Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam: From wearing military uniform and playing Jazz to making soundtrack for Tunnels: Sun in the Dark

There is a quiet contributor to the recent great success of the film Tunnels: Sun in the Dark: musician Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam (Germany), an experienced film music expert and the composer (with French composer Clovis Schneider) who composed the soundtrack for Tunnels: Sun in the Dark. He is the only Vietnamese person in the German military's Bigband Orchestra, and is also the person behind many major music projects by famous Vietnamese artists.

Settling in Germany, but Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam (stage name abroad is Vincent Nguyen) is not unfamiliar to domestic professionals, as he is the music producer of successful studio albums by Tung Duong ( Li ti ), Duc Tuan ( Requiem), Doan Trang (The Un make-up), Le Hieu (Piano nocturne), Jazzy Da Lam (Moon and You)... ; most recently is the vinyl project Vet roan tram by singer Cam Van and the background music (coordinated by musician) for the movie Tunnels: sun in the dark . A son of Ho Chi Minh City, always carrying within himself the mentality of "traveling to the South" as his given name when he settled in a foreign land and being a "son of a military family" with both parents being liberation artists.

Tung Duong's album Li ti won Album of the Year and was produced by musician Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam in Germany.

Photo: Singer Tung Duong provided

The LP "Drumming Vet" by singer Cam Van was produced by musician Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam and his team in the US.

Photo: Singer Cam Van provided

In the latest conversation with Thanh Nien reporter , he talked about the beautiful inspirations coming from the military environment, in the echoes and associations of the "troops walking among the people's arms" on the occasion of April 30 in Ho Chi Minh City...

In the overall success of Tunnels: Sun in the Dark, we cannot fail to mention the moving power of the soundtrack. A link in the soundtrack team of Tunnels , Professor Ho Thuy Trang recently mentioned his role: "In Tunnels: Sun in the Dark, the melody is composed by Vincent Nguyen (Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam), I just need to breathe into it the Southern style with ornate and vibrato notes...". However, on the credits (title) at the end of the film, there is a bilingual part that is not entirely compatible: Additional Arranger (additional arranger or harmonizer). So what exactly is his role in Tunnels: Sun in the Dark ?

Composer is a more accurate designation. During the journey with Tunnels: Sun in the Dark , I was lucky to accompany and contribute from writing the first notes for the monochord in the love scene under the bomb, to the theme played with the cello in The Farmer Heroes used for about 2 scenes, the recording with Professor Ho Thuy Trang in Paris was also because I found her, talked to her, and got to know her during the days of preparing to record with Clovis in Paris. On the day of recording, I took the train from Germany to the place to work with everyone. The scene of Ut Kho's wedding, there were notes I wrote before, there were notes that the whole team improvised during the recording, then when picking up those improvised notes to place in the scene, combining those notes together to create the soundtrack of this scene, I personally sat and arranged - picked up in Clovis' studio...

Unfortunately, due to my busy schedule with the Big Band, I was unable to handle the entire soundtrack alone. Therefore, Clovis took on most of the remaining tasks and was an important human resource for creating the music for the film Tunnels: Sun in the Dark.

Big Band of the German Air Force

Photo: NVCC

I once asked director Dang Nhat Minh why he let musician Phu Quang (who was not yet famous at that time) use mainly Western instruments for the soundtrack of Bao gio cho den thang 10 - a film imbued with Vietnamese soul with the setting of a Northern village, a yin and yang market... (of course mixed with the sounds of kite flutes, monochords...), the talented director replied that he respected the creative personality of the young musician. The film later won 6 main awards at the 7th Vietnam Film Festival (1985), including Outstanding Music . But the director later still felt regretful about one thing: "If the musician had used more traditional instruments, perhaps the folk quality would have been even stronger...". So what about Tunnels: Sun in the Dark , when the person carrying the team was a French musician?

The music for the film Tunnels: Sun in the Dark obviously has ethnic elements with the characteristics of the South. If the person who applies it is not skillful, using the wrong Central or Northern features is not good enough, let alone "too Western", especially it must be compatible with the storytelling style of director Bui Thac Chuyen. In this aspect, the person who plays the main role, French musician Clovis Schneider, clearly needs support from Vietnamese collaborators. Therefore, the part that I and folk instrument artist Ho Thuy Trang can coordinate with our foreign collaborators is that Vietnamese soul.

