Music Feature in the Flagstaff Live, Cover Story
Stirring up the Spirits
Dengue Fever’s crusade to save a dying culture from a brutal regime
By Stephanie Flood
Published on 03/27/2008
One might assume it’s impossible, but there are actually a few ways to contract Dengue fever in Flagstaff. The worst way would be to actually travel to a tropical area such as Cambodia, get stung by a particular mosquito (like on the nape of your neck) and bring the symptoms of fever, severe headache, muscle pains and rashes back home.
Or, a person could pursue the other Dengue Fever, a freshly exhibited band from Los Angeles, who will be playing at the Orpheum Theatre on April 1. Symptoms of this Dengue Fever include the body feeling compelled to dance, move to the beat, and a sudden urge to get down with the rhythm.
Dengue Fever is a richly innovative Cambodian/American ’40s pop band that brings life to two precariously positioned cultures of the past and thrusts the mixed sounds into the mists of a globally infused future.
Dengue Fever’s intoxicating sounds of extraordinarily poised melody and contrasting groovy surfer music developed in 2001 when brothers, keyboardist Ethan and guitarist Zac Holtzman, traveled to Cambodia and fell in love with the country’s pop music of the ’60s.
The music grew legs as sax player David Ralicke, drummer Paul Smith and bassist Senon Williams were added to the playful scheme of accentuated sounds. By their mixture alone, they create a mid-tempo funk with a string of lead guitar, subtle touches of keyboard, and Middle Eastern-rooted sax.
But it was when they found the Cambodian lead singer, Chhom Nimol, that the sounds of Dengue Fever sprouted melodic wings and soared off by the sheer power of her hypnotic, richly maneuvering voice.
“I asked myself why Americans would be interested in Cambodian music,” Nimol told the Montreal Mirror, regarding the band’s search for a Cambodian singer in L.A. “I didn’t think they were lying to me, though. They were the first to listen to and play a Cambodian style of music here.”
The songwriting was another element that added fire to their global vision, along with the cultural mesh of psychedelia, spaghetti western guitars and Nimol’s Cambodian influence.
“The songwriting is a collaborative effort,” says Paul Smith in a band bio. “Most are written in English and translated by Nimol, and we explore emotions and situations that Khmer culture ignore. These songs are from a time and place that doesn’t exist anymore. We’re hoping to build bridges between America and Cambodia, between the present and the past.”
To aid in their musical ideas, the band’s debut mostly consisted of classic Cambodian covers, as a means of paying tribute to the singers and songwriters who had been wiped out by the country’s extremist political regime.
Back in the mid-’70s, there was an extermination of about 2 million people by the ruling political party in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge, a regime that forced the natives into execution, starvation and forced labor. From the slaughter, rock and folk music almost entirely disappeared. That is, until Dengue Fever rose it from the dead and gave it a new form.
Their second album features more psychedelic, freed-up lounge music while Nimol’s vast melodic range, singing in mostly Khmer, compliments the rest of the band’s wave of grooves.
“We saw Chhom Nimol at the Dragon House,” says Zac Holtzman in a band bio. “She was already a star in Cambodia and made a living singing traditional music at Cambodian weddings and funerals.”
In 2002, Nimol stumbled into a heap of trouble when a routine immigration check and a lapsed green card led her to 22 days of confinement. In order to pay off her legal fees, and put her immigration struggles behind her, she sang nightly at a the Dragon House, a Cambodian dance club in Long Beach, Calif.
Hence, the band’s second album titled, Escape from Dragon House.
In 2007, the band took an influential trip to Cambodia and took the country by surprise. They were a musical group of mostly Westerners playing there for the first time since the extremist takeover, and were unsure of how they would be received. Nimol feels satisfied with the endeavor, and her Cambodian style garnered positive reactions.
“(It was) to show that Cambodia has a true rock music, which was destroyed and lost during the time of Pol Pot,” Nimol told the Montreal Mirror, “and to prove and show to the whole world that Cambodians know and understand real music, not just copying or stealing. That the two brothers don’t understand Khmer but play Cambodian music is a plus for encouragement and true pride, even more so if we continue to play outside the country, so that people the world over can get to know true Cambodian music.”
Dengue Fever is meticulous in the maintaining the quality of their music as well, which makes the sounds even more compelling. The band’s most recent album, Venus on Earth, was recorded on an analog tape in efforts to preserve the full wash of sounds in the rhythm. Nimol also sings a couple songs in English, which offers Americans a new perspective on her vocal abilities.
