Music is the miracle that reborn me!

In 2023, he held a live concert "Alone and Vast" to mark 30 years of his composing career . At this event, experts expressed their admiration because he took on many roles at the same time, from choosing songs, editing and arranging singers, arranging music, to playing the guitar , and being an MC for nearly 4 hours. But some people also think that he is taking on too much work, making himself miserable ?

- I am someone who always wants everything to be the best, so I am forced to do such a large amount of work. Maybe everyone has a different opinion, but for me, it is not a hardship, I just try to have the best music night, to satisfy the audience the most and also to make my dream the most complete.

As I confided at this live concert, this concert is more than a dream because some dreams only take 5-10 years, one or two years or a few months. But this dream is a 30-year dream, because since I started writing music, I have wanted to one day organize concerts in cities across the country.

To have a live concert like "Alone and Vast", I worked without a day off for 3 months. Before that, I had 14 consecutive months without a day off, from the program Sao Mai 2022 to some programs such as "Con duong am nhac", "Phu Quang - Do Bao with the title "Hanoi in the transition season", the program "Dan Chim Viet - Van Cao 100 years".

The preparation process and the intensity of artistic work are required to be like that, so for me, to achieve the goal, there is no other way but to exhaust myself.

Many musicians have shared that in each song about love, there is always a true love story of the musician in that song. For you, there are also many songs about love , especially in the live show "How alone" you also confessed, a song was composed from the feelings of a girl who expressed her love for you when you were in Saigon. So, surely that is not the only girl who expressed her love for you, but there are many more in your songs?

- I'm quite busy, taking on many different roles such as composing, teaching, doing my own shows, arranging songs for singers, being in charge of music at music shows and events... so I don't seem to have time to care about what's happening around me, including whether someone has a crush on me. When I was a student, I was very attractive, but unfortunately because I only liked music, I was always the last one to know that someone had a crush on me (laughs).

I often tell my friends that my daily life is quite boring. I only drink coffee, listen to music, compose without eating or drinking, and rarely hang out with friends... I also don't feel comfortable approaching and talking to people in general and women in particular. Later, when I had a family, I seemed to be more stoic in this matter, so I never had a real girlfriend who was a friend to talk to openly and comfortably. I think that the girls who admire me mainly come from their love for my compositions.

Some old songs from my youth, songs about love, mentioning a girl that can be associated with memories, with each fate at that time. Sometimes just a glimpse can enter my work, but there are also very deep feelings that do not appear in any song. I would like to stop the love story in composing here, because I think, I am still young and not the right time to talk about these things. Save it for when I get older, then I will share.

You said that there are very deep feelings but they are not in your compositions, but with some musicians like Pham Duy, Phu Quang, Tran Tien... deep love stories are often put into songs, they are the material for their compositions, and those songs often leave a lot of emotions , creating impressions for the audience. So do you think you are going against those musicians ?

- Because people keep hearing the anecdotes and think that compositions are born in only one way, I'm not sure about this. Deep love is often an invaluable ingredient for love songs. For me, no matter how deep love is, it is still a small story that is temporary in a person's life. Deep to one person but can be bland to another person, to oneself at another time and vice versa. For example, now we look at the love when we were naive students, we smile and think oh that's not necessarily love. Likewise, I'm very afraid to look back at a naive composition of mine in the name of deep love. Therefore, for a long time I like to contemplate all the love that I have had, that I have had and that of everyone else, all like a larger ocean of emotions or experiences and then write most of my works. Of course, when the source of emotions about someone, a specific feeling is too strong but mature enough, a composition can be born and stay right away.

I can compose by observing a couple in real life and compose a song, or seeing a social phenomenon appearing frequently in the newspaper, stories strong enough, enough to interest me, then I can compose. For professional composers, no matter what the conditions are, they can still write.

Many people have asked me the question, surely the musician loves a lot. I find it quite difficult to answer, because I don't know how to answer anymore. If I loved hundreds of loves, I wouldn't have time to do anything, except... a struggling heart, spinning in all directions just to love. (laughs).

When mentioning musician Do Bao, the audience will often remember the series of songs "Love Letter", from "First Love Letter " to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. In particular, "Second Love Letter" became a big hit for Ho Quynh Huong, helping the singer become more known and famous. So at that time, did Ho Quynh Huong come and ask to sing this song or did he invite Ho Quynh Huong to sing ?

