A Change of Guard

សូមស្តាប់វិទ្យុសង្គ្រោះជាតិ Please read more Khmer news and listen to CNRP Radio at National Rescue Party. សូមស្តាប់វីទ្យុខ្មែរប៉ុស្តិ៍/Khmer Post Radio.
Follow Khmerization on Facebook/តាមដានខ្មែរូបនីយកម្មតាម Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khmerization.khmerican

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Dengue Fever’s infectious Cambodian sound comes to Waterfront Fest [in Wisconsin]


Los Angeles sextet Dengue Fever has a beach-friendly sound perfectly suited to its sunny hometown. But the band’s good time, surf-rock stylings also serve a deeper purpose: preserving and promoting a style of Cambodian music nearly lost during the mass genocide engineered by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
Prior to Phnom Penh’s 1975 fall at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia’s capital city was the epicenter of a cultural renaissance. During this time, musicians like Ros Sereysothea and Sinn Sisamouth blended traditional sounds with the American and British music they heard streaming over the airwaves of Armed Forces Radio from nearby Vietnam, creating a global twist on surf and psychedelic rock.

“It was an exciting time because these musicians were listening to what other people were doing on records then setting out to copy it with no idea how to technically,” said Dengue Fever drummer Paul Smith, 40, who joins his bandmates for a free show at the Marquette Waterfront Festival on Saturday, June 9. “It was almost reverse engineering for these guys. They’re hearing these crazy sounds and delays and going, ‘How are they getting this? Let’s try this.’
“To go out and come up with it on your own is just an amazing, cool process, and there’s a real rawness and energy to the music that spoke to me immediately.”
During its reign, the Khmer Rouge exterminated many facets of Cambodian culture, and numerous musicians were among the estimated 1.7 million people killed. In a further effort to erase the past, traditional songs were even replaced with patriotic odes to the zealots in charge of the country.
“There aren’t a lot of situations where you’re staring at the brink of extinction in terms of certain cultural elements,” said Smith. “There’s definitely an added weight because of the history and how we’re interfacing with the culture. But because we’re doing it for the right reasons and the Cambodian people have responded well, we feel it’s just an honor and a cool thing we’re involved in.”
Brothers Ethan and Zak Holtzman first launched Dengue Fever in 2001 after Ethan was introduced to the long-lost music by a local bus driver on a trip to Cambodia (the band took its name from the illness a travel companion was struck with during the trek). Shortly thereafter, the group stumbled upon Battambang-born frontwoman Chhom Nimol while auditioning potential singers. At the time, the band wasn’t aware of Nimol’s storied musical background. Born to traditional musician parents, Nimol herself performed for the Cambodian royal family after winning a national singing competition akin to “American Idol” in the late 1990s.
“When she showed up some of the other singers (auditioning) immediately caught a cold and decided to leave because they were intimidated,” said Smith. “We had been playing these songs together with no singer, and it was a leap of faith. But once her voice was in there it must have been like putting the gold orb on the Taj Mahal. All of a sudden it felt like rainbows came out of the clouds and everything just made sense.”
On the band’s self-titled debut, which was first released in 2003 and is set to be reissued sometime this summer on the group’s newly formed label, Tuk Tuk Records, Dengue Fever functioned as historical archivists of sorts, bashing through covers of classic Cambodian pop songs with Nimol singing in her native tongue. A 2005 tour of Cambodia, which was filmed for the documentary “Sleepwalking Through the Mekong,” followed, further affirming the group’s decision to pursue these once-lost sounds.
“The whole visit was like an acid trip, and when it was over it was like, ‘Oh, wow,’” said Smith. “I was not aware of the history, and until you see the effect on the people who were there through the Khmer Rouge… You could see (the music) had this profound impact on people. It was a pleasant surprise, and kind of overwhelming. It really opened my eyes.”
Though the group has branched out from these global origins on more recent efforts — Nimal even sings in English throughout much of the band’s latest album, “Cannibal Courtship” — Smith said Cambodian music will always be the root of the band’s sound.
“Cambodian history will always be a part of what we do,” he said. “I really think a lot of the Cambodian culture that was lost is slowly making its way back. We like to think we started something, and maybe now people will follow.”

No comments: