The entire band are excited for their first full show in the Kingdom in nine years. - Steve Porte
PHNOM PENH: Acclaimed Los Angeles-based band Dengue Fever, known for their signature fusion of Cambodian classics, rock and world music, is set for a triumphant return to the kingdom, with a sold out show … tonight (March 21).
Their much-anticipated performance – at Chew & Bash on Koh Pich – will be their first in the country since 2016.
The band’s music is deeply rooted in Cambodian culture, drawing inspiration from the 1960s and 70s golden age of Khmer pop.
“Of course the connection runs deep. Our lead singer, Chhom Nimol, is a Khmer native and as a child stayed in refugee camps following the political unrest and devastation of Pol Pot’s campaign of terror,” explained keyboardist Ethan Holtzman, ahead of their latest visit.
“I first travelled to Cambodia in 1998 and listened to some great music that combined western psychedelic garage rock with traditional Khmer vocals and instrumental stylings. When we formed Dengue Fever our starting point was a lot of this music and we’ve continued to play and build on these musical ideas which has helped us create our own unique sound,” he added.
Ahead of the March 21 show, four of the band members, Ethan, bassist Senon, guitarist Zac and irrepressible frontwoman Nimol, attended a special Meta House screening of Sleepwalking Through the Mekong, the documentary which followed them on their 2005 tour of Cambodia – their first shows outside the US.
The Tuesday night screening was followed by a live Q & A session, where audience members got the chance to hear about the sometimes hilarious origins of the band – and why they have been away so long.
Lead singer Chhom Nimol shared the motivation behind her drive: ‘Cambodian music will not just survive. It will live for ever!’ Steve Porte
The tale of a barely-able-to-speak-English Nimol attending an audition and blowing the doors off the rehearsal room with her mouth two feet from the microphone drew applause, along with the unsurprising fact that the other hopefuls suddenly had sore throats and couldn’t sing anymore!
Reportedly, her first song with the band was Chnam oun Dop-Pram Muy, the Ros Serey Sothea classic.
She declared her passion for keeping the Kingdom’s original sound alive, after the devastation wreaked by the culture-loathing Khmer Rouge regime.
“I don’t just want to see Camboddian music survive … I want to see it live forever!” Nimol told the crowded venue.
The band has long since moved onto originals, and discussed their song-writing process and the trickier aspects of translating English lyrics into Khmer.
Zach and Nimol explained the challenges of keeping the meaning while ensuring the phrasing still fit the song.
“The Khmer language has far more syllables, so a direct translation is difficult … Nimol pretty much had to take our carefully crafted words and then chop ‘em into haikus,” Zach joked.
“Sometimes … my brain just gets ‘curly’,” she laughed, using a uniquely Khmer saying, and adding that she has now mastered the art … for the most part.
“Yeah, sometimes the translations are just a total rewrite,” they admitted.
The band made it clear that Dengue Fever is a collaborative project, with no room for egos, with equal input from each of them.
Their latest album, Ting Mong – named for the scarecrows that dot the Kingdom and ward off evil spirits, and sometimes Covid – is their first full release in eight years.
With all of the members involved in other projects, corralling them and organising shows generally takes up to six months.
Somehow the stars aligned and saw them booked for the Pelupo Festival in Thailand, with just six week’s notice.
With the entire team together in South-East Asia for the first time, there was never any doubt that a Cambodian show had to happen.
Logistics meant it wasn’t feasible to fit in more than one, they explained, making the Friday show even more of a must-see.
Ahead of the screening, The Post sat down with Nimol, Zach and Senon to hear about what they have been doing in recent months and what they are planning on getting up to during their – brief – stay in the Kingdom.
Turns out Nimol is here several times a year seeing her family. I guess with enough pressure and fanmail, fans might see her appearing at open mike nights around the capital?
She was also honoured by the Cambodian government earlier this month, with culture minister Phoeung Sakona presenting her with a medal for her promotion of Cambodian culture abroad.
Zach and Senon also discussed a theatre project – Cambodian Rock Band – which they were privileged to be a part of. The play, by Lauren Yee, has been described as part-play, part rock concert. It deals with a Khmer Rouge survivor’s return to the Kingdom and weaves through time, using music as a path towards healing.
The boys wrote the soundtrack and taught the cast to perform before they took the show on tour. With plans in the works to record a live performance of the play, fans of the band and the Golden Era should keep their ears out.
Somehow, they also found time to organise a pop-up art exhibition, Shadow Boxing.
“Not so much illustrations, but more like fine art, more abstract and surreal,” explained Senon.
Dengue even found time to record with traditional musicians during their short time here, at Phnom Penh’s Kongchak studios.
Taking to the stage ahead of Dengue Fever are Phnom Penh legends Japan Guitar Shop, a band which needs no introduction to fans of the Kingdom’s music scene. They even share a pre-Cambodia connection with the band.
“One of our bandmates, Colin, used to live in Los Angeles and loved Dengue Fever even before moving to Cambodia. We share some of the same musical influences, such as Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke, as well as a profound appreciation for legendary Cambodian musicians like Pan Ron and Sinn Sisamouth. We’re genuinely honoured to get to play what is sure to be an incredible show with them,” said a statement, issued by the band’s publicist.
Doors open at 7pm, and with the event a sell-out, anyone who wants to get to the front will want to get there early. DJ Larry Zin will be on hand to take the crowd through to 2am, for what is sure to be one of 2025’s most talked about shows since the Men of Faith farewell gig.
People with tickets are guaranteed to win Phnom Penh FOMO-offs for the foreseeable, with the band set to turn on an incredible show.
“Phnom Penh was the first place that Dengue Fever played outside of the US, so it always feels like a homecoming to return. Most American bands dream of touring Europe one day and here we were in a shanty house on the edge of the Tonle Sap playing to a packed-sweaty house of Cambodians and expats,” said Senon.
Koh Pich may no longer be a shanty town, but tonight’s show is sure to be a sweaty, exhilarating taste of the Tonle. See you there. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
