A Change of Guard

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Tuesday 14 September 2010

[Cambodian Young, Young] Art, Music and the Balance Within


Note: A video of this interview will be available on
www.myspace.com/kmangkmang


Written by KONSTANTIN BEZZUBOV
Monday, 13 September 2010
Lumino Magazine

After Kmang Kmang’s recent debut performance at Abbey pub, Lumino Magazine got a chance to sit down and have a chat with band leader Barmey Ung (pictured). The outdoor seating and amiable spirit provided for a nice conversation that delved into the guitarist/multi instrumentalist’s musical past, factors leading him to form a band, and the forces that guide creativity.

How did you arrive at your band’s name?

“Kmang Kmang” means “Young Young” in Cambodian, and I’m Cambodian. It literally means children, there’s a Cambodian saying tied to that, which means children play. And I thought it was just cool to say. Because there are a few Cambodian words that I feel an American audience can say.

Does the background of those words inform the band’s sound at all?

Well, it’s best not to look too much into it. You know, what do band names mean? And when they try to mean something, it’s usually bullshit. It’s just Kmang Kmang.

Tell me a little bit about how you met the other guys in the band, and how you started playing guitar in the first place.

I’ll start with the members of the band. Bret Swenson is the drummer, and he’s actually an artist. He’s a glass and insulation artist. So he’s just doing this one gig with us. Sam Filip, bass player, we hired him for this gig. So we just met him. I played with another bassist before. I played some of my Cambodian stuff with him, but he had some other things to do this time. So the group is not solidified. It’s my project, so I hired whoever I had to hire and I got whoever I had to get. So, until I have a solid group that I’m comfortable with…this is how I’ve been doing it with my old bands. But I like doing it that way, because when I rotate out players, it’s always like a different performance and it’s a learning experience for me and everybody involved.

How long have you been playing guitar and what got you attracted to it?

I started with classical (guitar) when I was twelve. I guess I was playing music since I was five. I played piano when I was five, sax when I was eight, then I changed to guitar when I was twelve. In fact I remember my parents bought me a nice saxophone when I was twelve, which was right around the time I wanted to switch to guitar, because that was the age when they introduce guitar in school. So I had to beg my parents to buy me a guitar. I even got my teacher to write me a note to my parents. I just loved it, especially the classical guitar, because it’s something that I never heard before. I was never the type of person who wanted to do what everyone else was doing. It’s the stuff that drives me, the things I’ve never heard before. So classical guitar was one of those things, and when I started looking into it I started looking at flamenco and classical and I just thought it was crazy. But I thought it sucked that it’s in this little bubble, it’s in this little classical guitar world. When I was in the Czech Republic, performing there in guitar festival in this little guitar fest world, with classical teachers, workshops and repertoire…I never related to that environment. That’s why I’m here doing my own thing. It’s my voice through the classical guitar, trying to get through to the general public.

Where did you get the idea to blend trip hop with guitar, as opposed to other musical styles? I heard jazz undertones in there too.

Yeah, there are so many undertones, and there are many songs that we’ve played that are flamenco, Brazilian, or Cambodian. We played some of that stuff tonight. But this project is really my excuse to bring everything that I like together, and those things being a part of who I am. That’s the only way an artist can find their real voice, is if they just do it. So this is an experiment and this is the first step. There are a lot of new songs in the works that we weren’t able to play today just because they weren’t ready. But the trip hop thing is just another interest. Trip hop is a pretty broad genre…Massive Attack, Portishead, even Radiohead…how different are those bands? The way I see it is just a melancholy bass, but in the future I’m planning to add some electronic elements, looping effects, beats, sampling, whatever. This would be along the more traditional trip hop lines.

What genres were you thinking of blending with classical guitar from the start? Was trip hop always a direction you wanted to go in?

I’ve been composing for several years, who knows how many, on so many different levels. I’ve composed for orchestras, percussion ensembles, electronics, film, video art pieces, for chamber ensembles, and for myself. I’ve studied flamenco guitar in Spain. I had a Brazilian electro-pop group in Miami from 2008-2009. So I don’t plan the sound out, it just happens that way. It’s just after years of exploration, taking those things that I like and putting them all together.

What artist do you look up to in determining your sound?

I’ve never liked anybody who fit the mold or is generic.

Like Justin Bieber.

I just heard a slowed-down version of Justin Bieber, it’s pretty crazy.

Yeah I have it on my iPod but haven’t heard it yet. It’s pretty interesting.

But what I’m into always changes. Right now, Avishai Cohen, who’s a jazz bass player and used to play with Chick Corea. He does a lot of stuff on the beat, like in 11 4 time. The second song we played, “Calm,” is his song. I can go all day with influences, Paco de Lucia, I love pop music, The Pixies, I have the “Trainspotting” soundtrack in my car right now. I’m completely open-minded.

Is there ever a point where you feel you’ve exhausted your creativity at all? Do you ever add electric guitar to mix it up a bit?

There are more tracks on my MySpace where there’s heavy electric guitar, Jimi Hendrix style guitar. I play piano, bass, and I sing a lot more in some of those tracks. Those types of songs require more direction. Today was just a trio, just a trial run. So there’s a lot more stuff to come. But do I ever get exhausted…yes. Right now I found a balance where everything that I do I’m satisfied with, but it’s taken me a log time to get to that point. When I just started Kmang Kmang, the songs didn’t sound like this, they were a lot more depressing and very personal. It was too personal for most people. And I didn’t agree with for the longest time, because I dedicated my life to that. When I wanted to put it together, it didn’t work, because people didn’t like it. And that can be pretty hard. That was one kind of exhaustion that was really hard to deal with.

People not agreeing with your vision?

That pushed me to see and hear things from their perspective, and it was a big exercise in letting things go, moving on and trying new things. That stuff is still there, but it’s just not as heavy as it used to be. But I still like to make people think, to have them sit and experience the music. I don’t see it as entertainment but as an art.

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