A Cambodian psychedelic rock band: Sounds like a hoax, but the
Los Angeles-based Dengue Fever is anything but a joke.
After winning Best New Artist at the L.A. Weekly Music Awards in
2002, Dengue Fever has been performing numerous gigs in Hollywood
and Silverlake, including a residency at Spaceland last March. This
Sunday, the band performs at the Los Feliz Street Fair with a
variety of other local bands.
Much of Dengue Fever’s success is due to its charismatic
singer Chhom Nimol, who performs in neon-colored formal gowns and
sings in her native Cambodian language Khmer (pronounced kah-mair),
a language most Americans have probably never heard of, much less
heard sung before. Guitarist Zac Holtzman admits the shock value is
evident, especially in performance.
“When we start a few songs off a capella where it’s
just Nimol singing, that grabs everybody,” Zac said.
“And it’s like you can hear a pin drop.”
Dengue Fever is the long-term brainchild of Zac Holtzman and his
brother Ethan, who plays farsifa organ. While Zac was exposed to
Cambodian pop music by a friend in San Francisco, Ethan first heard
it in 1997 while traveling for six months through Cambodia. Both
immediately fell in love with the country’s music.
“We had an idea, and we just kind of rolled with
it,” Zac said. “We weren’t out there to be like
everybody else, but we also weren’t out there only to do
something different just because it’s different.”
But Zac will admit that being different is still a great part of
their band.
“So many bands are completely boring,” Zac said.
“It’s like “˜You got to be kidding me, I’m
supposed to stand and listen to this music?’ I mean
it’s fine if you can put it on in the background, but
it’s selfish. The way they’re presenting it is not that
special.”
Nimol is Dengue Fever’s jewel, not only for the beauty and
the sense of authenticity she emits, but also because it took such
a long and arduous effort just to find her in the first place. The
Holtzman brothers spent several weeks scouring Southern California
for an authentic Southeast Asian singer. They finally found Nimol
performing in a restaurant in Long Beach, and knew she was the
final, unifying piece.
A former Cambodian pop star, Nimol has performed for the likes
of Cambodian royalty, but here in America, she lives a less
comfortable life due to a language barrier and lack of
citizenship.
In February 2003, Ethan and Nimol were driving back from a San
Diego gig when they were stopped at a secondary INS inspection
point. Seeing that Nimol’s passport had expired two years
prior, the authorities threw her into a detention center for 22
days. She eventually was released under $20,000 bail and has
recently received a two-year visa, but legal matters are still
pending.
Beyond legal problems, Nimol’s lack of fluency in English
““ perhaps the fair price of having an authentic Khmer singer
““ makes communication with her band members tough. Ethan
admits that everything takes up to five times longer to accomplish
than it would for a normal band. Even songwriting is complicated.
The band writes English lyrics, which are then sent to a translator
in Washington state and then back to Nimol.
But Dengue Fever has chosen to turn these hardships into
productive work. Nimol’s 22 days in the San Diego detention
center ultimately resulted in the song “22 Nights,” on
the band’s debut album, which mostly covers 1960s Cambodian
psychedelic rock.
In contrast, the new album, set for release in the fall, will
feature nine original songs and one cover song. Band members see
the writing of original songs as a natural progression in the
direction of the band, although authenticity of the cover songs is
also a priority.
The band members have ultimately found themselves in a
preservationist position for Cambodian music, which was on the
verge of destruction under Pol Pot’s regime until it fell in
1998.
The Cambodian community has responded to Dengue Fever’s
efforts in a positive way. The band receives e-mails expressing
gratitude from Cambodians all across the world.
And the fruits of Dengue Fever’s labor are continuing to
ripen, especially in film and television music. The band covered
Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” for Matt
Dillon’s movie “City of Ghosts” and was recently
hired to write music for a pilot of a Japanese anime show,
“Go Go Gordion,” which features Andy Dick’s
voice.