Thanh Bui, HRA Ambassador.

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Full name: Bui Vu Thanh
Stage name: Thanh Bui
D.O.B: 12.01.1983
Nationality: Australian
Language: English, Vietnamese
Genre Soul/Pop

At the July 2010 concert in Ho Chi Minh City, it was announced by HRA Director Chris O’Dempsey, that singer / songwriter Thanh Bui had joined Van-Anh Nguyen as an HRA Ambassador. Thanh brings a great degree of enthusiasm, as well as talent, to this important role, and together with Van-Anh, they are committed to helping impact Vietnam for good, and assist in the programs aimed at alleviating poverty and poor education currently being undertaken by Heart Reach.

Thanh was born in Adelaide and moved to Melbourne when he was seven. Three years later, after seeing Michael Jackson perform at the Grammy Awards, he began lessons in classical piano and voice. “My parents worked 100-hour weeks to give me the opportunity to do what I love doing”.

Along with Michael Jackson, Thanh considers Stevie Wonder as one of his idols – “an amazing vocalist, writer and musician” – and his mum and dad, who came to Australia as refugees after the Vietnam War. “To hear their story, when it was literally life and death, puts everything into perspective,” Thanh says.

In the mid-nineties as a member of North, and barely out of his teens, Thanh experienced genuine teen hysteria throughout Asia over a two-album career, which delivered three number one hits in Thailand and Indonesia, and two chart-toppers in Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines.

In 2008, he became the first Australian of Vietnamese background to reach the Top 10 on Australian Idol. This has made a new turning point for his music career. Youtube showings of Idol clips coupled with a one off Vietnamese TV show led to him being whole-heartedly embraced by ex-pat Vietnamese (and their children) throughout the world and he suddenly found himself playing gigs in the US and Canada - and his considerable song-writing pedigree coupled with these trips allowed him the luxury of being able to write with some of the finest songwriters on the planet.

“In retrospect, it was a bit of a dance with the devil,” he says. “Immediate fame - which unfortunately also meant immediately being written off by a lot of people. Unfair but that’s the way it is. In a strange way, you need to re-earn respect. Having said that, I’d do it again in a heartbeat”.

BIOGRAPHY
His collaborations with experienced hit-makers like Charlie Midnight (James Brown’s
Living In America, Christina Aguilera, Chaka Khan), Michael Jay (Eminem, Kylie Minogue,
Celine Dion) while also writing with international and local hot and/or up-and-coming
writers like (Saturday Night Live guitarist) Jared Scharff, (ex-Stargate) Andre Lindal
(Monica), Lee Groves (Bertie Blackman), Pete Martin (Sugababes, etc) and many more have
resulted in the songs intended for his debut album.
“Stylistically I guess its progressive blue-eyed soul – we’ll just need to find another name for
it”.
Trying to put a musical label on what’s he doing isn’t that easy for Thanh Bui – but he’s got
a pretty clear idea of where he’s going with his own special combo of soul, electronica and
pop.
“Nobody has really told the story of the
immigrant’s child and that was at least part of
my intention. Lyrically I starting mining all
those years of “not fitting in”, the alienation I
felt, seeing my parent’s sacrifices, and
recognizing the generational clashes.
“Then it occurred to me, that’s what most
people experience growing up, no matter what
their ethnic background – my being
Vietnamese/Australian just brought that into
much sharper relief.”
“I’d kinda like to be one of the few artists of
Asian background to have international
success.” Disarmingly simple and in it’s way
also wildly ambitious, this is Thanh Bui’s
statement of intent… not that he hasn’t already been teetering on the brink of that kind of
success for a little while now.
BIOGRAPHY
2010 was an incredibly exciting year for Thanh. It saw him release his first single in
Vietnam, ‘Lang Tham Mot Tinh Yeu’, featuring superstar Ho Ngoc Ha and also featured as a
song in the film ‘De Mai Tinh’ released in April.
Thanh Bui’s first show in Vietnam
“Thanh Bui & Villa FB” on 24th
April 2010 featured speacial guests
such as Music Producer Duong
Khac Linh, Concert Pianist Van-
Anh Nguyen, Singer Thao Trang…
and drew immense media attention.
On 31st July, pairing with with
Concert Pianist Van-Anh Nguyen, Thanh Bui organized his second show in Vietnam named
“Love Heart 2010”. In this charity show, Thanh conducted an auction to sell a pendant
covered with 16 diamonds. The money raised from the event was contributed to building a
healthcare clinic for the disadvantaged in Ben Tre.
Thanh Bui’s initial success in Vietnam can be contributed to his cooperation with Duong
Khac Linh – Musician/ Music Director of Early Riser’s Music. Duong Khac Linh
introduced Thanh Bui to the Vietnamese Music Industry and they are both currently working
on Thanh Bui’s first Vietnamese album which is scheduled for release this coming March.
Other than his singing/song-writing career, Thanh also runs a successful talent school in
Melbourne and Sydney - the International Artist Academy is home to more than 100
students. He is also the Director and Producer of Gold Fingers Publishing, which has
gained international success with song-placements throughout the world.

