Ears Wide Open: BAO

Kevin Bronson on December 10th, 2020

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Vietnamese American singer-songwriter and producer Bao Vo has a long history in electronic pop, having been co-founder, producer and music director for L.A.’s Ming & Ping. In October, he released his first solo full-length under the moniker BAO.

“Perpetual Heartbreak” is a sprawling, shapeshifting record with a little something for fans of all subgenres of electronic pop. Admittedly creating an album for “bask[ing] in the glory of sadness,” Vo spins stories of romance and the Asian American experience with an easy-on-the-ears ’80s vibe.

“The aesthetic of this album was driven by the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi, which Wikipedia defines as ‘the acceptance of transience and imperfection.’” says BAO, a visual artist and designer whose work has been exhibited in galleries. “Wabi-sabi actually goes beyond that to include intentional imperfection. That’s been my vibe for a long time as a person and a creative. I had three influential records that I wanted to fuse together into a musical love-child: ‘Face Value’ by Phil Collins for its tight vocal hooks, emotive performance and innovative production. Jon Brion’s soundtrack to ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ for its very human production, dirty recordings and super emotional/visual instrumentals. As well as ‘Starboy’ by The Weeknd and Daft Punk, for its mashup of vintage dance instrumentals with fucked-up lyrics.”

He crystallizes his personal experience — he’s one of five children whose single mom brought the family to the U.S. when he was 3 — in the track “Far Away.” “My identity has never been well-defined,” BAO says. “I don’t fit into either Vietnamese or American culture. All my traditions are mixed and my memories are reconstructed from family lore. ‘Far Away’ is a song about that. This struggle gives me a sense of purpose to uplift my immigrant and As-Am community.”

Despite musical exploits that date back to the early 2000s, BAO didn’t release any solo music until a 2017 EP. “Releasing under my own name was scary at first, but I leaned into that idea to express myself without any insecurities about the audience’s reaction,” says the 38-year-old. “As I get older, one of my biggest passions is to encourage Asian American creatives to freely express themselves because I know first-hand how much pressure there is for us to stay in our narrow lanes.”

He adds: “I hope that this album can hold up to some of the incredible As-Am artists that have achieved success recently, including a few of my favorites: Mitski, Thao (& the Get Down Stay Down), Japanese Breakfast and MILCK. These are people — coincidentally, all women — who evidently poured their hearts and souls out into records that don’t fit neatly into any particular genre. I think as Asian Americans there’s pressure to either try to impress the big boys by mimicking a certain genre or to lay low and ‘pass’ as regular. It’s notable for me when an artist intentionally avoids all that and lets their individuality shine.”

||| Stream: “Union Station” and “Far Away”