I noticed that Bui Thac Chuyen is a very meticulous person in choosing film music, from Choi voi to Tro tan ruc roc ... In Choi voi , he almost restrained himself as much as possible, in a minimalist style, but when he let the music "burst" (the song Wet tam gai), it really touched and pushed, absolutely not the type that sounded just to fill the gap like the fatal weakness that I often see in many Vietnamese films. I really respect him in this impression.

With The Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark , the director's initial plan was to invite musician Tran Manh Hung, his long-time collaborator, and I would be the one to assist with the initial concept of symphonic music; but then Mr. Hung could not arrange to participate. When it was Clovis' turn, he thought that symphonic music was not very suitable for the context and the stuffy, cramped space in The Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark, so he suggested replacing it with electronic music. Therefore, the pieces I wrote for the symphonic music as originally suggested by the director were also put on hold and almost completely discarded.

But each electronic music would hardly convey the message of The Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark without its soul, which is folk music. During the music making process, Bui Thac Chuyen asked us to come up with many options and was only truly satisfied when the elements of national character and Southern character were incorporated in the simplest, most natural and most intertwined way possible. Among them, the two scenes he was most satisfied with were the love scene under the bomb between Ba Huong - Tu Dap and the wedding scene of Ut Kho (when I sent it back the second time, Mr. Chuyen was very happy). The folk music then almost became a "keyword" for the soundtrack of The Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark. I still remember after that nod, during a dinner in Paris between the three of us: Me, Clovis and Ms. Ho Thuy Trang, the French musician enthusiastically said: "From today I know what to do for The Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark...".

The music played beautifully for the hot scene between Ba Huong and Tu Dap in the Tunnels.

Photo: Provided by the film crew

The most impressive bullet point in musician Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam's resume is probably that he was a member of the German Army's Jazz Bigband. How does it feel to play the instrument in military uniform?

The uniform of any army exudes a sacred and solemn atmosphere, and when combined with the spontaneous nature of Jazz, it will obviously bring a very special feeling to the person standing in that space. Telling me that I am a "son of a family" is not only about music but also about "son of a soldier": During the anti-American resistance war, my parents were both liberation artists, specializing in performing for the battlefield, and were awarded resistance medals; the performance costumes were also military uniforms.

So the pride of wearing military uniforms (whether of the Vietnamese army or the German army) is already in my blood, through the war stories that my parents often tell... My mother told me that when she was pregnant with me, she once had to go over a hill to go to the military medical station for a prenatal check-up. That hill was bare and barren, and American helicopters often flew over and fired bullets, but strangely enough, there was no gunshot that day. My given name, Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam, also contains the nostalgia for the South of those who "went to B" like my parents, and now in me is a nostalgia for my Vietnamese roots...

Watching the parade and military parade during the recent 30/4 celebration in Ho Chi Minh City; or later at Red Square, Moscow (Russia) on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, what are the unique emotions of a musician in military uniform?

The image of "armies walking in the arms of the people" is beautiful and will always be beautiful, no matter where they walk or which army they belong to, when the message they exude is the desire for peace instead of the ambition for war.

After World War II, Germany pledged to never attack another country, the German army was an army that protected peace. The Bigband was a card, carrying a message of peace to all people in Germany as well as friends around the world . The German army at that time had up to 25 military bands, but there had never been a Jazz band and the Big Band was born with a staff of up to 21 people (usually only 4-6 people and at most 17 people) was considered a "beautiful commitment" through art about goodwill for peace and friendship.

To join Bigband, I had to undergo a basic training course for a non-commissioned officer, lasting 18 months; I had to go through the hot war zones of Yugoslavia, where German engineers still cleared many bombs and mines at the place where children played soccer not far away, even though the war had ended decades ago...

During my 21 years in the Bigband, I have also experienced the pure joys of the profession, when before that, audiences often had prejudices against men in military uniforms who could not play music other than military marches; I have been present on solemn stages in important ceremonies, welcoming generals and politicians from many countries...

Musician, pianist Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam

Photo: NVCC

Is the military uniform ever a "tight shirt" for the free-spirited nature of the artist and especially for the spontaneous beauty of Jazz?

To go the long way and work as seriously as possible, especially when taking on the role of a producer or artist, there is no room for random improvisation but it is necessary to create for yourself a disciplined and meticulous working style like in the army. My meticulousness and meticulousness were probably fortunately forged after 21 years in the military environment.

It's the same everywhere, whether the shirt is tight or not depends on how you adapt to fit it!

 

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nguyen-cong-phuong-nam-tu-mac-quan-phuc-choi-jazz-den-lam-nhac-phim-cho-dia-dao-mat-troi-trong-bong-toi-185250518000217226.htm