Spreading Dengue Fever

If you haven't caught Dengue Fever yet, perhaps you should give it a try. I'm not talking about the Dengue Fever that can hurt you, I'm talking about the six-piece band that was recently a highlight at Vietnam's Cama Festival and is spreading and playing throughout Asia and the West.

With their unique blend of rock, funk, and old Cambodian pop songs, front man, guitarist and vocalist, Zac Holtzman describes their style frankly, "Well, we have a Cambodian singer, and we play whatever the (expletive) we want."

Speaking to band members Zac Holtzman and bass player Senon Williams before their performance in Hanoi, Vietnam, was both revealing and honest. Perhaps it was the extreme heat or the ice-cold Coronas, but these guys were ready to share their story in an exclusive DTiNews interview. Both were happy to be in Vietnam and despite the raging sun and running sweat, as we searched for a patch of shade said, "We love the heat." Holtzman sports a huge beard that is "Part of who I am," while Williams was clean-shaved, both had huge grins and and were fun-loving as they shared their stories.

When asked about what inspired the band, and what it was that made Cambodia so special and important to them, Williams shared, "In 1995 we went to Cambodia. People, they were intrigued by me as a foreigner, not as an ATM machine, and that really touched me. We're from L.A., and Long Beach, just outside L.A., has one of the largest Cambodian populations outside of Cambodia itself, so we were already familiar with Khmer people and music."

After being inspired by the Cambodian trip, the band started searching for someone to sing in Khmer. Who they found was female vocalist Chhom Nimol who is Khmer and was already famous before joining the band. They found her singing at a night club in "Little Phnom Penh", located in Long Beach, California. She was a third generation singer whose family was involved in Cambodian pop music before the Khmer Rouge and the horrifying reign that followed.

Holtzman laughed as he spoke of Nimol's audition. She showed up with a huge Khmer entourage and the band was taken by surprise. They clicked when they heard Nimol's powerful voice. For their first show, "She showed up on a motorbike, sitting side saddle like a good Khmer girl and there were tons of people who made a path for her to get all the way up to the stage. It was crazy." While many of the songs and lyrics are deep and serious, it appears that Holtzman and Williams keep things lighthearted and fun, creating a balance for the band. The balance can be heard in the song "Tiger Phone Card" which opens with the words, "You live in Phnom Penh, you live in New York City..." Nimol sings, "The first thing that I'll do, is throw my arms around you and never let go." Some lines later, Holtzman vibes in showing his sense of humor, "I'm 30,000 feet high, flying through the dead of night, I took an Ambien and you came to visit me in my dream."

The band has performed a plethora of old Cambodian pop songs as well as creating their own original materials. Much of the music is sung in Khmer but they have created plenty of songs performed in English as well.

Asking the bandmates what it was they were trying to do when they set out to create this style of music, Williams shared, "Look, we wanted to create something new, something bigger, something that would take us out of the neighborhood, not keep us in the neighborhood."

What's next for the band? They are playing several more shows in Asia and hope to organize a 15 province tour of Cambodia on behalf of the Wildlife Alliance.

If you haven't caught the fever yet, check it out.