Two years ago Phi arrived in Saigon with nothing more than his dog Keo, a single 100k vnd note in his pocket, and a dream. After growing up in Cần Thơ for most of his life, at 28 years old he decided to throw caution to the wind and make the move to the big city to pursue music. In just a matter of a few years, he’s built a new life for himself. Now he’s got his own place, a loving girlfriend, five cats, a full-time job as a Sound Designer at ShuttleRock, and on any given night can be found DJing, singing, and vibing at various venues around the city. Although these days Phi says he’s all about funk music, when we met he finally got to explain his roots and how it all came to be.
Although Phi says his family has a background in music and the arts, growing up in the Mekong Delta, he just wanted to be a kid and have fun. His dad always wanted to teach him to play guitar and piano, and while he picked up a few chords here and there, Phi admits he didn’t care much for music then. In fact, it wasn’t until his Dad passed away that his musical journey began. He recalls rummaging through his dad’s old stuff and discovering a CD with bolero songs he’d written and performed. Phi’s life changed. He started by singing and playing guitar at tea houses as part of a high school band. It was mostly pop at the time, but his love for music was beginning to blossom at that age. However, near the end of high school he told his mom that he didn’t really like studying. So instead of going to university, he joined the army and was stationed in Hà Tiên for two years.
As we sat together sharing a beer on the second floor of Bông Kia Sên, he told me many of his friends who had gone to university, got married, and started a family had to eventually join the army years later. Thus, at 30 years old, he said that his experience in the army ended up being a good thing in retrospect—he got to finish what he had to do so he could move on. Although when he was in the army he wasn’t playing music, he still fondly remembers a special guest that stopped by to perform: Hiếu Rock, singer of one of his favorite songs: Sài Gòn 90S. Phi says that moment was when he realized that music isn’t only meant to be played on the streets. If you have enough passion and love for it, it can be played anywhere — whether it’s in the military or an office.
You might expect Phi, upon completing his military service, to jump head-first back into music but things didn’t exactly turn out that way. After being discharged, he moved back to his hometown in Cần Thơ. He was able to spend a little bit of his time learning to produce beats, but the hours he could dedicate to his passion were few and far between. Simply put, he had to work. From the ages of 20 to 28, Phi made ends meet working all sorts of jobs. Cook. Server. Barista. Yet, after so many years he began to feel bored, restless, even angry at himself and his situation. As he put it, Cần Thơ is a good town—according to him, home to the best cơm tấm in Vietnam—but it doesn’t have the music culture he was craving. His friends, understanding just how much this was bothering Phi, said if he wanted to be a part of a legit music scene there was only one place to go. Saigon.
In what he described as a “freestyle move”, Phi moved to Saigon. With him, he only had Keo, 100k VND, and a dream he still wasn’t sure how to make a reality. Yet, anyone that’s ever taken a leap of faith like that knows that just because you’re trying to change your life for the better, it’s not like things will change with you. Things take time. Sacrifices must be made. In true Sylvester Stallone / Rocky Balboa fashion, while bouncing around sleeping on friend’s couches, he ended up having to send his dog back to his hometown. He simply wasn’t fit to take care of Keo and figured it would be best to give him back to someone who could. That said, the loss of Keo didn’t slow him down in his pursuit. In his first few months, Phi spent a lot of time driving around the city, slowly learning the map of Saigon. He was learning where people play music, what kind of music people are interested in, and trying to understand how he could find his place in the scene. Not only that, Phi was making music again.
When it comes to his craft, Phi says what is most important is to be free. “Don't distinguish between old or new—music is meant to be heard”, he says. “If we want the music scene to develop, we first have to accept its changes. Most importantly, never forget the roots and the vital contributions of those who came before us.” Phi described his music style as a long journey infused with many genres. Acoustic, Lofi, R&B, hip hop, trap, g-funk, and finally, pure funk. “After all of these, I still love funk the most,” he says. Some of his biggest influences along the way include Chiulinh, Mofak, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, and his favorite Vietnamese album from the 1970s, Người Đẹp Bình Dương. In terms of his creative process, whenever he’s putting together a song and hits a creative block, Phi says he’ll try producing a different genre. Experimenting with new sounds and ideas gives his brain something of a refresh so that when he returns to making his funk music, it’s with a different approach.
Even though Phi is now known by his DJ name Soju Peanut, DJing was actually the last thing he picked up. When he moved to Saigon he was still only producing beats. In a stroke of luck however he met a guy named Trực. Trực found a demo Phi had produced on Instagram called DÂN CHƠI and asked him if he could play it live. It was at this point in conversation that a big smile flashed across Phi’s face, followed by an eruption of laughter. At that point in time, Phi had never DJ’d before. He produced many songs but never performed any of them live. That said, he recognized the moment for what it was—a chance to learn and grow. As a result, he got to work and produced seven songs, while simultaneously learning how to play them live. A month later, he performed his first event at Groove Control, a funk community in Saigon founded by DJ Maraphoria and DJ Star Child.
That event, those songs he produced, learning how to DJ in a matter of weeks— all of it was a huge step for Phi in terms of developing confidence in his creativity, but also financially. Piu Piu paid him a handsome sum relative to what he had at the time. For someone that arrived in Saigon with only 100k VND in his pocket, that single night resulted in creating enough of a runway for Phi to afford his own place in Saigon. “That’s why I say I’m lucky,” Phi adds with that same grin and chuckle. From there it’s as though doors started opening up in every direction. Phi started DJing at different places around Saigon including Arcan, Broma, Cipherz, The Observatory, The Villa, and Loco Complex. Beyond that, Phi has been able to collaborate with a handful of artists in Saigon that share his love for funk and music in general including Chiulinh, Hustlang robber, Tony D, and Đông.
Near the end of 2023, Phi made another huge step—personally, creatively, and financially—earning a job at ShuttleRock. He began as an Audio Supervisor before being promoted to Sound Designer after three months. He still works there to this day, making marketing videos for different brands as well as helping organize events for the company. Beyond that, another huge door has since swung open beckoning him in—a chance to join Studio Adventure, one of Vietnam’s biggest music festival organizers and a collective that he still works closely with today. It started with Studio first inviting him to an event in Hoi An and then after that he was able to perform at their New Year’s Festival in Phu Quoc. Although Phi’s now performed there multiple times, he says he’ll be staying home this year to celebrate with his girlfriend and family. That said, Phi repeatedly expressed how grateful he’s been for the support and care he’s received from Studio and how he has plenty of beautiful memories to hold him over until he plays there again.
So what’s next for Phi? He hinted at the fact he’s cooking up his first album, set to be released in 2026. It will be a solo project featuring a half dozen songs with him singing funk music through a talk box. Beyond that, Phi says he dreams of creating a high-end listening space with high-quality audio, as well as releasing all of his songs on vinyl or cassette tapes. More than anything, Phi’s story shows that pursuing a dream requires more than just time and sacrifice. Though he’ll smile, laugh, and tell you how lucky he is, Phi is proof that fortune favors the bold. One must not wait to become lucky, one must create their own luck to achieve their dreams.
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