“Now that Nimol is going to start singing more in English,” Zac Holtzman told the New York Times in January, “it’s making new things possible for us. Nimol really wants to connect with the American audience more now.”
And since then, their Cambodian and American melting pot of music has formed an even more culturally thick stew.
“We made a conscious decision to simplify the sound,” says Smith in a band bio. “There’s a lot of space in the mix, more swing in the playing. The arrangements are less jammy; they’re finely constructed with a plenty of surf music and spaghetti western twang.”
Bringing Nimol’s captivating voice into the foreground was also a focal point of Venus on Earth.
“We wanted a jazzy, European feel, with enough space to increase the impact of Nimol’s vocals,” says Zac Holtzman in a band bio. “It’s emotionally deeper and moodier, in the tradition of the French chansons, but still retains its Cambodian soul.”
But along with the international sounds that blend various cultural legacies of music into one style, humor is another international characteristic Dengue Fever recognizes.
One song on Venus on Earth, called “Tiger Phone Card,” is a funny duet between a guy and a girl. The polarity of his slightly undecided attitude in the relationship sharply contrasts her obvious desire to be serious. In this song, Zac Holtzman sings in a soothing, unperturbed voice as Nimol’s voice creates an upsurge of emotional tides.
But then along comes a spider in a song called “One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula” on Escape from Dragon House, which shows that Dengue Fever isn’t afraid to be moody and energetic. The song offers a swell of dark, somber tones as well as eerie, transcending vocals.
“It’s a song about a woman born in Battambang,” Nimol, who herself is also from Battambang, Cambodia, told the Montreal Mirror. “(It’s) a sad song because, ever since she was born, she’s experienced nothing but sadness and suffering. At the end of the song, this woman remains alone.”
So with the collective insurgence of ’60s Cambodia pop music, ’40s American pop music, an assembly of instrumental grooves and song lyrics that could make a person laugh or cry, it’s safe to say that Dengue Fever has become rock ‘n’ roll’s newly invented phenomenon.
See them live at the Orpheum Theatre, 15 W. Aspen, Tue, April 1 and explore the new and exotic symptoms of Dengue Fever in Flagstaff. Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 at the door. Doors for the all ages show open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. For more info, call 556-1580, or see http://www.denguefevermusic.com/
Dengue Fever’s crusade to save a dying culture from a brutal regime
By Stephanie Flood
Published on 03/27/2008
One might assume it’s impossible, but there are actually a few ways to contract Dengue fever in Flagstaff. The worst way would be to actually travel to a tropical area such as Cambodia, get stung by a particular mosquito (like on the nape of your neck) and bring the symptoms of fever, severe headache, muscle pains and rashes back home.
Or, a person could pursue the other Dengue Fever, a freshly exhibited band from Los Angeles, who will be playing at the Orpheum Theatre on April 1. Symptoms of this Dengue Fever include the body feeling compelled to dance, move to the beat, and a sudden urge to get down with the rhythm.
Dengue Fever is a richly innovative Cambodian/American ’40s pop band that brings life to two precariously positioned cultures of the past and thrusts the mixed sounds into the mists of a globally infused future.
Dengue Fever’s intoxicating sounds of extraordinarily poised melody and contrasting groovy surfer music developed in 2001 when brothers, keyboardist Ethan and guitarist Zac Holtzman, traveled to Cambodia and fell in love with the country’s pop music of the ’60s.
The music grew legs as sax player David Ralicke, drummer Paul Smith and bassist Senon Williams were added to the playful scheme of accentuated sounds. By their mixture alone, they create a mid-tempo funk with a string of lead guitar, subtle touches of keyboard, and Middle Eastern-rooted sax.
But it was when they found the Cambodian lead singer, Chhom Nimol, that the sounds of Dengue Fever sprouted melodic wings and soared off by the sheer power of her hypnotic, richly maneuvering voice.
“I asked myself why Americans would be interested in Cambodian music,” Nimol told the Montreal Mirror, regarding the band’s search for a Cambodian singer in L.A. “I didn’t think they were lying to me, though. They were the first to listen to and play a Cambodian style of music here.”
The songwriting was another element that added fire to their global vision, along with the cultural mesh of psychedelia, spaghetti western guitars and Nimol’s Cambodian influence.
“The songwriting is a collaborative effort,” says Paul Smith in a band bio. “Most are written in English and translated by Nimol, and we explore emotions and situations that Khmer culture ignore. These songs are from a time and place that doesn’t exist anymore. We’re hoping to build bridges between America and Cambodia, between the present and the past.”
