His Name's LINION, the Bass-First Wizard Who Wants to Keep You Company

It's no secret that there is a wealth of ridiculous talent in the Asia Pacific region, and it isn't really hard to stumble upon in an age where everyone in their mother is a producer if it just boils down to pushing a bunch of buttons to sequence sounds and stems together in an inoffensive order.

Taiwanese bass-loving maestro and endearing vocalist in his own right, LINION, is bringing the swagger and soul-rattling sounds of D'Angelo and Thundercat into the Asia Pacific music scene, and it isn't really hard to see how stinkin' brilliant he is after I saw him live and sat down with him at the recently concluded Sonik Music Festival in Makati City.

Esquire Philippines saw the bassist/vocalist up close, who debuted a mini bass guitar that complemented his dexterity and high-energy antics to the Filipino crowd, who formed conga lines to his latest Latin-infused R&B single, "Loco Poco," and his trademark songs like "Room 335" and other tracks from his record mi casa su casa.

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LINION grooving in the pocket at Sonik Music Festival at Green Sun Hotel in Makati City

A guy who channels an almost spiritual flow on stage with the bass guitar as a main companion of all instruments is something that seems lost in today's almost trendy-focused music consumption space.

LINION is naturally an outgoing dude who fully embraces his personality, which allows for a remarkably expressive feel for his music.

"Can't Find" is one of the first tracks we dove into before watching his stellar Manila debut, a cut that was one of the more introspective moments from his discography where he also showcases how smooth he can dial in his vocals to complement his equally smooth bass playing.

"Day Off," "Mountain Dude," and "music," which is his collaboration with Japanese jazz rock band chilldspot were among our other favorite tracks from his criminally underrated catalog.

Suprisingly, the bass-slapping aficionado revealed that he was initially a singer before he picked up the bass in school.

"Actually, I started singing when I was about ten years old. Because of my parents, they made me do karaoke every day, which made me learn their songs on a daily basis," he told me in the artist holding room after his set.

LINION hypes up the Filipino crowd at Sonik Music Festival

It's not hard to find a willing listener for those who are deeply in touch with the funk and who culturally identify with the genius of the late and legendary D'Angelo. Linion noted that his music is for the everyman and for people who actually need companionship in the form of easy listening and warm songs crafted with genuine human expression.

"A lot of my music is for people in Taiwan who are businessmen and salarymen; they go to work every day. I want to accompany you when you wake up and go to work and off work. I want you to listen to my music like I'm standing by you, like your friend. Music isn't just idol stuff, but you need it in your life. That's the most important thing," the Taiwanese savant said with an infectious smile on his face.

He had a short stint in Los Angeles, where he graduated from the Musicians Institute, specializing in electric bass performance.

"I studied neo soul in Los Angeles and my teacher was one of the guys from Earth, Wind & Fire," LINIONrecalled, adding that the soul legend had also helped produce his album as he wrapped up his studies.

LINION is dripped out on stage in eclectic patterns and accessories that show he doesn't really give a damn

Beneath the smooth and tight bass architecture within Linion's soundscape of records, his third album, Hideout, showed me how much depth he has in songwriting that can be buried within a foreign language that needs to be explored.

This record was a vehicle for him to express his very funk-era-appropriate dreams of "freeing one's soul," evident in tracks like "Black Panther," which was one of his standout tracks during his Manila set list. It explores the many deep-seated insecurities related to things like body image and weight anxieties that crippled him during his adolescence. It also challenges the idea that men are impervious to body dysmorphia, which is obviously not the case since every guy who lifts any kind of weight would know how much of an uphill battle it is to reach the Mount Everest of physiques.

Another theme that he tackled was the hidden and even softer sides of masculinity, which has been a very divisive topic of discourse as eras and generations turn over.

Take the song "Hide and Seek," for example, which starts out with neo soul guitar licks that set out to introduce themes of familial expectations and generational male bravado. It is a pretty poignant commentary on how exhausting and fragile men can be as they get bombarded with societal pressures to stick to this black-and-white machismo image.

"A lot of guys feel like, 'Let's just play basketball; that's fine,' or 'You can't cry, no emotion; that's not good.' So for my third album, I wrote it all for men. It's Hideout. And mi casa su casa was the next level, like after you cry, you can start to be calm, and you know your pace,' LINION elucidated on the importance of having this type of bravery when talking about these issues that are often brought to a hush hush.

LIINON has this skill of slowing things down a notch before taking complete control of the audience between his calloused, bass-slapping fingertips

Sitting down with Linion taught me one thing: my initial impressions of the guy being a carefree creative who weaponized this freedom were right on the money as he peeled the curtain behind his groovy projects.

"Three or four years ago, I was stuck for two years; I couldn't write any song. So I held a songwriting camp in Taiwan and watched how other producers worked. I found the problem: everybody starts from the kick drum, no instruments, no story, no feeling," the musician lamented on how technology can sometimes cripple creativity and freedom associated with analog or organically arrived compositions.

His lasting philosophy on songwriting and performance really stayed with me roughly two weeks after I was introduced to his zany and unchained interpretations of soul music.

"You have to know how to give up; that's the first thing. When you start to write a song, you'll stop, because you use logic. But every time you stop and say, 'Let's give up, you get the idea. You have to relax, like meditation, and then you'll have it," LINION said.

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