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P.K.14
Bejing rock legends P.K.14 return to Vietnam for their Hanoi debut at CAMA Festival 5 this May.
Flagged by Time Magazine as one of the top 5 bands to watch in Asia and one of SPIN's top picks at SXSW 2010, P.K.14 are the undisputed leaders of China's new wave, the raw, beating heart of a new generation of rock revolutionaries.
Since forming in Nanjing back in 1997, the band has recorded four albums, played innumerable live shows around China and the world, and influenced almost every act to emerge from Beijing's grimy underbelly over the past five years.
Drawing comparisons to everyone from The Pixies to The Smiths to The Stooges, P.K.14 are at once thoughtful, wild and uncompromising – making for an unmissable introduction to the middle kingdom's vibrant musical underground.
Okamoto's
Psychedelic garage rock sensation Okamoto's are some of Japan's fastest rising stars.
Young, dynamic and uncompromising, the band has forged a name for themselves over the last 3 years based on their intense stage shows and brash, raw sound.
One of the hardest working acts on the Japanese scene (playing 100 shows in 2009 alone), the four 19-year-olds from Shinjuku, Tokyo, have already begun to make a big name for themselves internationally, touring the US, Australia and Hong Kong to rave reviews from fans and media alike.
Now, with three albums under their belt, a deal with Sony Japan and the world at their feet, Okamoto's hit Vietnam for the first time this May for CAMA Festival 5.
The Standards
Stalwarts of the vibrant Bangkok live music scene, The Standards have been wowing audiences with their signature Brit-Thai fusion sound for over 3 years.
Made up of London boy Matt Smith on vocals, Paul Smith (no relation) on lead guitar, and Bangkok natives Sithikorn "Mac" Likitvorachai on bass, Ayu Charuburana on drums and Manasnit Setthawong on keyboard, The Standards have developed a firm reputation as one of the region's must-see live acts.
"Our sound is very British, and I don't think our sound could come from anywhere else. It's not really influenced by anywhere else. It's influenced by British bands," Matt says, "but we're neither an English band or a Thai band. We're just a good band."
With their riotous live shows attracting a cult-like following at home in Thailand and inspiring bookings in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and now Vietnam, The Standards are an act firmly making their mark on the burgeoning Southeast Asian rock circuit.
Ball Park Music
Darlings of the Australian indie scene, six-headed musical juggernaut Ball Park Music is an act on the up and up.
With their unique pop recipe, full of sliding trombones and heart-breaking folk, jangly guitars and honky-tonk piano, the band has been winning hearts and minds down under with a slew of alternative radio hits and live performances alongside the likes of Philadelphia Grand Jury, Cloud Control, Deep Sea Arcade, Boy & Bear, Hungry Kids of Hungary and even Radiohead.
Starting 2011 with a coveted slot at the Big Day Out - Australia's biggest rock festival – and a nod from national broadcaster Triple J as one of the hottest acts to watch in the country, Ball Park Music are now preparing to make their Asian debut in Hanoi at the upcoming CAMA Festival 5.
Grrilla Step
Completely unlike anything you've ever seen, heard or moved to before, Grrilla Step is a unique collective that combines the innovative turntablism of DJ Dexter (from internationally-acclaimed Melbourne band The Avalanches), with the dynamic drumming of PNG percussionist Airi Ingram (Drum Drum), and the forceful 'krump' dance style of Dandenong crew Royal Fam.
Krumping is a relatively recent form of underground freestyle dance that emerged from Los Angeles' South Central neighbourhood around 2000. In an area known for heavy gang crime, krumping was originally developed as an alternative means of expression to violence. An anagram created by its founders, for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise, krump street crews challenged each other's style in dance 'battles' to establish supremacy. Similar to breakdancing, but more aggressive, krumping features exaggerated and highly energetic standing moves. A dancer tells a story through the voice of his 'character', while attempting to advance through three levels of intensity (krump, buck, amp), and may express himself or herself in any way, just as long as it is authentic and organic. In krump, there is no right or wrong way to express one's self – it's an art form owned by feelings, not words or rules.
