Musician Dong Thien Duc From amateur to hit maker

Dong Thien Duc's songs, specifically "Ai chung tinh duoc mai" have melodies and love messages that are not new but are still popular with audiences because they are easy to listen to. Although the lyrics are narrative, they are still trendy among young people.

National song

With the keyword "Who is loyal forever", Google search engine gives 75 million results in 0.47 seconds. And with "Tomorrow people get married", Google gives 22 million results in 0.33 seconds. These search results are related to the song, cover versions (from young singers to star singers), singers and composers. This partly confirms the "hotness" of the song. It is the unexpected success of Dong Thien Duc, the author of these two hits and many other songs such as "Them mot lan dau", "Thay thay", "Sao cung duoc", "Anh van o day", "Co don ke toi hon", "Noi dau tho xa", "Dau vi vi ai", "Sao ta nguoc loi"...

Musician Dong Thien Duc

Lyrics like: "Oh dawn, are you awake yet? Can we have morning coffee/ Sometimes I want to be alone but I'm afraid of loneliness, afraid of the feeling of emptiness growing bigger every day/ In a vague relationship" - meet the needs of Gen Z. Not only young people, middle-aged music listeners also "fall in love" with "Who is loyal forever" or "Tomorrow people get married" by Dong Thien Duc because of the soulful melody and nostalgic lyrics of the song.

From a "hot" song on TikTok, these songs naturally appeared in the playlists of favorite songs of many older audiences. Many big stars covered (re-sung) creating a fever for these songs, from Trung Quan Idol to Ho Ngoc Ha, Le Quyen, Noo Phuoc Thinh... or Hoai Lam, Quang Ha have all sung this song on stage.

Talented singer Tung Duong also covered "Ai chung tinh duoc mai" and made this song more popular with the middle-aged music audience segment. Singer Tung Duong once commented that this song is a national song: "I think this song is now a national song. The main factor that makes the song successful is the easy-to-remember melody, which inspires the singer when performing."

"I can't hope that every song I release will become a hit like the feeling I had, but each song must be loved by the audience and they must sympathize with what I share in it" - Dong Thien Duc said.

"I never drink coffee"

Dong Thien Duc was originally a skilled programmer with the pride of "I am the best at computers in my commune", and he also "loves reading and is good at literature". Since childhood, Dong Thien Duc has longed to become a successful programmer, but he also loves music. He likes to hum along with his father's old guitar, and also dabbles in writing, but he never thought he would pursue a career as a musician.

Musician Dong Thien Duc in a music show. (Photo provided by the character)

"I am an amateur, my main job is a programmer, not a musician. I used to open a web design company on Bau Cat Street (Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City). Unfortunately, I had a car accident and had to stay home for a long time to recover, and my work was delayed. After I recovered, most of my customers left me. Tired, frustrated, and already passionate about composing, I started studying music writing with teacher Dien Trong Nguyen. The first song I composed was "Them mot lan dau" and luckily many people loved it" - Dong Thien Duc said.

Asked why he wrote "Who is loyal forever", Dong Thien Duc revealed: "When I founded the company, because I was too focused on work, my "ex" had another relationship, who was my best friend. At that time, I felt that in this life, no one is loyal forever, so I started writing. Every word in the song is my true feelings, for example, the line "Sometimes I want to be alone but I'm afraid of loneliness".

Explaining the lyrics "Dawn, are you awake yet?", he said: "The night I wrote that song, I just wished for the morning to come quickly, the feeling of being alone in the dark was terrible. Thinking back and forth for hours, the words "morning coffee with me" suddenly popped into my head and I wanted to "call" the dawn to wake up. When the song became successful, my friends kept texting me: "Duc, are you awake yet? Can we have morning coffee together?". It was fun even though I never... drink coffee."

Follow the emotions

Dong Thien Duc said he did not dare listen to other musicians' compositions for fear of being influenced, and if he accidentally "sounded similar", it would not be good. "I hardly listen to any music, I just compose when I like it" - he said. To those in the industry, Dong Thien Duc's compositions have their own style in music with poetry, a writing style similar to that of the old generation of musicians.

Talking about the current popular visual writing style of many musicians, especially the Gen Z generation, Dong Thien Duc expressed: "Writers follow the needs of listeners. I also often follow trends with lyrics, and the melody is often composed based on emotions. Sooner or later, it will return to my familiar chord progression. Let everything flow with emotions, then my "quality" will naturally form."

Sharing about his inspiration for composing, Dong Thien Duc said that the stories told in music are often true stories in his life. He said: "Many people have asked me where I get inspiration from to write music continuously like that. Some are derived from true stories in life, some are inspired by love stories. Usually when I read good sentences in books, I often write them down in my notebook, from which I use them as inspiration for later compositions."

Dong Thien Duc believes that young people who love composing music need to read more books. Because reading books not only helps to improve vocabulary, but also helps readers gain more experiences from the characters' stories. At that time, each person will also have more emotions to write music.

"Having gone through a difficult time to achieve the success he has today, Dong Thien Duc always feels grateful for the love and support of the audience.

Dong Thien Duc revealed that he often “drinks a few cans before composing”. “At that time, my mind and thoughts become freer. When composing, I am a different person, only when writing music do I think, but in real life, how can I be sad like that all the time” - Dong Thien Duc said.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/van-nghe/nhac-si-dong-thien-duc-tu-tay-ngang-tro-thanh-hit-maker-20230722194520242.htm