CAMA Catch up with Turbo Goth
The Philippines’ only electronic act, also happen to be one of Asia’s best. CAMA used the joys of high speed information and technological advances to chat to them over the East Sea, as they get ready to fly into Vietnam’s capital for turbo charged show at CAMA Festival 6.
CAMA: As a band, what would you say are your musical influences?
Turbo Goth: Turbo Goth, as a band, is highly influenced by Daft Punk, The White Stripes and Bjork.
CAMA: You guys have one of the best band names ever – where did it come from?!
TG: Thank you! It came with our fascination with the word “Turbo” which means “intense” or “high performance” and “Goth” (not the subculture) the tribe that played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire. We wrote it down and it looked good on paper so we decided on the name.
CAMA: How would you describe a Turbo Goth live show?
TG: A Turbo Goth Live show is loud, unpredictable, beautiful and entertaining. People that have seen us have described our live shows in many different ways.
CAMA: Your live show is quite visually impressive, is the visual performance aspect of a show as important to you as the sound?
TG: Yes, visual performance goes hand in hand with the sound. We cannot deliver full visual entertainment if the sound is poor. Good and loud sound is what I need to be taken over by the music, and for me to communicate with the music and deliver it to the crowd. It goes the same with Sarah; she needs quality sound for her to be able to get inside the song, and fully interpret it with her poses, movements and sounds that she creates.
CAMA: What’s the music scene like in the Philippines? Is there much underground music?
TG: Yes! Underground music is very much alive and healthy. There are clubs/bars in manila that do music productions for bands of various genres every night. There are festivals too.
CAMA: What other Philippine acts do you guys like? Can you recommend any acts to check out?
TG: You guys might want to check out The Dorques, The Butchercons, and Tarsius. They are the bands that we are into right now.
CAMA: Is this your first time coming to Vietnam? What are you expecting? What are you looking forward to?
TG: It is our first time. We are very excited. From what we have seen in the past CAMA festival videos online, we are expecting huge, receptive, fun and very diverse crowd! We are looking forward to watching other acts, enjoying the full festival experience and of course playing an amazing set for everybody.
CAMA: Do you know any Vietnamese music or musicians?
TG: We are familiar with the bands who have shared their material online and we are so excited to watch them live.
CAMA: Had you guys heard of the CAMA Festival before you were asked to play it? Does the Phillippines have a similar event?
TG: Yes we have. We have seen online videos of the past CAMA festivals and we feel very lucky to have been chosen to participate and share our music this year. The Philippines tries its best in creating mini festivals and celebration of art and music in its little ways.
CAMA: Did you go to music festivals when you were younger? How did you get enough money to go?
TG: I went to the U.P. Fair a long time ago, I had to save money from my allowance to get in.
