! I will be introducing a new feature for Sundays starting this April 7th! It will be called 'Sunday Watts'. So, tune in every week to keep up with me.

Thank you for listening! Please let me know what goes through your head as you read my post!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

Facebook

This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my Facebook lol.

Instagram

I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

Wattpad

Friday, April 5, 2019

Meeting Tuan Thailand: Aftermath Part Two

Aftermath

This is me and the one I nicknamed EDM/Beard. He uses a soundboard. Win has a beard but this guy has a fill on beard lol at least for an Asian XD. In the middle is the one picture I took of Win without me in it. I didn't take too many pictures because I was engrossed with the concert! I truly do hope I can see this band again.

This is Aftermath Part Two. I recommend Part One before this one.

Part Two:

At this point, I was already internally screaming with excitement. Then, the bass player was singing a song I knew by heart so I began to sing and the lead singer went over to pay attention to the crowd and get them to wave their phones. I watched the lights dance as I sang along with Win and got lost in the music.

Then, my ears began to pick up on the lack of an existence. I was singing but I couldn’t hear my voice. I could hear Win’s but not mine. What I didn’t know was that I had this recorded. While this was happening, I turned my mic on and back on then tapped it and blew on it but didn’t hear anything. I shrugged then continued to sing because being up there in general was already surreal. The fact that I could be singing with the band member I wanted to get to know made me bubble up and I sang to my heart’s content.

When I found the recording later I was surprised but I was able to show others that the lead singer’s mic was messed up which is why I didn’t like his voice at the time of the concert. There’s a part where Win stops singing and you can hear me singing barely but I remember the lead singer looking over at Win who then continued to sing but he backs off so that the crowd can hear me sing. It was considerate of him and I hadn’t noticed it until the third time that I listened to the recording. (Yes, I’ve listened to it a lot.)

The experience had me forget that I was feeling sick at the beginning of the concert. When the lead singer took back his mic, I looked over at Win and I wanted to get a picture with him but I knew they were about to sing another song so I got off stage because I wanted to be courteous. My friend from CAS got onto me because I didn’t get Win’s autograph at the time.

They played seven to eight songs in total. I loved how the lead singer was so interactive! After the song that I sung with them he went down to the crowd and took pictures while the band played a steady background filler. It was a nice short intermission to give their voices a break. I went up to the bass player from the ground and he looked at me in with an anxious look in his eyes as if he were to say, “Nope. You look nice down there. Yeaaah. I know you’re wanting me to join you buuuut Ima stay up here while you look nice in the distance. Yeeep.”

I touched my heart and mouthed please and he shook his head and continued to give me the most ‘nope’ like expression. I knew the expression because I’ve made the expression too many times myself. Then, he backed up and tossed something. Well, I’m blind you know, so this girl screamed and picked it up and he looked at me silently like, “…That was like… supposed to be for you… but… you know…”

Internally, I had to face palm myself. They sung the rest of their songs and the school gave them their rewards. After that, the lead singer announced that he wanted people to come up on stage and get autographs or talk to the band members. I was able to interview Win before this but I didn’t think that I needed to go into detail about it. If you want to read about it you can refer to the original post and press ‘CTR + F’ then type in ‘interview’ and it will bring you to the interview.

The first person I went up to was Win. He smiled at me and my friend from CAS asked me to take a picture of her and him. After that, she showed me the extra tickets she had and we proceed to have the band members sign them. When I got to Win I handed him my ticket but then I got excited and asked him to sign my phone case since I had layered it in white nail polish and didn’t know what design I wanted to place on it.

It wasn’t sure about signing my cellphone case. He was like, “Are you sure?” and I told him, “Yes!”

So, he signed it and I’ll have the phone case photo in this post as well as the pictures that I took at the concert. It was night time so I didn’t bother to take too many. But the original post has pictures from their Instagram.

Each member of the band has a nickname except for Win since I know his name. I nicknamed the lead singer ‘K-pop’ because he looked like a K-pop singer. The shortest member and guitarist was nicknamed ‘the short one’, the soundboard player was nicknamed ‘EDM’ at first but later I had asked one of the members where the one with the beard was and he pointed at the EDM player and so I switch between these two nicknames for him. Win has a beard but it’s not like the EDM player’s beard. Like Beard has a full on beard while Win has a regularly trimmed beard. When I spoke to the drummer he seemed so proud of the performance but he showed so much courtesy. Like the way he stood and answered everyone made me think of how humble he was so I nicknamed him Humble.

I really do hope that I can see this band again. I asked K-pop who I was supposed to talk to see about getting them to perform somewhere. He said a name from the university but I don’t know who they are. Luckily, I stalked them too but I plan to hunt down this person he mentioned and talk to them to see who the actual connection is so I can ensure that they can play in San Angelo.

