Vitalizing Viet rock

Nguyen Cuu Long, marketing manager of Sony Ericsson, has helped organize several rock music festivals in Vietnam including Rock Tiger Unite and Saigon Rock Night II
Nguyen Cuu Long has always been passionate about rock music and he describes it in just one word, “Wave.” When one stands before a wave, he says, they can experience a whole range of emotions.

And just like the ocean, rock music is sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce, and sometimes awe-inspiring.

Music has been Long’s obsession since childhood.

He says that as far back as he can remember, rock music in particular has been a boundless source of inspiration for him in all that he does.

It has been so much more than just a form of entertainment for Long, that he can’t help but share his passion with others, he says.

And moreover, his fervor for rock music has only grown over time.

Like many other music aficionados in Vietnam, Long worries about the development of rock music, or “Viet Rock,” in the country.

When Long first became aware of his love affair with rock music, he says he also realized the industry in Vietnam was precarious and was continually experiencing ups and downs.

In Long’s opinion, Viet Rock has always been a very individualized enterprise.

Artists have played mainly for themselves and their fans in the “indie” scene without focusing on making it their career.

Long guessed that this was probably because there was no real forum in Vietnam for artists to make a living off of their talent, as enthusiastic as they may be.

It was at that point that Long resolved to step up and create a platform for Vietnam’s rockers to take their music to the next level.

Long made the decision to blaze forward and take the bold step of organizing “Rock Tiger Unite,” a music festival to inspire fans and artists alike.

As the marketing manager at Sony Ericsson, Long was able to convince the company to sponsor the event.

He approached several well-known foreign bands to perform as well.

“My colleagues and I had to work continuously with a strict checklist - from bands to budget to time, to best suit Vietnamese people’s taste,” said Long.

He worked with a director to ensure that everything went off without a hitch and that the style of music was not too heavy or too light for audiences.

The event turned out to be a huge success.

Long went on to contribute to other festivals and the success of Rock Tiger Unite 6, 7 and 8, and Saigon Rock Night II – which took place in late March of this year – inspires Long to believe that rock music is, in fact, developing a stronghold in Vietnam.

Saigon Rock Night II, jointly sponsored by Sony Ericsson and Saigon Light Music Company, set an unprecedented record for a Viet Rock festival with the participation of 14 bands.

The six-hour concert was attended by more than 14,000 rock fans.

Duy Hai, head of the Saigon Rock Club said, “Although I have only known Long for a short time, I understand, through the way he works, that he has a great passion for rock. Unlike most businessmen, Long’s outgoing style makes everyone comfortable and he inspires everyone with his enthusiasm for rock.”

Music is forever changing, says Long.

Nowadays, rockers in Vietnam are younger than their predecessors.

Many contemporary musicians embody a “rock lifestyle,” wearing a distinct brand of “rocker” clothes and styling their hair in line with the latest trends.

It doesn’t matter either way for Long, just having enthusiasm and a love for music are enough, he says.

As Long reflects back over his role in helping organize Vietnam’s most successful rock events to date, he says there are still several areas of the festival industry that need improvement.

For example, Long’s team had wanted to invite American rock band Evanescence to perform in Vietnam.

Unfortunately, for several reasons, Vietnamese rock fans’ dreams of rocking with Evanescence did not come true.

Apart from the fact that it would have been too costly to hire the band (around US$500,000) the main barrier was that despite their popularity, Evanescence’s CDs could not be sold at a high enough price in Vietnam to be profitable to the band.

“If only we had the chance to enjoy the best of rock music,” Long laments.

He says, however, that he will keep endeavoring to introduce more foreign bands to the country to help buoy Vietnam’s music scene and ensure the industry has a strong future ahead.

Long says he was especially impressed with the recent success of Saigon Rock Night II because in his opinion, it had the feel of a true rock festival.

He says he liked the way the organizers focused less on acquiring only well-known bands, and instead highlighted putting together a tight show that focused on the passion of rock.

This will ensure that bands transmit their love for rock to the audiences during the program, Long says.

“It is also interesting because Saigon Rock Night II coincided with the launch of the Walkman W890i and W380i which completely suits rockers’ tastes.”

With the support of Sony Ericsson, Long has several plans to further develop Viet Rock.

“We are in talks with the bands from Saigon Rock Club, suggesting they compose in a new way with a focus on exploring the images of Vietnam in terms of the country, culture and people,” Long said.

“It is not necessary to sponsor Viet Rock only with money – rock can exist providing that everyone shares the passion.”

Long envisions many more successful music events in Vietnam.

If rock is only seasonal and not nourished by inspiration, he says, it will fail to develop properly.

In his eyes, there is great potential for music and fans to grow together in Vietnam.

Long hopes more people will come to appreciate Viet Rock, he says, because music can be an indispensable source of food for the mind and the soul.