- The song "The Second Love Letter" was the time when I planned to make the album "Canh cung 1". I was the one who sent this song to Ho Quynh Huong to listen to and then recorded it with Ho Quynh Huong at Ho Guom Audio on Hang Bo street in 2003.

At that time, I was young, innocent and thought that I would continue the series of love letters without thinking about the fate of the work. I did not think that the songs would have such a long life and be welcomed and loved by the audience so much. And after 20 years, the songs are still welcomed, loved, and still have a good life, which makes me feel happy.

For a composer, when writing a song, he will consider it his "brainchild", so when its fate is good, the "parents" are the happiest.

With the song "First Love Letter", I composed it for my previous girlfriend, when I was young. And "Second Love Letter" was written when I remembered the first meeting with my wife.

When a song is well received, the singer also becomes famous. However, this fame is somewhat not equal to that of the musician, the person who composed the song, because the audience only knows the singer who sang the song and pays little attention to who the author of the song is. And even more disadvantageous is that the singer's salary is also more than the copyright of the song. What do you think about this ?

- I think this is a big social issue, so it's hard to say. To put it briefly, I think it's culture, artist awareness, spontaneous rules in the industry, and more broadly, it's the story of law and culture, the lifestyle of the whole country, how everything was built and what we have now. If copyright law is well implemented and there is good technology, I think it will create new rules of conduct, when there is more fairness, people don't need to ask each other for old-fashioned gratitude, for example.

Personally, I am not upset about the story of why the audience knows the singers more or why the salary they earn is more than the royalties. The pressing issue is that we all have to have time to wait for life to develop, just like the infrastructure of a city or a country changes and progresses every 5-10 years and this will automatically make people more civilized and know how to behave properly. At that time, even if you want to go wrong, do wrong, you cannot. And in the process of waiting, I think I should do whatever positive things I can.

In a song I once wrote: "Forever naive, forever waiting", that is my perspective on life. I see myself living positively so that everything I do is positive. And let's be optimistic to know how to wait, then we will be more civilized. Civilized in many aspects, including music, copyright, artist-to-artist behavior, or a better quality media space.

So what about you personally, has a singer ever behaved in a way that made you feel hurt ?

- Yes, it is true. While waiting for development planning, artists often make mistakes with each other, so I usually leave it open (laughs). I understand how this industry is going, so I don't see the disadvantages that people often mention. If we are afraid of disadvantages, why do we pursue something?

This can be understood, a gentle musician Do Bao or a Do Bao who does not need money ?

- It's not true that I don't need money, but I don't work with too much of a monetary purpose. I don't put much emphasis on money, but I always have enough to live on because my price is not cheap. A friend teased me in the music industry that I'm like a Richkid, it seems that I don't take money lightly. It's just that I understand the rules of the space I live in, I'm satisfied with myself so I don't have any frustration at this time.

If in the past, when I was 20 years old, I had many frustrations, I could get frustrated about anything. I thought I had to have a point of view on society with my own thoughts, then put forth counter-arguments, in the form of resistance, struggle or reform or something...

I think it's the process of me learning to be an adult until I understand the rules, understand the disadvantages, the pitiful, even the strengths, then I'm no longer upset. Just like you understand the map, the path, if you still go wrong, it's your fault.

And now, for young people, maybe you have to study, so in my opinion, you should study, study and then learn your lesson quickly to save your time. Society saves one person who is upset in the wrong way, upset in an ineffective way.

You are a highly regarded pop musician, so how do you evaluate the current pop music market, when the pop music market is increasingly vibrant, requiring high entertainment ?

- I see that Vietnamese light music has developed very well before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The reason I say good is because the quality of compositions is better than before. The composers now have closer contact with the world in terms of trends, tendencies, musical instruments, arrangements, compositions...

Not to mention academic information, research, techniques, production experience… all are sold, shared a lot on the internet, programs… have raised the quality of music to a new level. Basically, I think Vietnamese contemporary music is meeting the needs of Vietnamese audiences well.

As for young artists, they are very good, mastering all the techniques and trends. They entered the music industry early and confidently. I think that is a very successful change of contemporary music. However, everything has two sides, for example, smartphones have both advantages and disadvantages. The same is true in music, so the use of technology also requires artists to be aware and capable of mastering the technology and exploiting its strengths and good points without abusing that technology to lose their own creativity.