There are so many friends that I want to meet this band and I want to hear them play again. After the concert I went and listened to one of their songs on YouTube so I could hear the lead singer’s voice and when I did look them up I realized that K-pop has a beautiful voice. AND his voice is deeper. That caught me by surprise.

Attached to both parts of this will be a link to all of their websites as well as a two YouTube video links. I want you guys to listen to them. If you like metal or Link Park you’ll like these people. Yes, they sing in Thai in both songs but who cares! Music is music and that’s the beauty of it. I’m so happy I got to meet this band and I hope I get to hear them play again! And hopefully, the mic will be in better condition than this first interaction.
-

If you want to read the whole Meeting you can either click on (Part One) or (Full Post).

Also, if you haven't read my weekly entry you can read that as well! It's about what Win and what he got me to think about after our meeting. This week I've officially made it a thing. You will get three one more post about these people. My weekly entry is on a more personal level of emotion.

Weekly Post

Hope to see you tomorrow!

DJ/Nar/Cho

Discover Tuan Thailand!

They don't really use this but there are a few videos of their music on there.

Band

Win's

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!

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

Facebook

This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

Instagram

I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

Wattpad

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Meeting Tuan Thailand: Aftermath Part One

Aftermath

I dont know his real name or English name but I call him K-Pop! This is the lead singer everyone 😂❤

I’ve been talking about Tuan Thailand all week. Like whoa. I supposed I can give them this whole week of attention. If you’re into Metal/EDM you’ll like them. I want to talk about the whole band now that I’ve given Win so much attention. I want to ensure that everyone knows that I like the whole band and not only Win. Win is my favorite member though.

The more times I tell someone about my experience with Tuan Thailand the more surreal it gets! Like whoa. If you have read my Tuan Thailand post of through parts I really appreciate you being interesting in what I have to say. This will be different since I will narrate it from the beginning (since I can now do that without overly dramatically fangirling).

Originally, I didn’t want to go to the concert because I wasn’t feeling well. However, I was told that I was required to go due to attendance. So, I went since I’m the secretary of my section. When I got there and sat down with one of my friends the emcee started to walk around. I wasn’t paying any mind to him but I nudged her and muttered, “I really don’t want to be the center of attention at this concert.”

Literally, in the next second the spotlight beamed over me and the emcee declared, “OH I FOUND MY FRIEND. HELLO FRIEND!”

At that moment I lost my composure and looked at him with the most ‘are you serious?’! kind of look. He brought the mic to my lips after he sat down with me and said, “I’m so glad to see you friend!”

Next to me, my best friend was laughing and my body language was screaming but I didn’t exclaim my exasperation with words because the mic was near my face. I mouthed the words, “Are you kidding me?”!

He then got excited and said, “Buenos noches, my friend?” (Which means good evening in Spanish) but at the time my mind was racing because I had expressed that I didn’t want to bring any attention to myself and yet the universe was like yea, about that.

The emcee them placed the mic in front of me and I was so dumbfounded because he had spoken to me in Spanish. I replied, “Buenos noches.” But not in a way that meant to be a reply. It was more my way of thinking: what does that even mean…?

I was brought back to the New Tandem office as the conversation in Spanish I had with one of the members played in my head. I realized he was that person and he had this grin on his face because we had exchanged a gesture in Spanish. He was so proud of himself but my mind was trying to figure out what language to think and speak in when he asked me the next question, “Are you excited to see this band from Thailand?”

“Wen.” I said, which means ‘yes’ in Ilocano. I sighed as my self-conscious was like speak English! He’s speaking English!

He laughed at me and continued to ask me questions. “So, friend. What’s your name?”

This time I was prepared and replied, “My name is DJ.”

The emcee got excited and replied. “Oh! DJ! I’m so glad you’re here! So, what are you expecting from this Tuan Thailand band?”

My initial thought was, “I came here because I was required to but whatever.” Instead, “I shrugged. “Uh, I guess I’m expecting them to be unique and play something new that I’ve never heard before.”

At that time, I was angry with the emcee because he had put me on spot but now that the concert has been the theme of my conversations this whole week I have to thank him for forcing me out of my comfort zone. So, thank you! I’ll be tagging him in this post on my Facebook. It’s because of him that I was able to do everything that I was able to do at this concert.

Now, my answer was that I was expecting something unique and Tuan Thailand was unique! They remind me of a more Metal version of the newer style of Linkin Park. Of course, they’re Thai too so in that way they’re different but I fell in love with this band.

The second idea I expressed was that I was expecting something new and the style of music to me wasn’t new which was what triggered my inner concert fangirl. However, when it comes to the Philippines Metal is not a genre that most people like because of the bias stereotype that is connected with it. Metal is usually considered devil worshiping music or thought to summon demons (which is doesn’t but bias is bias).

