Meet Edward Nguyen | aka damnboy! | Musical Artist | Creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Edward Nguyen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Edward, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Life is short. I never was happy working in other professional spaces. I was a fine dinning chef in a past life. Although i love food, i just never saw a happy ending to it. Both my parents were immigrants due to the Vietnam war. I thought if i didn’t go towards my own happiness, then i would be failing them. Even if my parents never understood my path in the beginning. Music is my reason to live and to make a living. I am also a rebel and punk at heart. I simply don’t care what others think.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being a musical artist has always been odd to me. Music is such a personal and haunting living creature in my life. It is a blessing and a curse. I have a very addictive personality. I take things head on. So what people call the life style of the starving artist, ive been there. Ive been at the door of major labels and publishing companies. I never really knew what it meant to be a Vietnamese American artist nor did i understand what it meant to be Asian in this music industry. So lately ive been taking it in and being proud of where i came from and who i am.
From all the busking, bar gigs and weddings. To now have had a Billboard charting song, writing for artist around the world, performing and making a living off of it independently has been a blessing.
None of this is ever easy. I always feel like im juggling two different lives. Especially nowadays with social media. I have a hard time faking who i am, so everything i do is genuine. From the songs to my content, its who i am.
I think the greatest lesson i learned on this journey is to be grateful and be present. Its always good to plan and work hard but none of that means anything when you are not 100 percent. Health is so important. Family and friends is important.
I would love the world to just listen to my music whether they like it or not. Know that someone with my story and background didn’t care to conform to an agenda and continued the pursuit of happiness.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend came to visit LA. Id first take them to get Vietnamese Egg Coffee at Nam Coffee. I go here like almost everyday hahah. TheVietnamese Egg Coffee is this Vietnamese Coffee topped with egg yolk that has been beaten with condensed milk. Its so good. After we get the bottle jolted with Coffee Crack id take them to eat at Sun Nong Dan . We’d get the galbi jjim with cheese. The server brings out a torch and flames the hell out of that cheese. I love this place. The ban chan is amazing as well. The Sun Nong Dan on west 6th street is open like 24/7, its crazy.

Id also love to take them to shop, LA has very cool eclectic thrift shops and specialty stores.

We would always end it with a Concert or Comedy show. Theres so much great things going on every night.
A cool underrated spot i love is The Zebulon. I low key wanna perform there, if anyone knows the booking agent let me know!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wanna give a Shout Out to my Dad (Mau Nguyen) for always playing music around the house. He came to America during the Vietnam war and had to navigate through a very strange and difficult time. While raising a family, he always found time to sing, play in bands and entertain the Vietnamese community. He subconsciously planted the musical seed in my brain. He gave me my first guitar. Always reminded me who i was and where i came from. Even when the truths were difficult to hear. It molded me to who i am today as a creative.

I wanna give a Shout Out to the late Lina Jeong Doo. She was my Voice Teacher at Kapiolani Community College. She gave me the confidence to use my voice.

Also, wanna give a Shout Out to my High School Orchestra Teacher Mr. Darin Ujimori. You saw a spark in me that became a flame.

Website: https://www.damnboymusic.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damnboymusic/?hl=en

Twitter: https://x.com/damnboymusic?lang=en&mx=2

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@damnboymusic

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3t96ooAg7YcJQF7lPpcMiU?si=G476KqYwQIKEDYSP6af_RQ

Image Credits
Images Shot by Josh Uy & Naomi Zariza