Thursday, January 7, 2010

Dengue Fever and the rebirth of Cambodian rock'n'roll

I interviewed Farfisa (keys) player Ethan Holtzman for this story, he's on the left.

Dengue Fever is not just another band from Los Angeles passing through the Bay Area Friday night (they were an answer on Jepordy the other night!). They are carriers and interpreters of an art form from another time, place and represent a community of musicians who died for making that art. I don’t think that they look at themselves that way and I know that sounds a little dramatic, but hear me out:

Dengue Fever plays covers as well as their own tunes, inspired by Cambodian rock popular in the 60s and 70s. On January 10th, Minky Records will release Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia, 14-track collection of vintage recordings popular during that era, featuring musicians such as Sinn Sisamouth, Pan Ron, Ros Sereysothea and Dara Chom Cha. Proceeds of this record will donated to Cambodian Living Arts, an organization devoted to supporting the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts and inspiring contemporary artistic expression. The organization was featured in the documentary Sleepwalking Through the Mekong about Dengue Fever’s visit to Cambodia. Dengue Fever wants to give back to the community that inspire their music.

To Read the rest of my Examiner.com article click here

This is "One Thousand Tears Of A Tarantula" - Metallica's Kirk Hammett named this song his 2nd favorite song of the 2000s in Rolling Stone's Best of the Decade poll.

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

I sent your Examiner article to a friend of mine who's going to see them tonight in Santa Barbara. I do believe the Independent show is sold out -- good for them!

Jamie: said...

I know I just saw that! so cool. Thanks for passing on my article Jen!

thejemalshow said...

dude the shite just TORE it up. loved it.

Anonymous said...

That opening riff just put every Quentin Tarantino movie back in my head.

Thanks! Can't wait to hear more!