RESUME
MUSIC
Album
2006 Straight up The North Band EMI Music
2004 North The North Band Universal Music
Competition
2010 Vietnam Idol Mentor
2008 Australia Idol Top 8
Shows
2011 Ho Ngoc Ha’s liveshow “Sunsilk – Tim lai giac mo” Guest
2010 Thanh Bùi & Villa FB Minishow
2010 Love Heart 2010 Charity show
2009 Thúy Nga - Paris by night Guest
2004 Around ASEAN countries The North Band
Soundtrack
2010 Movie Fool for love (De Mai Tinh)
International Credits
2010
• Hit band Monrose (Germany) top 10 record with song ‘Breathe you in’
• Title track for Vietnamese mega-movie ‘De Mai Tinh’ – Forbidden (Lang Tham Mot Tinh
Yeu) feat. Ho Ngoc Ha
• Spanish star Edurne uses song ‘Culpable’ for her latest release
• Number 1 Japanese record with supergroup Kat-tun, featuring B-Side single ‘Hello’
• Platinum-selling Australian artist, Paulini, uses song ‘Scarless’ which becomes the theme
song for ‘White Ribbon Day’ (saying ‘No’ to domestic violence)
• Hong-Kong star William Chan chooses song ‘Love Evolution’
• HBO’s show Bad Girls Club uses song ‘Kiss and Tell’ (USA)

2009
• MTV’s show The Real World uses song ‘Licence to thrill’ (USA)
• 2007 Eurovision winner Marija Serifovic records ‘Party Tonight’
• Australia show ‘Dance Academy’ uses song ‘You got me dancing’
• European artist Cherine Nourine records ‘Gravity’, ‘Forbidden’, ‘I’m human’, ‘So Alive’
2008
• Gold Record awarded for Jimi Blue with songs ‘Killer Queen’ and ‘Party in the city’
• German band Room 2012 records song ‘Take a minute’
• Number 1 record with Korean supergroup Arashi with song ‘Picture of you’
• Japanese super-group Arashi records ‘I won’t hold back’ which is on another Number 1 record

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
International Artist Academy Director / Lecturer
Gold Fingers Publishing Director / Producer
AMBASSADOR
GIV Diamond
CHARITY ACTIVITIES
Heart Reach Australia – Australia Goodwill Ambassador
Asia Injury Prevention Foundation Goodwill Ambassador

SPONSORSHIP & ENDORSEMENT

Honda
Gems International Vietnam (GIV)
ODM Watches (Singapore)
Perspective Apparel
Politix Menswear
Sketchers Shoes
Sony Ericsson

Thanh Bui is an Early Risers artist.
16A Phan Ton Str, Da Kao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
T: 84 – 8 – 6290 6080
F: 84 – 8 – 6290 6081