Phuket Music Scene

30/03/2024

Come for brunch, bring your bathing suits and chill on the pool!!. 😎

23/03/2024

Tonight! Yaowarat Road, Phuket Town! 😎

22/03/2024

04/01/2024

Sometimes I'm asked by someone what electric guitar they should get. I usually say, 1. Don't get anything so heavy you can't play it standing up for 2 hours and 2. Make sure it feels good to wear. For guitars are like clothes - you need to feel comfortable in them publicly; or behind them....It's not just about the sound or playability.

Disruptor Guitars offer alternative choices to off the shelf stuff. That can only be a good thing! ATD 😎

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554174186656&mibextid=ZbWKwL

20/12/2023

I'm more of a music historian than a musician. Any original music I might play would be misunderstood and inaccessible in Phuket. But in the UK, which has produced some of the world's most amazing music, anything goes!

Here's a brilliant analysis of the importance of TOTP in the development of Western modern music 1970 - 1990 (The USA became a backwater!) I experienced it, so I should know!

Andy Tong Dee 😎

In January 1964, the BBC saw that for the first time ever the national singles chart was overflowing with British acts. Due to this, they created a weekly mu...

19/12/2023

Music is entering a whole new phase of fraud and deception. This already happened with visual art but, my fellow musicians, this is coming your way soon. You will hear, "This is an unreleased recording", when it is fake.

ATD 😎

27 Years after Kurt Cobain passed away at age 27Artificial Intelligence creates a New songEnjoy!- Good Luck Chuck

16/12/2023

Tonight in Rawai! 😎

15/11/2023

Devils Bar Kamala. Now every Thursday. Don't miss them! 😎

02/10/2023

35 years, ago. I sang in UK folk clubs which were invariably full. Everyone S**U while anyone played and smart phone distractions were decades away. People paid attention 100% which was rewarded in spades because most of the traditional songs were awesome. People were deeply moved by the experience.

Now we live in an age of immediate gratification. Hooks are now everything, not words. In the digital world, you got just 30 seconds to get attention or people switch channel/vid/song. To say a new generation has the attention span of a goldfish may not be fair... on goldfish.

Consequently music becomes noisier, more complicated, over produced, shallower and cheapened. But great songs can remain the same if we have the patience to listen intently for three minutes, maybe four.

Here's a really old blues song worth listening to that's a little less....

The song's theology which I describe is that of the Bible and the song's creator, Blind Willie Johnson, btw.

Andy Tong Dee 😎

An early Delta Blues song played acoustically on my cigar box guitar tuned CGCG. First recorded by Blind Willie Johnson in 1930 in Atlanta Georgia, it was l...

22/08/2023

The emotional cost musicians pay to express themselves creatively can be huge, often committing much time, money and effort in their task. How many terrific original songs never make it commercially, and end up forgotten, unknown and unloved except by those who wrote them.

This rather emotional video by the great and wise Rick Beato explains it all wonderfully well, his amazing song starting at 4:15.

So let's raise a glass to all songwriters, especially those we know here in Phuket, people like Colin, Gary, Anteo, Mike, Rob, Dave and others.

God knows songwriters try so hard, but I guess they'd say someone has to try...

Andy Tong Dee

In this episode we take a look at a demo I made with Muddy Magnolia's and where it went. 🎸 The NEW Quick Lessons Pro Course ⇢https://quicklessons.pro👂 The...

10/07/2023

The Ohio USA rock band The Black Keys came about by accident in 2001. I could not believe their raw, unrefined sound when I first heard it, like something you might hear out of a Detroit garage. Yet they got a contract and became famous. Here is the story of their first years.

I just hope this can still happen today....

ATD 😎

https://youtu.be/7hd6XcOw8Ag

"We're young and road-ready,” the Black Keys wrote in a letter that accompanied their first recording. It was a bold statement; it was also completely untrue...