To aid in their musical ideas, the band’s debut mostly consisted of classic Cambodian covers, as a means of paying tribute to the singers and songwriters who had been wiped out by the country’s extremist political regime.
Back in the mid-’70s, there was an extermination of about 2 million people by the ruling political party in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge, a regime that forced the natives into execution, starvation and forced labor. From the slaughter, rock and folk music almost entirely disappeared. That is, until Dengue Fever rose it from the dead and gave it a new form.
Their second album features more psychedelic, freed-up lounge music while Nimol’s vast melodic range, singing in mostly Khmer, compliments the rest of the band’s wave of grooves.
“We saw Chhom Nimol at the Dragon House,” says Zac Holtzman in a band bio. “She was already a star in Cambodia and made a living singing traditional music at Cambodian weddings and funerals.”
In 2002, Nimol stumbled into a heap of trouble when a routine immigration check and a lapsed green card led her to 22 days of confinement. In order to pay off her legal fees, and put her immigration struggles behind her, she sang nightly at a the Dragon House, a Cambodian dance club in Long Beach, Calif.
Hence, the band’s second album titled, Escape from Dragon House.
In 2007, the band took an influential trip to Cambodia and took the country by surprise. They were a musical group of mostly Westerners playing there for the first time since the extremist takeover, and were unsure of how they would be received. Nimol feels satisfied with the endeavor, and her Cambodian style garnered positive reactions.
“(It was) to show that Cambodia has a true rock music, which was destroyed and lost during the time of Pol Pot,” Nimol told the Montreal Mirror, “and to prove and show to the whole world that Cambodians know and understand real music, not just copying or stealing. That the two brothers don’t understand Khmer but play Cambodian music is a plus for encouragement and true pride, even more so if we continue to play outside the country, so that people the world over can get to know true Cambodian music.”
Dengue Fever is meticulous in the maintaining the quality of their music as well, which makes the sounds even more compelling. The band’s most recent album, Venus on Earth, was recorded on an analog tape in efforts to preserve the full wash of sounds in the rhythm. Nimol also sings a couple songs in English, which offers Americans a new perspective on her vocal abilities.
“Now that Nimol is going to start singing more in English,” Zac Holtzman told the New York Times in January, “it’s making new things possible for us. Nimol really wants to connect with the American audience more now.”
And since then, their Cambodian and American melting pot of music has formed an even more culturally thick stew.
“We made a conscious decision to simplify the sound,” says Smith in a band bio. “There’s a lot of space in the mix, more swing in the playing. The arrangements are less jammy; they’re finely constructed with a plenty of surf music and spaghetti western twang.”
Bringing Nimol’s captivating voice into the foreground was also a focal point of Venus on Earth.
“We wanted a jazzy, European feel, with enough space to increase the impact of Nimol’s vocals,” says Zac Holtzman in a band bio. “It’s emotionally deeper and moodier, in the tradition of the French chansons, but still retains its Cambodian soul.”
But along with the international sounds that blend various cultural legacies of music into one style, humor is another international characteristic Dengue Fever recognizes.
One song on Venus on Earth, called “Tiger Phone Card,” is a funny duet between a guy and a girl. The polarity of his slightly undecided attitude in the relationship sharply contrasts her obvious desire to be serious. In this song, Zac Holtzman sings in a soothing, unperturbed voice as Nimol’s voice creates an upsurge of emotional tides.
But then along comes a spider in a song called “One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula” on Escape from Dragon House, which shows that Dengue Fever isn’t afraid to be moody and energetic. The song offers a swell of dark, somber tones as well as eerie, transcending vocals.
“It’s a song about a woman born in Battambang,” Nimol, who herself is also from Battambang, Cambodia, told the Montreal Mirror. “(It’s) a sad song because, ever since she was born, she’s experienced nothing but sadness and suffering. At the end of the song, this woman remains alone.”
So with the collective insurgence of ’60s Cambodia pop music, ’40s American pop music, an assembly of instrumental grooves and song lyrics that could make a person laugh or cry, it’s safe to say that Dengue Fever has become rock ‘n’ roll’s newly invented phenomenon.
See them live at the Orpheum Theatre, 15 W. Aspen, Tue, April 1 and explore the new and exotic symptoms of Dengue Fever in Flagstaff. Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 at the door. Doors for the all ages show open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. For more info, call 556-1580, or see http://www.denguefevermusic.com/