Mike Vu wears his heart on his sleeve.
More literally, he has a tattoo on his left forearm of a skull and crossbones ““ in this case, drumsticks ““ with the letters “TSW” written underneath.
Vu is a fourth-year political science student and the drummer for The Subtle Way, which is what he calls a pop-rock-metal band stationed in Fremont, Calif. He grew up in nearby San Jose and encountered some blessings in disguise on his way to falling in love with music.
“It’s like being in a relationship,” Vu said.
The courtship began in the eighth grade when Vu’s house mysteriously caught fire. He and his family had just finished moving almost all of their belongings out of the house when the fire started. One of the objects yet to be removed was Vu’s current flame: his piano.
This tragedy led him in a different musical direction. He quickly changed gears after watching a friend’s band perform in the ninth grade, and so began his love affair with the drums. Two years later, his passion for the drums was still burning strong and Vu knew he wanted spend the rest of his days drumming his heart out.
His high school graduation brought him another piece of unconventional good news. His bandmates at the time found out he had been cheating on them by recording and performing with The Subtle Way and did what any pissed off ex-girlfriend would do.
“They weren’t very cool guys,” Vu said. “I guess I was still their property, but we weren’t playing any shows. They found out (about The Subtle Way) and left me a nasty voicemail, and there was tension for a while.”
Happy to finally get out of a band that he claims had neither gigs nor direction, Vu spent a little more than three months with The Subtle Way before his love for the music was reciprocated in the form of a record deal.
Signed by Negative Progression Records for three years now, the band finds itself still carrying out the duties of both the creative and business side, reminding Vu that successful relationships require bigger commitments than originally thought.
“We invest so much hard work into (the band),” Vu said. “People don’t realize how much hard work bands have to do.”
Vu has learned that the musicians themselves must pursue booking shows if they want to stay afloat in the sea of bands, more of which start up every day. His direct contact with the music industry has taught him that no relationship is perfect and that the music industry is not all it’s cracked up to be. This became clear to him at a certain show where everything seemed to go badly at once.
“We got placed last, pretty much everyone left and then the promoter just ditched,” Vu said. “So he didn’t stay to give us the money.”
While this business has its ups and downs, Vu said it’s mostly ups. He has fond memories of touring with his brothers of The Subtle Way. He claims that they, in true rock star fashion, trashed a motel room after purchasing airsoft guns and dueling one another until knocking over a mattress and uncovering a pair of crack pipes.
Memories like this remind Vu of the roller coaster ride being in this band is, but he still finds ways to be grounded. Being the romantic that he is, Vu believes successfully playing a live show doesn’t depend on where you are, but who you’re with.
“We’d be stoked to play any show, as long as there are kids there,” Vu said. “Sometimes we play our best shows in a backyard.”
“It’s fun to play in a setting where you’re on ground level with the audience and you get to sing in their faces,” he added.
Vu realizes that an audience is becoming a bigger request as the Internet is quickly replacing other forms of music distribution and discussion.
“It’s really rare to find people who are enthusiastic about going to shows, because no one has time anymore,” Vu said. “Nobody buys CDs anymore; everyone just downloads.”
Vu, who is part of a dying breed of music purchasers, tries to use the Web to his advantage as well. The band’s MySpace site is nearing 1 million plays, but Vu considers touring the best way of getting The Subtle Way’s name out.
As he continues to devote himself to his long-distance relationship with his band and his drums, Vu looks forward to graduating this year. After that, he’ll stop commuting to shows in Northern California two to four weekends a month and move back to Fremont full time.
Once completely done with school and back up north, Vu hopes the band will finish and release its second full-length album by next summer and hop on another tour.
Fortunately, his love for the band and the purity of its music overshadows his disappointment in the industry. With an attitude like that, this is just the beginning of a long-lasting relationship.