05/07/2023

As a HUGE fan of Johnny Cash, I just had to share this excellent analysis of the man behind the songs. These were labeled in a compilation as about "Love, God and Murder. " God and murder?! 😳

Johnny knew he was a bad, bad man who, like the early Blues men, knew he needed to be saved. It wasn't just all about him. Most bad men don't. They're very happy about being bad or even don't know they are.

This struggle is the key to understanding Cash's life and music.... Maybe life itself...

ATD 😎

https://youtu.be/NoCHxyxKBQM

BBC TV Documtenary 2004

02/07/2023

With things back to normal post-pandemic, I've stopped writing regularly for The Phuket News (TPN) . However, I couldn't let this pass by unacknowledged!

It's another sad moment for the live music scene here, but thank you Alf, Anand, Paul and Glenn for so much fun over many years. 😢 Thanks too to TPN editor Chris Husted for publishing this and Tony Edwards and Stephan Audiger for the terrific photos. ATD 😎

https://www.thephuketnews.com/farewell-the-fuzztonez-88654.php?fbclid=IwAR2wMEK_B-h5IaMbbzzwxy8wwk3ea-OqZqkR5zuxir1TSQ7wEgR7D0RwASU

I was sad to see an advert for a farewell gig by popular Phuket rock band The FUZZtonez at The Grapevine in Cherng Talay. Sad, as it billed them as “hanging up their guitar straps and putting away t

21/06/2023

Rehearsal space in Phuket is limited and it's often difficult to book. One option might be to use the Pastel Bar in Phuket Road, Phuket Town. They just got a better PA and sorted out the drums and there's a couple of small amps for guitar and bass. It's also handy for a small private gig for friends and family. Let me Andy Tong Dee know if you are interested. 😎

Here's a couple of videos of some Thai friends of mine practicing to give you a feel for the place and standard. 😲 No pressure! 🤣

20/03/2023

OFF WITH HIS HEAD! Brian May gets knighted by King Charles for making a lot of noise for 40 years. I missed meeting him in 1979 as I was out when he popped into our shared house in London for a cup of tea. He was friends with someone there. My brother hadn't a clue who he was and asked him what he did for a living! ATD 🤣

28/02/2023

This is how music should be - simple, fast and exciting. Rock and Roll can never die!

Any decent guitarists out there want to give this a try? No pressure, but I'm pretty sure I can sing and play harp that well! ATD 🤣

https://youtu.be/90vQG152hUk

The Yardbirds es un grupo de rock y rhythm & blues británico formado en 1963, particularmente activo durante la década de 1960, siendo una de las bandas de l...

26/02/2023

Just stumbled upon this awesome documentary about Led Zeppelin 4...or is it IV... or the Four Symbols..... ATD😎

https://youtu.be/-2ccaDGJleY

Is this the greatest album of all time? The fourth Led Zeppelin album was released without a title. It is known variously as Four Symbols, Runes and Led Zepp...

26/02/2023

I'm excited we may see some punk in Phuket very soon! Here's mon bon ami Stephan knocking out a number. Formidable!

Andy Tong Dee 😎

https://youtu.be/r-H_qgfEN_g

Cover of Bad Religion's Sinister Rouge tune

14/02/2023

Happy Birthday Patrick! 😎

YES….. we’re *21* Today!!! 😊
We like to thanks all our regulars “Locals & Foreigners” for years of supporting us…. even after Covid and the whole natural disasters that happened to the cafe. And you guys still kept coming back, GREATLY APPRECIATED ❤️
We do not plan on any celebration as we are spending what we earned to rebuild n repair all the exiting damages and hoping you’ll still enjoy the simple comfort of this old beaten down building and the warmth of this small humble cafe.

12/02/2023

Here’s my latest article in the Phuket News about the challenges facing bands playing live music in English here. I guess some Classic Rock enthusiasts and Eagles fans will disagree, but I believe we need to act now if live music is to survive and thrive here.

I only get 700 words so I can't cover much in one article. However, I do know of musos taking some steps in the right direction. More of that in another article.

By then, to help move things forward, I hope to have compliled a Youtube playlist of 30 popular and easily performable songs written post-1990.