Regarding following trends, I think it is completely normal, it is the human need to imitate the good, the fun, the beautiful. Because of that need to imitate, the quality of production and art also increases and there are more, let's call it good, good products for everyone to consume.

I still think that in every field, every art now has a part that people still call market music, I think that these are products for consumer society, for the consumer community. It is very necessary and if the product is good, the audience will benefit. But the most important thing that I am concerned about is that if the majority runs after producing consumer goods, there will be very little individuality, musical personality, and a lack of outstanding creative personalities.

For example, if there are 100 musicians and singers participating in producing and singing music for consumer life, only 10% are creatively creating new and unique things.

Or like singers who sing shows, sing at events, sing on request, at that singing location the audience requests to sing these songs and whether they are good or bad, they still sing, sing to earn money, not to sing what they like. If 90% of singers sing like that, then only a very small percentage of them sing what they like and so in some ways the audience does not benefit. The audience will not be able to enjoy creativity, to find new things.

I once heard that when he was young , when his parents sent him to study music, he promised his mother: "When I'm 50 years old, I will be a famous musician". And indeed , now he is a famous musician, loved by many audiences. At that time, why did he promise his mother this so firmly and up to now, what else has he promised his mother ?

- (Laughs) Now I don't promise anything to my mother anymore. I think that's the biggest promise. It's true that when I was 15 years old, I promised my mother that I would be a famous musician by the time I was 50. At that time, I told my mother that because it was the dream of a teenager with many ambitions.

When my parents sent me to music school, I felt like I saw a treasure trove of gold. I was so passionate that I only knew how to practice the instrument. My day was spent eating and practicing the instrument. After that were the years I studied the instrument, learned music, arranged music, played music, and then took the entrance exam to the Vietnam National Conservatory of Music, now the Vietnam National Academy of Music, to study composition. I learned all the skills with passion and hard work.

I understand that when you were young, you had the nickname "Deaf Bao", which seems a bit inappropriate for a professional musician. Why do people call you that ?

- I think, at that time, I contributed to my music later. At that time, I participated in playing music, producing music programs and events, working at the bar continuously, maybe because of that, my hearing was overloaded. I still remember, once participating as the band leader of Mr. Ngoc Tan's program, after finishing, I went home, slept overnight, the next morning I felt a sharp pain in my ear. I don't know if it was due to injury or irritation, but my ears heard sounds amplified many times more than normal people. I also felt a headache when listening to the radio at a normal level, so I had to stop making music for 2 years.

During those 2 years, if I went out, I had to cover my ears. I was really shocked, because at that time I was only 19 years old, in charge of the music department of a big program, earning a lot of money. Then I played music at the dance hall with the band of Quoc Trung and Tran Manh Tuan. The future was wide open, but now the door slammed shut, everything went dark overnight, making me desperate...

For two years, I went to many hospitals for treatment but could not find out what the specific disease was and had to live with it. Then one day, the nightmare disappeared. That was the day I went to see the 3A Trio sing the song "Thăng ngày cho mong" at Lan Song Xanh in Giang Vo (Hanoi). I went to see it and had to cover my ears with cotton, but seeing the audience love and warmly welcome the song, I was very happy. That night, I was very happy, because for the first time, one of my songs was played on a big stage. Then I went to sleep and when I woke up the next morning, my ears were back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Music is a miracle to me, it can push me to the bottom of my emotions for 2 years and also revive me in a moment. It's all like a switch to me, happening in just one night.

But I must also add that during the 2 years I was home (1997-1999), I composed a lot of songs. Looking back, I think that the time I was sick was a super priceless time for me. Because music allowed me to experience two extremes of emotions, which were positive and negative.

Somewhere in life people talk about fate and it is not wrong. Those two years, I thought that could be my fate.

There is one thing I always remind myself not to forget, no matter what I do, how much I compose or contribute to music, it is all a small thing in this vast life. I just hope to always be at peace in my work, not arrogant, know clearly what I do and feel happy when following the path I have chosen.

Thank you musician Do Bao for this conversation !

Source: https://danviet.vn/nhac-si-do-bao-am-nhac-la-phep-mau-tai-sinh-toi-20240318021501797.htm