Dan Nguyen is DMN SLYR, the genre-defying artist who began DJing and producing in 1996 at the age of 15. Now at 29, Nguyen works as a accomplished music composer and seasoned stage performer.
Proven to move dance floors whilst satisfying the very peculiar listener, a DMN SLYR gig always entails a memorable time for all. Moving seamlessly through selections of electronic, psy, soul, and jazz, DMN SLYR reads the audience and keeps them fully engaged, sonically satiated.
Along with his audio engineering capabilities, Nguyen is also a world renowned visual artist. Demon Slayer has had over 100 exhibitions in numerous museums, galleries, universities and cultural centers. Nguyen also holds street installations in different parts of the world, including Japan, New York, Shanghai, Costra Rica, Indonesia, Panama, Los Angeles, and Beijing.
Nguyen also co-runs the IE’s Beat Cinema, a bi weekly club night that earned a worldwide reputation for showcasing international electronic “beat music” artists.
DMN SLYR. That’s a interesting name. Do you really slay demons?
My family comes from a long lineage of Vietnamese sorcerers and white wizards. Growing up, I have had many good and bad experiences with the “other” side. I realize that demons shouldn’t always be slayed, just because they’re demons. They, like all things, play their part in the world and have to be accepted. I prefer to slay my own inner demons, a metaphor for self-evolution and transmutation, much like alchemy.
When did the transmutation turn into an artistic undertaking?
My earliest memories were of me drawing dinosaurs and helicopters with lasers. This was years before preschool. I’ve been drawing since then. When I was 10 I started selling my drawings and I haven’t stopped since. As for music, I started DJing in 1996 under DJ D-Boy and DJ Kidder. I was DJing with DNA, which became Battle Monkeys, which became Super Krew. I started my own production in 1999, mad experimental beats and soundscapes.
You have a blank canvas, how do you start your thought process with your art and music pieces?
With visual art, I sometimes start with 10-20 sketches and choose the best elements out of all of them to compile in the master work. Sometimes I have a certain tone, emotion or idea in mind that I start with. I’ve been composing my images utilizing sacred geometric and mathematics. I design all my artwork. Other times when my mind is more or so blank, I just start by making one mark and then make another mark in relation to the last mark.
With music it is more or so the same process, sometimes it starts with a synthesized instrument I made or an emotion. Sometimes I wake up from sleep or meditation and I have a melody in my mind that I want to get out.
Now that you’re in Vietnam, do you feel the transition between the Western Culture to the Eastern Culture will inspire and affect your work in any way?
Yes of course. This is my fifth time back in Vietnam. Although I’m currently in Beijing on tour, I feel that I have always represented both Eastern and Western cultures through my work and my being. The duality and oneness between the two breeds interesting contrasts. Eastern philosophy and imagery has been in my work ever since I can recall. I’m working on a new series in Vietnam right now, planning to have exhibitions in Vietnam and China to showcase the new pieces.
What are you currently working on, and what can your fans expect from you in the near future?
I’m currently wrapping up my SEA tour. I’ve done loads of shows and murals around SEA. Heading back to the States for a tour and more murals.
My latest full length will be released independently on 11/11/11. I chose that date because certain numbers carry specific frequencies, and the 11/11/11 combo is very significant in the equation of the world evolving into a more focused and positive energy. 11 is a power number used throughout the ages to represent a higher power, an esoteric presence.
What’s the album called and what influences did you have creating it?
It’s called ” FEARS&LOVERS” because it’s a collection of memories, experiences and waves compiled and arranged together, collectively building new moments and experiences. I’ve been influenced by all the traditional and contemporary Vietnamese music I’ve been listening to. I’ve been around lots of foreigners, from VN to French to Latin Americans to Japanese to Russians, etc in VN so it’s designed to be enjoyed by all different types of people, regardless of cultural background.
Can we expect any collaborations with other musicians?
There are some big surprises in there from well known and also obscure artists.
If you can collab on an album with any musician, who would it be?
The Beatles come to mind but they’d probably be hard to work with. I’d like to work with the musicians far deep in the mountains, the ones who still retain their indigenous ways of sound, shut out from the “civilized” world. Aliens would also be tight but I think I subconsciously transmit their intentions anyway.
After spending an extensive year in Asia painting murals and playing shows, Dan Nguyen returns to the United States for a tour de force of exhibitions and performances.
DMN SLYR’s latest full length, “FEARS&LOVERS” collects work recorded while touring and living in Asia. The album illustrates the relationship, unity, diversity of polar opposites; light and dark, positivity and negativity.
Not content with breaching only the underground art/music culture of Vietnam, DMN SLYR sucessfully made a presence in mainstream media by producing for clients such as ELLE Magazine, celebrity recording artists and Saigon Channel TV.
DMN SLYR has performed and been involved with artists such as Daedelus, Steve Aoki, Gaslamp Killer, OBEY, Fools Gold, J-Swift of the Pharcyde, Lil B, D-Styles, Yarah Bravo, Subtitle, SAMIYAM, SPEAK!, Afta1, Cha Cha, Nikko Gray and many more.
By: DMN SLYR
Vocals by: Nikko Gray
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