Vietnam’s District 105 like to make an impression. Whether you have come across their ferocious music before online, live or seen their viral clip of playing in a Saigon Mall- they certainly know how to make their mark.

With their recent single ‘Sad Melody’ featuring PK from PROMPTS starting to make waves outside of Asia, we caught up with frontman Huy Huynh and guitarist Khanh Tranh to give us the lowdown on the new single and how District 105 came to be:

 “Back then Huy was the longest dedicated fanboy in the scene,” Khanh laughs.

Huy interjects with “Backstage! Backstage!”

“From fanboy to backstage, to become tour manager, so he did manage a tour for us back when I was in In Your Eyes and at the time, 2014, when we disband, I still wanted to continue play in a band,” Khanh continues, “I didn’t know anybody else. So I just turned to him directly, cause, oh he got a band at that time as well…”

“…I was a vocalist,” Huy chimes in, “he was like, I need like a bassist that can scream at the same time so you can do backing vocals. So I was like yeah, okay!”

It was not that quite simple. In a series of events, including their original vocalist finding out he had a child and deciding to quit music to be a dad, it meant Huy stepped up to become the frontman. Three bass players later, Richard Peto joined the fold. In another case of a member quitting music for another path, this made way for drummer Quoc Anh to be added into the mix. Giving us the District 105 we see today.

Over the years the band has dropped various releases, from their debut EP, a split one with now defunct German band Shelldriver, an album, 9th, in 2019 to last year’s Seasons In Decay – the band has continuously evolved sonically. While all their music has taken on a life of its own, cementing their place as one of the most consistent and strongest metalcore acts in the Vietnamese scene, their latest single marks the next stage in District 105’s journey.  

‘Sad Melody’ featuring guest vocals from PK of Japanese/Korean metalcore act PROMPTS, another band who is also finally getting their flowers, is proving to be the band from Saigon’s biggest offering yet. It is relentless, filled with massive riffs, taking you a short but sweet ride. Almost tailor made to spin kick your fellow man too, the dynamic between Huy’s and PK’s vocals adds that extra layer of sonic bedlam.

The visualiser also adds further context to the story. Embodying the lyrics and the message, it is one of those music videos that you need to watch more than once to fully grasp the gravity behind the story.

“The main character, he’s called the Hollow Man,” Huy explains, “the animation guy came up with him…you can see…with the lyrics, he’s building a house. Like us building the scene and building a safe place for everybody. But then sometime when you overexert yourself for other people, you are always going to expect something back from them. Sometimes it doesn’t work that way. Sometimes you might give people something they don’t need and they will not appreciate you for that. So in the MV he builds up a house for himself and he invites a lot of people in, hopefully he can make like a haven out of the place. But people instead, with different goals, they start to wreck his house and make a mess out of everything. At the end he’s alone. But at the stage where he is alone…he finally found some kind of peace…sometimes being selfish and sometimes focus more on yourself is also a way to save yourself. Instead of giving people things they don’t actually need…that is the whole meaning behind the song.”

As somebody who has gone from the scene’s biggest fanboys to one of the most known faces, the track holds such a special significance in the journey for Huy.

“This reflects my personal struggle with leadership but at the same time also the struggle that everybody in the scene face when they try to build up the scene. You expect people to join you for one cause, but they all expect different things.”

So far though, ‘Sad Melody’ has not just resonated with the band, but it has made its way out to the masses. From Spotify features to making to MetalhammerUK’s tracks of the week, this seems to be start of beautiful new chapter in the bands journey.

Amongst everything though, District 105 won’t stop working, with big plans for the year.

“For this year we are in the middle of making another EP, or just writing, but we are focusing more on touring,” Huy says, “I think we want to go touring more to be honest.”

Either way, 2024 is just getting started for District 105. Make sure you follow along for the ride.

You can watch ‘Sad Melody’ featuring PK from PROMPTS below. 
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