About

How much I should actually write here? Should it be like a quick intro or something more substantial? Hmmmmm let’s just type and see what comes out! I reserve the right to edit this page a lot because writing about yourself is always weird isnt it!

My name is John Dang (or Tuananh John Dang to be complete). To my friends and family I’m known variously as John, JD, Johnny and John-Dang. For some reason quite a few people know me as ‘John-Dang’, spoken in one breath as if it were one name – I guess this is the result of there being too many ‘John’s in the world and hence the need to distinguish us from each other. One of my regrets is not furthering my education to the point that I could be referred to as Dr Dang. There’s something sinister about that don’t you think? Almost Super villain-esque.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes…my names (Tuananh and Dang) are Vietnamese by the way because my dad is Vietnamese (from Ha-Long Bay, North Vietnam) and My mum is Thai (from Udon-Thani, North Thailand). But whilst I was born in Vietnam I was raised in the UK so England is very much my home (Go Manchester!).

Since graduating from University (where I studied Politics and Philosophy among other things) my life has been consumed by music. You see, having enjoyed a good education which prepared me well for the corporate world, I took a decision at 21 that I wouldn’t join the rat race and become a lawyer, banker, accountant or whatever. There’s nothing wrong with it (unscrupulous sorts aside!) and lots of my friends have taken that route and become very successful but I decided that it just wasn’t for me. My mum and dad both run their own businesses and there’s something about that which has always inspired me – I think it’s the fact that they’ve created something from nothing and everyday they work for themselves.

So I turned down the suits and moved to Camden Town (home of Hippy-London) where I was lucky enough to find work with a small charity that provided a mentoring scheme to ‘at-risk’ youths.  The people there were dedicated to bringing out the dreams and aspirations of kids that were deemed ‘at risk’ of turning to crime. They helped them to see new possibilities in life and gave them new tools to fulfill their potential. Thinking back now it was such a a great place to work – we’d all chip in with which ever skills we had; on any given day I could be teaching music, martial arts, web design. Being surrounded by people that were so generous with their time made me realise just how much could be achieved in this life. I made some lasting friendships in that time and I learned so much. After a wonderful year there and with my family’s blessing I decided that life was simply too short and far too precious not to follow my dreams.

So here I am a few years on; a singer and songwriter, still just starting out but enjoying every moment. It’s been a bumpy journey so far but full of wonderful experiences. I’ve met and worked with amazingly talented people and 2009 should prove to be a very interesting year with several songs I’ve written for Sony, GMM and other labels coming out.

Well I hope you enjoy my random musings on the blogs. It’s a big world and there is so much to see – it would be lovely to have someone to share this journey with me.

My favourite quotation: ..”life should not be measured by the number of breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away”..

Erm ok…that’s enough for now…no doubt i’ll edit it again soon! In the meantime let me know if there’s anything you want to know!!