One afternoon, at 15, Hiro Sanada went to his friend's house where he was introduced to the folk guitar and it was love at first sight. "I thought I can do that, it sounds easy," he recalls. Within six months, he'd already learned 10 songs and was playing in front of a live audience. From folk to rock to punk rock to techno-pop to gothic and even dabbing in Indian’s classical raga style, Hiro's guitar playing has been evolving ever since.
His first encounter with Vietnam came in 1994 on a business trip to Saigon. Back then, the music scene was still budding but Hiro was surprised to find so many live music cafes. At Wild Horse Saloon he finally worked up the guts to ask one of the musicians, "Can I play?" and the rest was history. Developing great relationships with Saigon-based acts like Bad Neighbour, Carmen, The Curtis King Band and Tran Manh Tuan became easy for a guy with a distinctive stage presence and style.
"Style is number one, of course you need technique, but technique is not number one. My target is to be not just a player. I am no player. I am an artist," says Hiro.
Hiro's musical efforts are tireless; his 2011 single My Marmot under his Soft Brain project, featuring Indian guitar riffs, gothic beats, and Nogaku vocals gained him notability in Japan on an album titled Next Generation Creators. In 2004, Hiro and a fellow Japanese guitarist formed the Japanese Music Society (JMS) to support Japanese musicians in Vietnam. By 2011, the JMS was big enough to throw a large benefit concert for the Tohoku Earthquake at Vasco's featuring seven Japanese bands, including Hiro's own band, Hell of the Pest. With six songs and counting, he’s optimistic about the future, "Watch out, this year, Hell of the Pest, will be very famous."
Catch Hiro and Hell of Pest every week at the RockFanClub (25C Tu Xuong, Q3)