Let's keep live music live!

ATD 😎

https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-music-scene-time-to-take-the-thai-alternative-87126.php

Musicians who have worked here a while have told me that it’s getting harder for bands playing Western cover songs to find gigs. Why might this be? Is it because there are too many bands? Not enough

08/01/2023

Here's my latest article in this week's Phuket News. It covers the developing original music scene in Phuket.

Errata: My apologies to Mauro Gilli who played drums for Anteo's album and Rannze Davies who provided keys and vocals. I'm getting senile and meeting print deadlines doesn't help! 🥺

If anyone not mentioned in this article regularly performs their own songs, please let me know by pm for a potential future article. I'm really keen to raise the profile of such music here.

Let's keep music live here and let's make it more original! Andy Tong Dee😎

https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-music-scene-original-music-in-phuket-86792.php

When I go home to the UK, I am amazed to see so much musical creativity, with ordinary pub bands sometimes playing more of their own songs than covers. Such creativity has served us well, producing th

31/12/2022

Hi from Phuket Music Scene! 2022 has seen a huge improvement in the lives of Phuket's professional musicians. We are not entirely back to normal, but getting there.

Our website gets 500+ hits a week, with most being from those planning holidays we think. There have been several articles in the Phuket News which gets 100k hits every weekly edition. The next is in a few days and is about original music here.

Sadly, we've had to start winding up Phuket Gigs Tonight Facebook group because of constant indiscriminate posting and even nasty abuse from various d!c£he@ds. This was started in October 2021 to get people out fast into live music venues post-lockdowns. There were far less legitimate posts from bands and venues, so it felt the right time to stop. The group's job was done!

Anyway, the team at Phuket Music Scene wishes you all a very Happy New Year in which we all keep music live!

Best wishes

Andy Tong Dee 😎

24/12/2022

Happy Christmas everyone from Phuket Music Scene! 🎅
Let's keep music live and vibrant here in 2023, and here's a blog post with an idea that can maybe help that happen!
ATD 😎
https://phuketmusicscene.com/christmas-as-a-time-for-giving/

12/12/2022

Just did a blog post about live music here. I guess it'll rattle a few cages, but it's time we started handling the truth!
Happy Christmas everyone!
https://phuketmusicscene.com/there-must-be-some-kinda.../

11/12/2022

Here's my article about the excellent Jazz and Blues Festival held in Three Monkeys last Sunday. Sorry if everyone performing didn't get a mention, but it's impossible in just 700 words. The main thing is Jeffery did, but a big thank you too to everyone else involved! 🙏

The Phuket News worked really hard to get it in this week's edition by the way. Thanks guys. Appreciated! 😎

https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-music-scene-jazz-blues-festival-back-with-a-buzz-86501.php

Phuket’s annual International Jazz festival used to take place every April outside Music Matters Jazz Bar in Chana Charoen Rd in Phuket Town until COVID struck. Started in 2012 by Filipino Jazz pian

19/11/2022

Here's a shout out for the Crypto Rasta 2 Bar in Rawai. It's fast becoming a popular musician hangout with good instruments and amps available to just make a groove with. They do a less casual open mic on Fridays. I hangout there Thursdays so I can polish up my funk guitar chords and bass lines.

Maybe a few of you may want to start up a weekly jam!

10/09/2022

My latest blogpost in News and Views, Phuket Music Scene website.

https://phuketmusicscene.com/dylan-in-whose-shadow-we-all-must-stand/

15/08/2022

My latest blog!
https://phuketmusicscene.com/something-strange-is-going-on/

18/07/2022

This is proof that, if you're going to have a jam night, allow no more than two guitarists to play (no matter how good they are) or You'll end up with a complete sonic mess! 😎
https://youtu.be/dBHojMzM38E

Metallica Live in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2009 - Train Kept A Rollin' (Aerosmith cover) High Quality

14/07/2022

Finally got around to writing a blog post about Blaze KC who recently left Phuket to seek fame and fortune in the USA!

https://phuketmusicscene.com/good-luck-blaze/