$ profile VÔ
age
25
origin
American-born · Vietnamese father and mother
parents
Boat people, 1981 · small town near Cần Thơ, Mekong Delta
parents' story
Farmers and fishermen who left because there was nothing left
home
Ridgewood, Queens · by way of Bushwick
work
DJ, techno producer · Brooklyn underground
vietnamese
Learned at 19 · YouTube + tattered dictionary · never been to Vietnam
politics
Constructed, not inherited · books, documentaries, second-gen conversations
Vô in his studio, wearing a black mask with a cracked-glass pattern and over-ear headphones, hands on a modular synthesizer covered in colored patch cables, neon VÔ sign glowing on the back wall, cool blue window light on the left
fig.01 Studio · Ridgewood, Queens
1.0

Arrival

1981. A small town near Cần Thơ, in the Mekong Delta. Two people got on a boat with nothing and crossed the sea.

who
Vô's father and mother - farmers and fishermen from a small town near Cần Thơ, in the Mekong Delta.
when
1981. Boat people. They left because there was nothing left.
the story
Not the story of Saigon's elite. The story of people who had nothing and crossed the sea to keep what little they had.
in america
They wanted Vô to be American. They did not teach him Vietnamese.
Macro photograph of a performance - extreme close-up of a black mask with cracked surface and mother-of-pearl inlay, soft diffused studio light
fig.02 The Lacquered Phantom
music tracks
Tò he - album artwork
Tò he Delta · single
The Nine Dragons Pulse - album artwork
The Nine Dragons Pulse Delta · single
2.0

Silence

A whole language, withheld. A whole country, unspoken. He grew up American without knowing what he had lost.

language
His parents never taught him Vietnamese as a child. They wanted him to be American.
the fracture
He grew up not knowing who he was. The language of his parents' story was silent in his house.
vietnam
He has never been there. He is not a communist. His politics are not inherited.
3.0

Rediscovery

Age 19. A tattered dictionary. YouTube at 3am. Vietnamese bolero from his grandmother's cassette tapes, then Chicago house, then Detroit techno, then the harder, faster Brooklyn scene.

age 19
He learned Vietnamese himself - from YouTube and a tattered dictionary - because he needed to know who he was.
music path
Vietnamese bolero from his grandmother's cassette tapes. Chicago house. Detroit techno. The harder, faster Brooklyn scene he DJs in now.
Vô performing as a DJ at an underground rave in Brooklyn
fig.03 Brooklyn underground set
4.0

Construction

His politics were not given to him. They were built, piece by piece, from books and documentaries and arguments with other second-generation kids who feel the same fracture.

politics
Not inherited. Constructed, piece by piece, from books, documentaries, and conversations with other second-gen kids who feel the same fracture.
at 4am
He reads history books after sets and argues with people online.
the record
Music is how he found his way back. His family's story is the story of farmers and fishermen who left because there was nothing left.