Dengue Fever -- (from left) David Ralicke, Zac Holtzman, Senon Williams, Paul Smith, Chhom Nimol and Ethan Holtzman -- was born of Ethan's 1997 visit to Cambodia. Photo courtesy of DengueFeverMusic.com by j. poet
San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Sunday, July 9, 2006
The Cambodian pop music of the 1960s seems like an unlikely template for an American rock 'n' roll band, but that's the sound that captivated Dengue Fever keyboard player Ethan Holtzman during an especially perilous trip through the Cambodian countryside in 1997.
"I was up in Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat (the ancient temple complex built by Khmer kings between the seventh and 13th centuries) with a friend," Holtzman says. "We got a ride back to Phnom Penh in a small pickup truck. My friend was coming down with dengue fever, getting delirious, and the driver was blasting Cambodian pop music from the late '60s on his tape player. The truck stopped in every town to pick up more riders, and with the heat, the overcrowding and my friend's fever, it became surrealistic. I always have my ears open for things that sound good, and that music really made an impression."
Before he flew back to Los Angeles, Holtzman picked up every cassette of Cambodian pop from the '60s he could find.
"My brother Zac had just moved back to L.A. after living in San Francisco for 10 years," Holtzman says. "Coincidently, someone at Aquarius Records had turned him on to a compilation of Cambodian pop. Rather than doing the usual rock-band thing, we decided we'd figure out how to play some of the Cambodian stuff, with me on accordion, Zac on guitar and Paul Smith on drums."
Holtzman called the band Dengue Fever in honor of his friend (who survived) and the wild ride that brought Cambodian music to his attention. After adding bassist Senon Williams and horn player David Ralicke to the lineup, the band started hanging out in Long Beach, home to a thriving Cambodian community.
"We saw Chhom Nimol singing at the Dragon House," Zac Holtzman recalls. "We wanted her to front Dengue Fever, but she was already a star in Cambodia. She sang for the king and queen of Cambodia before coming to the U.S. and made a good living singing traditional music at Cambodian weddings and funerals. She wasn't sure she wanted to sing with a bunch of Americans. We set up an audition and invited Nimol and several other female singers. The other girls told us Nimol was too famous to audition. When she did show up, all the other singers suddenly got laryngitis."
Nimol spoke little English, but the music needed no translation. The band's early repertoire was mostly covers of '60s Cambodian rock hits, and they wanted to present them as true to the originals as possible. Singing in Khmer let Nimol introduce American audiences to the cadences and inflections of Cambodia. Cambodian melodies are usually based on five-tone scales, with dense clusters of ornamental and improvised notes. Nimol's singing and the band's American version of Cambodian psychedelia created a sound that was strangely familiar and totally distinctive.
"The body of work we started with was completely Cambodian and sung in Khmer," Ethan Holtzman says. "When we realized most of the pop singers from the '60s were murdered during the Khmer Rouge years, it became important to pay tribute to those fallen musicians, to bring some light to the impressive body of work they left behind."
In the '60s, during the Vietnam War, Armed Forces Radio broadcast the sounds of U.S. pop music throughout Southeast Asia. Cambodian artists heard the call and began to adapt rockabilly, surf, soul music and garage-band hits marked by the sound of the Farfisa electric organ into a unique sound that rivaled the innocent power of American pop. When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, most of Cambodia's pop singers and musicians were killed. In the late '90s, when things began to thaw, the sounds of the '60s resurfaced.
Dengue Fever's re-creation of those vintage sounds -- dominated by Zac's twangy spaghetti Western guitar and Ethan's energetic keyboard work -- was an immediate hit, both in the Cambodian clubs of Long Beach and regular Los Angeles rock venues. With Nimol delivering the Khmer lyrics with her impressive vocal range and high-voltage charisma, the band took off. It won the L.A. Weekly's best new artist award in 2002 and its albums "Dengue Fever" (2003) and "Escape From Dragon House" (2005) have been universally praised for their unique blend of Cambodian and American garage-band rock.
Late last year, Dengue Fever did a short, successful tour of Cambodia.
"The last time I was there, I was a tourist," Ethan Holtzman says. "This time we came to play Cambodian American rock music. We did a concert on national TV and they kept airing our show over and over while we were there. We were drawing crowds everywhere we went. Even in the middle of nowhere farmers would come over and ask to have pictures taken with us.
"When the Cambodians heard that Chhom Nimol was in a rock band, they were afraid that she'd sold out, but she got a lot of respect for Cambodianizing the Americans. We played clubs that were usually full of American expats, and Cambodian kids would cram into the place and sing along with all the songs. We also got to play with the few Cambodian musicians who survived the Khmer Rouge years, masters of traditional music.
"We met Kong Nai, who plays chapei dang veng, a two-string, long-neck guitar-like instrument. He's blind and wears a white gown and wraparound shades. He took us all into his world by playing traditional songs; we played along and improvised with him. We recorded what we did with him and the other traditional players we met. Some of that music will be on our next album, which will be all original compositions.
"We've found a good balance with our American interpretations of Cambodian music and the cadences of Nimol's singing in Khmer. The beauty of her singing is a big part of our sound. Her vocals have the quality of another instrument. When she hits certain notes it gives everyone chills."
-----------------------
Dengue Fever plays at 9 p.m. Sat. at the Independent, 628 Divisadero St., San Francisco. $13. (415) 771-1421, www.theindependentsf.com.