Grrilla Step have taken the form to the next level, creating a specifically Pacific style that weaves in traditional elements of family, sound and dance from the group members homelands of the Torres Strait Islands, Cook Islands, Samoa, PNG, West Papua, Philippines and New Zealand. For Dexter, the inspiration for the group formed while on a trip to the Northern Territory, where he was exposed to the Polynesian style of log drumming, which is structured, varied and intense. As a DJ, he heard the rhythms and immediately realised their potential for complementing quick-changing hip-hop breaks, He also noticed their innate energy as very similar to the underground krump dancing coming out of Melbourne's Royal Fam crew. The obvious step was for Dexter to get in the middle of it all and act as a bridge between the two styles.
"We've got this unspoken musical language that we all feed off and understand," explains Dexter. "Like, there's no need to butt heads at all, we just know what we like from krump and the traditional stuff and from hip-hop, and we're all moving forwards with our sound. There are key grooves that we stick to, but the krumpers are really spontaneous. They rehearse a foundation but it can go anywhere, and you have to control the music to a point where they get what they call, "amped". They go for it, go wild. Same with the log drumming, they're all tiny little loops, and one will play a little loop and they'll all have to go there."
Headliners at both 2010's Big Day Out and WOMADelaide, Grrilla Step are pursuing their collective vision of incorporating cultural music into hip-hop, and creating a new Australian music form which is truly boundary-crossing and groundbreaking.
6789
6789 may struggle to defy categorization, but their diverse influences and enthusiastic stage shows have fast won them a devoted fan base over the last year in their native Ho Chi Minh City.
Melding funk, reggae, ska and more, the four members of 6789 – Way (drums), Janel (acoustic guitar), Dunk (electric guitar) and Phuong (bass) – without doubt make for one of Vietnam’s most original new acts.
6789 make their Hanoi debut on May 28 at CAMA Festival 5.
Rosewood
Rising from the ashes of local rock/numetal bands Buratinox and SmallFire, Hanoi alternative rockers Rosewood have gone on to become one of Vietnam's leading live acts.
Building a reputation for hard-hitting live performances, Vũ Hà (lead guitar), Nam Thắng (bass), Trung Kiên (drum) and Vũ Nhật Linh (vocals, guitar) have won fans around the nation with their performances at rock showcases including Rockstorm and the Tiger Translate Metropolis events around Vietnam in 2010.
Recycle
One of the leading talents on Hanoi’s young rock scene, Recycle are a hard-hitting alternative metal act made up of Nguyễn Việt Dũng a.k.a Joon (vocalist), Tăng Xuân Kiên a.k.a Cun (bassist), Nguyễn Thanh Liêm (guitarists) and Hoàng Phú Tùng (drummer). Choosing Alternative Metal as their kind of music, Re-Cycle always brings a different sound among the others. Full of youth, enthusiasm and skill, they attract lots of attention during their performance. They have released 2 EPs, 2 MV and audiences find "The Promise", "Paranoid" and "Get over" their most well known songs.
An audience favourite at the 3rd CAMA Festival in 2009, the boys have since gone on to release 2 original EPs, 2 music videos, and win ever more fans with their passionate stage shows and distinctly Vietnamese brand of heavy rock.
Gibbon Suburbia
Gibbon Suburbia's eclectic, electric, heavy layered arboreal sound sits on a sonic bed of solid hard rock, drawing inspiration from hardcore, protopunk, garage and progressive rock with a generous dash of psychedelic grunge-instrumental experimentalism. The Hanoi-based act strongly endorses the primate focus of the 5th CAMA festival.
Commens
Hanoi's newest electronic rock act consists of California transplants Ryan Chittick, Lilly Nguyen and Taylor Cavale.
Commens draws upon electronic music, krautrock, post rock, minimalism and maximalism, blending sequenced electronics, synthesizers, and live drumming.
Chittick and Nguyen have musical roots in the San Francisco music scene playing shows in clubs, warehouses and basements and touring the US and Europe with bands such as Warbler, Experimental Dental School and Kid 606. Three people; a whole lot of sound.
Phuong Dang
This amazing young female song writer is best summarized in one word… talent.
22, Vietnamese, beautiful, bilingual, quirky, baroqueish, at times theatrical, soul piercing and honest, Phuong Dang is an elegant pianist with powerful vocals. Recent performances have literally left the audience in awe of this must-see homegrown talent.
