Tempo
VITALS
GENRE: Electro House/Progressive/Techno
FOR FANS OF: Uppermost, Marco V, Michael Woods
BIO
Tempo’s fingertips slide over the ridges in the vinyl. As the record scrapes back against the needle, the resulting cacophony erupts from the speakers, drenching over 20 thousand gyrating people in a sonic deluge. In the darkness he can barely see the crowd through his aviator sunglasses, the lenses reflecting the explosions in the sky. In less than an hour the new year will cement him in history. He slides the oversized noise-cancelling Pioneer headphones from his black, spiked hair down around his neck and pumps an open palm in the air to the beat of the music from atop a giant pedestal, illuminated by rotating, electric Heineken logos. Far below in the streets of Hanoi, a sea of bodies that is the largest celebration ever assembled in The People’s Republic of Vietnam bounces in unison. Tempo smiles.
Music was in his blood. Tempo opened his eyes as Devon Duy Nguyn in St. Paul, Minnesota to a hippie mother. Her flowing dresses, bell-bottom jeans and affinity for rock’n’roll belied her Vietnamese birth. As young as 10, he’d help out at his father’s nightclub, mesmerized by the house drummer. After his parents split up, he’d spend summer evenings on the veranda of the white vanity home strumming a 1951 Yamaha acoustic guitar his mother gave him. She purchased it while she was still with his father. They bought it together. The guitar connected his parents.
He moved to Orange County, Calif. at the age of 13 when his mother learned of a diasporic Vietnamese community. He quickly discovered a knack for keeping tempo when he learned to play drums. Tom, his future band-mate, taught him how to play piano. Soon he began DJing high-school house parties. In 2000 he formed the rock band Almost Home, but it was seven years and a brief acting career later that he found his true calling with the live electro act SPEAKER JUNKIES. Following the successful self-titled album featuring the video singles “Loosing Control” and “Sex Drug” and a slew of live shows, Tempo returned to The People’s Republic of Vietnam to reconnect with his family’s roots. After landing a solo Christmas gig in Taipei, he was invited to headline Heineken’s New Year’s Celebration in Hanoi as the only American-born perform. “I saw a generation of people thriving to become apart of the rest for the world,” he said of the experience.
The next day, he lies in bed with his MacBook, frustrated by having to relay his emails to circumvent the state-run firewalls. He manages to send images of the madness the night before to his mom, managers and band mates back in California. He did it. He returned to his parents’ homeland, succeeded as a solo DJ and conquered Vietnam. “I saw a generation of people thriving to become apart of the rest for the world.”
Now back in the States, his solo career continues to gain momentum with a list of local residencies and the release of the single, “June Serenade” featuring breakthrough vocalist, Ashley Morphew and remixes by Ei8ht and F1nale on acropolisRECORDINGS. Tempo smiles. It seems he may just be beginning to find his rhythm.
Q&A
WHO PROVIDED THE SOUNDTRACK TO YOUR CORRUPTION AS A YOUTH?
My first influences were the drummer that played at my father’s club when I was 10, my father playing acoustic guitar and my mother singing since I was a child. I grew up listening to from everything in the ‘70s that my parents listened to everything we listen to now. ABBA, Beatles, Blondie, Queen, Metallica, G N’ R, Poison, Led Zeppelin Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Madonna, the Smiths and so much more! The transition from fan to musician was the time I played my first written song to a crowd at my first show in Westminster for a graduation party.
WHAT ARE SOME RANDOM THINGS OUTSIDE OF THE MUSICAL REALM FANS MAY BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU?
My father fought with the U.S. for South Vietnam and my grandfather was the mayor of Mi Tho City and was killed by a Viet Cong grenade, which makes me the prince of that city till this day.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR KNOWN CONSPIRATORS?
I’ve performed with Kristina Sky, Donald Glaude, Christopher Lawrence, The Villains, Beej, LMFAO, Mars Mystery, Theo, The Crystal Method, D.I.M., Kid Sister, Star Killers, Thomas Gold, Felguk, Dabruck and Klein, Elismith, Bam Bam, Villiains, Alex Kid, Zemo Pual Win, Dj Eight, Electric Valentine, Break The Circus, 2 Live Crew, Disk Jo Slim, Dan Sena, Sublime, Icy Ice, Qbert, Far East Movement, Non P and so many more.
ANY FAMOUS LAST WORDS?
“Love. Life. Freedom. Musik.”