By Jim Bessman, Manhattan Local Music Examiner
November 9, 2011
Original article here.
Video: Dengue Fever's "A Go Go"
Acclaimed Cambodian and American rock band Dengue Fever embarks today on its third trip to Cambodia, the tour also including a return to Vietnam and a first time stop in Laos.
The Los Angeles-based group's Electric Mekong Tour of Southeast Asia, which runs from Nov. 12-26, comes through the cooperation and support of the U.S. Department of State, U.S. embassies in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and local promoter in Cambodia Dickon Verey. It follows Dengue Fever's receipt of the State Department's prestigious Arts Envoy Program grant, which is given out to spread American culture around the world.
Dengue Fever, which formed in 2001, features Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, guitarist/vocalist Zac Holtzman, his keyboardist brother Ethan Holtzman, bassist Senon Williams, drummer Paul Smith and horn player David Ralicke. Along with their four albums of Cambodian/American rock, the group has released the DVD/CD soundtrack to their documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong, and an album collection of lost Cambodian classics, Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia.
“Sharing American art and culture is one of the best ways to build bridges between the United States and other countries," said the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in a statement announcing the tour. "Dengue Fever’s dynamic performances reviving 1960’s Cambodian rock provide a strong cultural link between the U.S. and Southeast Asia.”
After a first trip to Cambodia in 2005, Dengue Fever was there last year--also under the aegis of the State Department.
"We're very lucky to be there back-to-back," says Ethan Holzman, who was inspired to pursue Cambodian music after visiting the county on his own in 1997. "It's changed so much since I first went there. It's really improved a lot, but they were recently hit with insane floods so I don't know what it will be like."
Indeed, Holtzman notes that the annual Bon Om Teuk (Festival of Boat Racing) celebration has been canceled this year due to flooding.
"Normally everyone in Camboida goes to Phnom Penh for the festival--and it's just insanity!" says Holtzman, explaining that it celebrates the end of the rainy season when the swollen Mekong River returns to its normal levels, allowing the Tonle Sap River to reverse flow. The Mekong, which runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is the Electric Mekong Tour's namesake.
"It's nice to go back and help when the people are struggling, but they're a lot happier now than when I first went to Cambodia," adds Holtzman.
Besides Phnom Penh, Dengue Fever is slated to play Kampot, Takeo, Battambang and Siem Reap in Cambodia, Hanoi in Vietnam and Vientiane in Laos.
"We're really excited because we're going to be able to tour not just Phnom Penh but other provinces and major cities like Battambang, Cambodia's second largest city, where many of the original Cambodian rock singers came from, like Ros Sereysothea," continues Holtzman. "Nimol was born there, too, and I've never been there. We've only done shows before in Phnom Penh, but this time we're going two hours outside the capital city to do a show for thousands of villagers--with a police escort to and from!"
Holtzman reflects here over the 10-year duration of Dengue Fever--and the band's performances of classic songs by legendary artists like Ros Sereysothea, who perished during the Khmer Rouge atrocities.
"We do trips like this and realize the impact for the people of Camboida," he says. "We're working with the Cambodian Living Arts organization, which helps keep traditional Cambodian music and dance alive--which was almost erased after the genocide. They've taken a few of the musicians who survived and are getting old, who know how to play the uniquely Cambodian instruments like the chapei dong veng guitar--which my brother plays--and teaching kids so that these instruments stay strong in the Cambodian tradition."
In addition to shows,then, Dengue Fever will conduct workshops with local musicians durng the Electric Mekong Tour--part of the Arts Envoy Program's goals of engaging foreign audiences and fostering goodwill. A videographer is coming along to document the trip, too, says Holtzman.
"The music that Cambodians put out is unique because it's like psychedelic western rock 'n' roll infused with traditional Cambodian music," he adds. "The main attraction to me was the mixture of the Farfisa organ and the guitar and the drum stops and fills and the vocals--and the Khmer language. It's like the vocal is its own instrument, and the language is so musical, and hearing Khmer being sung, the sound weaves in and out like a snake. Once I heard it I thought it was the best music ever, and collected as much of it as I could."
Dengue Fever, which released its fourth album Cannibal Courtship earlier this year for Concord Music Group/Fantasy Records, is now also collecting its out-of-print independently-issued back catalog, to be released on its own label and online store in digital and physical formats with additional tracks and new corresponding merchandise.
"We've been spending nights in the studio going over lots of old songs we haven't played in a while--old Camboidan songs," says Holtzman. "We want to be able to play them for the villagers so they can say, 'Look at these guys playing our music from 1969 and '70!"