As a country that is very religious. This genre is not exactly praised by the public and the moment they began to play their first song my inner love for metal was ignited but I also got to watch the reactions of the crowd. The Filipino population around me was looking at this band with horror, with disregard, with confusion, with amusement, and with outright disgust. My classmates left me and I was tempted to go hand out with the emcee but thankfully one of my friend from the arts and sciences college (CAS) was there and she grabbed me the moment she saw me.

After the first song and after I saw Win’s passion for music I saw the emcee and told him that I wanted to meet the bass player. He told me that there would be interviews later so I could talk to him then. Before that happened, however, the band had asked someone to go up on stage to dance for while they sung. My friend from CAS told me to go but I told her that I can sing but I can’t dance. Once someone went up on the stage the lead singer said that she could sing if she wanted and she went with singing because all Filipinos can sing.

In this song, I don’t remember which song it was, she was able to use Win, the bass player’s mic. So, you could hear here well. At the time, I thought the singer was mumbling so I thought he wasn’t very good. I heard more of Win when they were singing which is why I liked him more. After she sung and got off stage the band player two more songs. One in English and one in Thai.

Since they didn’t have any CDs I recorded the concert on my phone so I could listen to it again later. What I didn’t know was that it was still recording when the lead singer asked for the crowd to turn on their flashlights. I did this, then the emcee ran up to me and asked, “Hey, DJ. Do you want to sing?”

Before I was able to answer, he grabbed my wrist and I found floating towards the stage and somehow, I was on the stage. The emcee pushed me to the center and the lead singer asked what my name was. I told him that it was DJ. Then, he handed me the mic and Win started to sing Photograph by Ed Sheeran.

(This is where I'll end Part One! Tune in tomorrow for Part Two!) If you want to read the whole Meeting you can either click on (Part One) or (Full Post).

Also, if you haven't read my weekly entry you can read that as well! It's also about what Win made me think about.😅 This week I've officially made it a thing. You will get three two more post about these people. My weekly entry is on a more personal level of emotion.

Weekly Post

Hope to see you tomorrow!

DJ/Nar/Cho

Discover Tuan Thailand!

They don't really use this but there are a few videos of their music on there.

Band

Win's

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!

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

Facebook

This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

Instagram

I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

Wattpad

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Meeting Tuan Thailand - Part Three

Meeting Tuan Thailand

March 29th, 2019

This is the Part Three of 'Meeting Tuan Thailand'. If you haven't read Part One or Part Two I encourage that you read it before reading this part! If you would rather read the whole 3-4k worded entry you're welcome to do so by clicking here.

(I'm sad that I'm blurry in this picture but I don't care.

Win is too funny!)

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.

Thank you for either reading this full entry through the link or reading this through the parts.Either way, I appreciate you. Now that you've read about my experience, I hope that you are interested in the band yourself. I'll be posting a follow up post so stay tuned tomorrow as well! There's so much that I want to share with you all. This week as been so eventful and enlightening.

Thanks for reading! Hope you tune in next week!

DJ/Nar/Cho

Discover Tuan Thailand!

They don't really use this but there are a few videos of their music on there.

Band

Win's

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!

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

Facebook

This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

Instagram

I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

Wattpad

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Meeting Tuan Thailand - Part Two

Meeting Tuan Thailand

March 29th, 2019

This is the Part Two of 'Meeting Tuan Thailand'. If you haven't read Part One I encourage that you read it before reading this part!

I took this photo right after I interviewed him. He is so wholesome <3 div="">

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).

This is part two of three. If you would like to read the whole journal entry (which is 3-4 thousand words) you are welcome to by clicking on this link. Otherwise, tune in tomorrow for the last part of the journal entry!

Thank you for reading,

Dj/Cho/Nar

Discover Tuan Thailand!

They don't really use this but there are a few videos of their music on there.

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!

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

Facebook

This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

Instagram

I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

Wattpad

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Meeting Tuan Thailand - Part One

Meeting Tuan Thailand

March 29th, 2019

(First picture I took with Win! But it wasn't very good because of the light). Still super stoked that I got it!)

Today started off bad, then I ended up feeling sick. I was tempted to not go to this concert that my teachers enforced us to go to but I got to see the band The Bridge (a local Filipino band) and I got to interact with this band from Thailand. I do not regret going. I’m actually happy that I did. Although, I didn’t appreciate the ‘enforcement’ that was laid upon going to this concert.

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.

This is part one of three. If you would like to read the whole journal entry (which is 3-4 thousand words) you are welcome to by clicking on this link. Otherwise, tune in tomorrow and the day after next for the full journal entry!

Thank you for reading,

Dj/Cho/Nar

Discover Tuan Thailand!

They don't really use this but there are a few videos of their music on there.