MINH MEO - BIG BROTHER OF SAIGON INDIE

Dung Le
Mar 31, 2019
3 min read

ree — Minh Meo in his practice session with KLAF ( photo by Dung Lee )

Minh Meo ( Tran Duc Minh ) is the bassist / songwriter from KLAF - the 1st place winner of Battle of The Band 2017 held in Saigon. At his age of 26, the youth indie zest and energy is still very high among thousand of indie musicians in the community.

THE EARLY FATE

Back to the early 2000s days when the internet was still an expensive communication in Vietnam, Minh Meo had already had the chances to approach international music. As his mother own a CD store at that time, Minh got familiar to the voice of Celine Dion, West Life, Lobo, ABBA at a very young age.

When Minh was 9 years old, Minh's father signed his kid up for a classic guitar class after he recognized Minh's keen music interest. After just a few months, Minh showed his music talent by winning a competition for young classic guitarists. However, Minh had to temporality stop spending his time for music to focus on studying.

VERSATILE MUSICIAN

At the age of 15, Minh woke up again his music passion after one day he saw a band bringing a hard-rock performance to his high school's stage. Minh once again got his guitar out of the bag to learn how to play rock songs on it. When he heard that the school band was looking for a bassist, he signed up although never touch a bass before. As the band saw the love for music inside Minh's soul, they decided to take him in and train him how to play bass. That was the first time Minh play for a band.

ree — Minh Meo perform on his first stage ( photo provided by the character )

Being in a rock band gave Minh many chances to explore the abilities of himself. Besides playing bass, Minh also found out that he loves to sit on the drumset and be a "backbone of the band". With the encouragements from his bandmates, Minh bought an old "garbage-stock" drumset with only 1 million VND and practice by himself and through online courses every day. Through his high school and university period, Minh became a versatile player for every band that he played for

ree — Minh Meo on his drumset ( Photo provided by the character )

KLAF

In 2017, Battle of The Band - a biggest competition for band in Vietnam ever held was organised for university student in Saigon. KLAF, a young and enthusiastic, became the representative for RMIT to join the contest. Because of a internal conflict, the bassist of KLAF decided to leave the band just fews day before the gig. Minh, although had been RMIT alumni before, was invited to to play bass for KLAF.

With the zest and experiences of a big brother, Minh nailed the stage with KLAF and head straight to the final round. Finally, they won the first place and became the proud of RMIT. The title also Minh and KLAF many opportunities to play in biggest Indie stages such as Thom Music Festival, La Lung, Moderator,... Currently, KLAF has just signed up a recording contract with a big label and prepare for their first album.

NOT JUST A PASSION

Besides music life, Minh Meo is also working as the CEO of his entrepreneur - a pharmacy company. With this occupation, Minh has a stable financial base to support his music career and also his band. In addition, Minh also spends his time to help other young indie musicians by training them and bringing them opportunities to get their product published.

Currently, Minh also joins the organization team of Thom Music Festival - the biggest Indie concert tour ever held in Vietnam. Minh promises that the next Thom Festival coming this May will fulfill not only the audience with an out-standing performer list but also young talented indie artists with a chance to be on the biggest stage of the year. "To create a strong Indie culture in Vietnam, it is our most important mission to support local artists and bring them closer to the audience" - Minh expresses.