The Los Angeles-based group's Electric Mekong Tour of Southeast Asia, which runs from Nov. 12-26, comes through the cooperation and support of the U.S. Department of State, U.S. embassies in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and local promoter in Cambodia Dickon Verey. It follows Dengue Fever's receipt of the State Department's prestigious Arts Envoy Program grant, which is given out to spread American culture around the world.
Dengue Fever, which formed in 2001, features Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, guitarist/vocalist Zac Holtzman, his keyboardist brother Ethan Holtzman, bassist Senon Williams, drummer Paul Smith and horn player David Ralicke. Along with their four albums of Cambodian/American rock, the group has released the DVD/CD soundtrack to their documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong, and an album collection of lost Cambodian classics, Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia.
“Sharing American art and culture is one of the best ways to build bridges between the United States and other countries," said the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in a statement announcing the tour. "Dengue Fever’s dynamic performances reviving 1960’s Cambodian rock provide a strong cultural link between the U.S. and Southeast Asia.”
After a first trip to Cambodia in 2005, Dengue Fever was there last year--also under the aegis of the State Department.
"We're very lucky to be there back-to-back," says Ethan Holzman, who was inspired to pursue Cambodian music after visiting the county on his own in 1997. "It's changed so much since I first went there. It's really improved a lot, but they were recently hit with insane floods so I don't know what it will be like."
Indeed, Holtzman notes that the annual Bon Om Teuk (Festival of Boat Racing) celebration has been canceled this year due to flooding.
"Normally everyone in Camboida goes to Phnom Penh for the festival--and it's just insanity!" says Holtzman, explaining that it celebrates the end of the rainy season when the swollen Mekong River returns to its normal levels, allowing the Tonle Sap River to reverse flow. The Mekong, which runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is the Electric Mekong Tour's namesake.
"It's nice to go back and help when the people are struggling, but they're a lot happier now than when I first went to Cambodia," adds Holtzman.
Besides Phnom Penh, Dengue Fever is slated to play Kampot, Takeo, Battambang and Siem Reap in Cambodia, Hanoi in Vietnam and Vientiane in Laos.
"We're really excited because we're going to be able to tour not just Phnom Penh but other provinces and major cities like Battambang, Cambodia's second largest city, where many of the original Cambodian rock singers came from, like Ros Sereysothea," continues Holtzman. "Nimol was born there, too, and I've never been there. We've only done shows before in Phnom Penh, but this time we're going two hours outside the capital city to do a show for thousands of villagers--with a police escort to and from!"
Holtzman reflects here over the 10-year duration of Dengue Fever--and the band's performances of classic songs by legendary artists like Ros Sereysothea, who perished during the Khmer Rouge atrocities.
"We do trips like this and realize the impact for the people of Camboida," he says. "We're working with the Cambodian Living Arts organization, which helps keep traditional Cambodian music and dance alive--which was almost erased after the genocide. They've taken a few of the musicians who survived and are getting old, who know how to play the uniquely Cambodian instruments like the chapei dong veng guitar--which my brother plays--and teaching kids so that these instruments stay strong in the Cambodian tradition."
In addition to shows,then, Dengue Fever will conduct workshops with local musicians durng the Electric Mekong Tour--part of the Arts Envoy Program's goals of engaging foreign audiences and fostering goodwill. A videographer is coming along to document the trip, too, says Holtzman.
"The music that Cambodians put out is unique because it's like psychedelic western rock 'n' roll infused with traditional Cambodian music," he adds. "The main attraction to me was the mixture of the Farfisa organ and the guitar and the drum stops and fills and the vocals--and the Khmer language. It's like the vocal is its own instrument, and the language is so musical, and hearing Khmer being sung, the sound weaves in and out like a snake. Once I heard it I thought it was the best music ever, and collected as much of it as I could."
Dengue Fever, which released its fourth album Cannibal Courtship earlier this year for Concord Music Group/Fantasy Records, is now also collecting its out-of-print independently-issued back catalog, to be released on its own label and online store in digital and physical formats with additional tracks and new corresponding merchandise.
"We've been spending nights in the studio going over lots of old songs we haven't played in a while--old Camboidan songs," says Holtzman. "We want to be able to play them for the villagers so they can say, 'Look at these guys playing our music from 1969 and '70!"
1 comment:
Great job, Dengue Fever, keep up the good work. Americans and Cambodians are so proud of you.
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