J. poet is a freelance writer.
"I was up in Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat (the ancient temple complex built by Khmer kings between the seventh and 13th centuries) with a friend," Holtzman says. "We got a ride back to Phnom Penh in a small pickup truck. My friend was coming down with dengue fever, getting delirious, and the driver was blasting Cambodian pop music from the late '60s on his tape player. The truck stopped in every town to pick up more riders, and with the heat, the overcrowding and my friend's fever, it became surrealistic. I always have my ears open for things that sound good, and that music really made an impression."
Before he flew back to Los Angeles, Holtzman picked up every cassette of Cambodian pop from the '60s he could find.
"My brother Zac had just moved back to L.A. after living in San Francisco for 10 years," Holtzman says. "Coincidently, someone at Aquarius Records had turned him on to a compilation of Cambodian pop. Rather than doing the usual rock-band thing, we decided we'd figure out how to play some of the Cambodian stuff, with me on accordion, Zac on guitar and Paul Smith on drums."
Holtzman called the band Dengue Fever in honor of his friend (who survived) and the wild ride that brought Cambodian music to his attention. After adding bassist Senon Williams and horn player David Ralicke to the lineup, the band started hanging out in Long Beach, home to a thriving Cambodian community.
"We saw Chhom Nimol singing at the Dragon House," Zac Holtzman recalls. "We wanted her to front Dengue Fever, but she was already a star in Cambodia. She sang for the king and queen of Cambodia before coming to the U.S. and made a good living singing traditional music at Cambodian weddings and funerals. She wasn't sure she wanted to sing with a bunch of Americans. We set up an audition and invited Nimol and several other female singers. The other girls told us Nimol was too famous to audition. When she did show up, all the other singers suddenly got laryngitis."
Nimol spoke little English, but the music needed no translation. The band's early repertoire was mostly covers of '60s Cambodian rock hits, and they wanted to present them as true to the originals as possible. Singing in Khmer let Nimol introduce American audiences to the cadences and inflections of Cambodia. Cambodian melodies are usually based on five-tone scales, with dense clusters of ornamental and improvised notes. Nimol's singing and the band's American version of Cambodian psychedelia created a sound that was strangely familiar and totally distinctive.
"The body of work we started with was completely Cambodian and sung in Khmer," Ethan Holtzman says. "When we realized most of the pop singers from the '60s were murdered during the Khmer Rouge years, it became important to pay tribute to those fallen musicians, to bring some light to the impressive body of work they left behind."
In the '60s, during the Vietnam War, Armed Forces Radio broadcast the sounds of U.S. pop music throughout Southeast Asia. Cambodian artists heard the call and began to adapt rockabilly, surf, soul music and garage-band hits marked by the sound of the Farfisa electric organ into a unique sound that rivaled the innocent power of American pop. When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, most of Cambodia's pop singers and musicians were killed. In the late '90s, when things began to thaw, the sounds of the '60s resurfaced.
Dengue Fever's re-creation of those vintage sounds -- dominated by Zac's twangy spaghetti Western guitar and Ethan's energetic keyboard work -- was an immediate hit, both in the Cambodian clubs of Long Beach and regular Los Angeles rock venues. With Nimol delivering the Khmer lyrics with her impressive vocal range and high-voltage charisma, the band took off. It won the L.A. Weekly's best new artist award in 2002 and its albums "Dengue Fever" (2003) and "Escape From Dragon House" (2005) have been universally praised for their unique blend of Cambodian and American garage-band rock.
Late last year, Dengue Fever did a short, successful tour of Cambodia.
"The last time I was there, I was a tourist," Ethan Holtzman says. "This time we came to play Cambodian American rock music. We did a concert on national TV and they kept airing our show over and over while we were there. We were drawing crowds everywhere we went. Even in the middle of nowhere farmers would come over and ask to have pictures taken with us.
"When the Cambodians heard that Chhom Nimol was in a rock band, they were afraid that she'd sold out, but she got a lot of respect for Cambodianizing the Americans. We played clubs that were usually full of American expats, and Cambodian kids would cram into the place and sing along with all the songs. We also got to play with the few Cambodian musicians who survived the Khmer Rouge years, masters of traditional music.
"We met Kong Nai, who plays chapei dang veng, a two-string, long-neck guitar-like instrument. He's blind and wears a white gown and wraparound shades. He took us all into his world by playing traditional songs; we played along and improvised with him. We recorded what we did with him and the other traditional players we met. Some of that music will be on our next album, which will be all original compositions.
"We've found a good balance with our American interpretations of Cambodian music and the cadences of Nimol's singing in Khmer. The beauty of her singing is a big part of our sound. Her vocals have the quality of another instrument. When she hits certain notes it gives everyone chills."
-----------------------
Dengue Fever plays at 9 p.m. Sat. at the Independent, 628 Divisadero St., San Francisco. $13. (415) 771-1421, www.theindependentsf.com.
J. poet is a freelance writer.
4 comments:
I am a huge fan of the 60's music.I wish you guys all the best!!!
Wherever you go may success and happiness follow you!
"Escape From Dragon House" is a great CD. I finally have something new to listen. Awesome job guys. Looking forward for your new CD with Chum Peiy.
I absolutely love both Dengue Fever CD's. In addition, fans should get the soundtrack from the movie "City of Ghosts".
I only get the movie. I searched in the ebay for its soundtrack, found nothing. Any idea?
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