CAO NGOC CU - THE INDIE OWL in the indie flow.

photo by: Minh Nguyen

“No saddle on my back No horseshoe needed My legs are bleeding now But I'm finally free.”

That is the chorus lyrics of "Wild Horse" - a song written by a young musician. In the underground music community, this guy is known as the vocalist and guitarist of Bluemato, one of the first rock bands that built the first brick of the Indie community in Vietnam 5 years ago. When he is not working with his band, he works on a self-titled solo project that he has been following for years, Cao Ngoc Cu.

photo by: Dung Le

THE FIRST STEPS.

Just like many other kids, Cu (Owl) had a big dream when he was a little child. He has had a big love for music and approached his dream of being a musician when he was in 10th grade. It was the year when he suddenly fell in love with an iconic bass line in a song by Dir En Grey and tried to catch its melody without any music theory in his head. 1 year later, Cu bought his first guitar - a low-budget Fender Stratocaster and began to write the very first songs - which he now described as "shitty love stories about fanciful girls".

At the first time when Cu came out to his family that he wanted to be a musician, everyone in his family opposed him. Like every other traditional family in Vietnam, they thought that having such an unstable career is the dumbest thing a man can do. Ignoring the expectation of the family that he would become a police officer as a family tradition, Cu just kept on playing guitar and writing more songs.

Also at this period, Cu started his very first high school band to fulfill the dream. Their first few gigs, as Cu described, were a bunch of trash but also gave Cu and his fellows unforgettable experiences to make them push themselves harder and harder.

photo by: Minh Nguyen

THROUGH STORMS AND STORMS.

“The tiny fish is stuck on the dry shore, nowhere to go”

Through 11 years since the beginning, Cu has been writing more than 30 songs with his band and the number is 50 with his solo project. To him, none of those songs are perfect as they were all freely written with different vibes based on his feeling. One of his most well-known song, "Wild horse", was written with the desire to escape from the restraint of the world around. With this song, he wanted to convey his feeling, with a bit of angry but also a peaceful emotion at the end when the "horse" in the song finally get free.

Currently, Cu and his band, Bluemato is working on their first album - a project that they have been chasing for years. Because of the fact that it is not easy for indie artists in Vietnam to make money from their music, their project is postponed from time to time.

Besides chasing the passion, Cu and his fellows have to work with different occupations to make their living and invest in their music production. To Cu, the band is his little child so he needs to take care of it or nobody else will.

KEEP ON FLYING

Talking about his future journey with music, Cu, a little bit arrogantly, has a goal to produce a very distinctive music taste in Vietnam. "Writing songs that is not superficial like the way our social system works is the thing I am going to do. ", said Cu. Cu also expresses his hope that the Vietnamese audience will be more willing to explore more music from strange artists, not just following the trend like they are currently doing.

“Sometimes, just one click on Youtube on a strange artist that is never heard before, can change someone’s life.”

Cu and his favourite guitar - Fender Jazzmaster 50th anniversary ( photo by: Dung Lee )

To hear more from Cu and his band Bluemato, find them on: https://soundcloud.com/fukurou-first

To join our Indie music community: https://www.facebook.com/Codongpage/

Hear more music from us: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZvVPPpbvROqgkGHgZ9BBpQ

Catch up with our next story: Hoang Lam - Nerdy Dreamer