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Dengue Fever Music

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WAKE ME UP SLOWLY

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TUK TUK Records

Sleepwalking Through the Mekong

M80 Records, Minky Records (LP)

Dengue Fever 2003 – 2015

Green Cookie Records

About Dengue Fever

As they celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut, Dengue Fever emerge with their most cohesive and immersive album to date. It’s been eight years since the release of The Deepest Lake; during this time new generations have been catching up to the same omnivorous music taste the band[…]

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To Another Place: Dengue Fever’s New Album Delivers Emotionally Soothing Escapist Music for These Chaotic Times

by Bart Lazar | September 15, 2023

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“This world is big and wild and half insane,” wrote Ray Davies fifty-five years ago, suggesting we escape to a place and time where “people are real people, not just playing.” Our world is still (if not, WAY more) big, wild and perhaps three-quarters insane. Everyone needs a tranquil, protected space, and music can take you there. Dengue Fever’s new album, “Ting Mong,” does just that. The veteran Cambodian American band’s first album in more than eight years provides a beautiful, melancholy tableau perfect for internal contemplation and external defense.

“Ting Mong,” the title of the album, is Khmer for an effigy. As Senon Williams, the band’s bassist and collaborator instructs us, the music, like an effigy, protects us in exactly the same way that a scarecrow protects crops. The music contained in “Ting Mong” is beautiful, groovy and transformative—which listeners can choose to lean on for protection from the outside world, or meditatively turn inward, or get carried away to another place—a thirty-minute-plus vacation that can be really therapeutic and fun.

Dengue Fever is a unique and creative combination of six individuals with very similar sensibilities combining multifaceted musicians and composers with roots in garage, punk, surf, funk and Afrobeat—and topping it off with a Cambodian lead singer (Chhom Nimol, who in 1997 won Cambodia’s first Apsara Awards, a contest similar to “American Idol”). Nimol sings in Khmer, Cambodia’s native language, but you don’t need to be fluent in the language to comprehend the emotion. As Williams notes, she “conveys such heavy soul with her voice… that is musically evocative regardless of what the lyrics are. First, you grip the music and then find the meaning.” And the meaning in the lyrics, when translated, deal with love, loss and relationships. As Nimol writes and sings in “Room 720”:

Radio waves Fuzz Whispers to me Warm in my ear

Wave after wave After wave Rolls over us

Wave after wave After wave Is holding us down

Ocean swallows the sun Like maraschino cherry At the bottom Of your drink

(translated from Khmer to English)

Waves are truly applicable here, as Nimol’s vocal serves as its own musical instrument—bobbing like a letter in a bottle over waves. The breezy, atmospheric, rhythmic vibe is not surprising: the album was primarily recorded around Joshua Tree. “Late Checkout at the Cedarwood Inn” is a standout instrumental that provides a forward-moving Ennio Morricone-style Western soundtrack, “Silver Fish” layers Nimol’s plaintive vocal over the twangy guitar and Sunday-driver beat, while “Touch Me Not” seems to cross both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans—ending up in Ireland with bagpipe-sounding riffs.

The variety of stimuli associated with “Ting Mong” is consistent with Dengue Fever’s goal of delivering an entire album of feelings and experiences—not individual songs. As Williams points out, this is contrary to our culture of singles and songs. As a composer, performer and listener, he likes records that carry him from the beginning to the end. Just as the Kinks’ “Village Green Preservation Society” was intended to take listeners from 1968 back to a calm, safe place and time, “Ting Mong” can take you internally, externally or existentially to your own peaceful, safe and contemplative place.

“Ting Mong” is a breezy musical piece worth the time to listen to—wherever it might transport you. Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. Stream it here.

Bart Lazar is a Chicago-based independent music journalist, vinyl DJ, playlist creator and concert producer. Bart has a monthly residency at Sportsman’s Club where he educates hipsters on fifty years of independent music. In addition to Newcity, Bart’s writing can be found on his blog, www.oldpunksrule.com and his book “Declaration of (Dis) Interest” is available on Amazon. By day, Bart is a partner at Seyfarth where he is one of the nation’s leading advertising, data privacy and intellectual property attorneys. Contact: [email protected]

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Dengue Fever: “Silver Fish” KCRW Live from HQ

Foreshadowing awesome events to come… the dazzlers of Dengue Fever command the Lodge Room stage on Jan. 21, 2023. Photo by Marc Walker.

LA psych-surf stalwarts Dengue Fever are celebrating 20 years of their expansive-yet-harmonious collective palette. Two decades on from the release of their acclaimed self-titled debut, the six-piece band have kept the party raging with their signature sound: A proprietary blend of Cambodian rock, Afro riffs, garage, surf, and the furthermost reaches of the psychedelic realm.

Ahead of releasing their seventh LP Ting Mong , the band hit KCRW HQ to let us sample the goods in the flesh. Album highlight “Silver Fish” hit the walls of KCRW’s Annenberg Performance Studio so hard that we just had to share it with you.

“For this album we decided to rent a cabin in Joshua Tree, take all of our recording gear out there, plant some seeds, and see what we could grow,” says drummer Paul Smith. “It felt like we were looking for more space in our arrangements. [We were] talking about playing more minimally, slowing things down a little bit. So the desert landscape really played into that… it kind of became our co-producer, so to speak.

“One of the seeds that did bloom nicely is called ‘Silver Fish.’ It ruminates on the idea that we're doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again if we don't learn from our past, or if our past is erased — let's say by a bug that eats paper like a silverfish. Our singer, Nimol, ran with that idea, and put it into a relationship framework. We make the same mistakes, or look for the same things in relationships… so it kind of became more about love, as everything eventually does.”

Dengue Fever’s Ting Mong is out now. Catch the band live when KCRW presents their headlining show at the Lodge Room on Wednesday, Sept. 27 . 

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Sunday 24 September 2023

Dengue Fever

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53688 Pioneertown Rd. 92268 Pioneertown, CA, US (760) 228-2222 www.pappyandharriets.com

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Dengue Fever takes its Cambodian rock sound to Pappy and Harriet's

As the popularity of rock 'n' roll expanded during the ’60s, that coolness reached every corner of the globe, including Cambodia. 

The rock 'n' roll radio airwaves enjoyed by U.S. armed forces in Vietnam was intercepted by young Cambodians in awe of what they heard. Young singer-songwriters in the country took notice, covering pop music of the western world with a traditional Khmer sound. It was a colorful new pop movement in the Khmer Republic, but would sadly end during the Khmer Rouge period from 1975 to 1979. 

In the ’90s, Khmer rock inspired Los Angeles keyboardist Ethan Holtzman during his travels in Cambodia, which led to the formation of the band Dengue Fever in 2001. The band includes his brother Zac Holtzman (guitar), Senon Williams (bass), Paul Smith (drums), David Ralicke (horns) and Cambodian-American vocalist, Chhom Nimol. 

Dengue Fever will perform Friday at Pappy and Harriet's. 

Since its incarnation, Dengue Fever has released five albums, four EPs, one live recording and a soundtrack for the band's 2007 documentary "Sleepwalking Through the Mekong." The band has also received acclaim from singer Peter Gabriel, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and the Kinks' Ray Davies. 

Dengue Fever has performed at venues in Europe, Asia, South America and the United Arab Emirates while also appearing at several music festivals. In 2012, the band performed at the inaugural Desert Daze festival. Williams said the popularity of the music is alluded to embracing different rhythms and melodies and doing something out of the ordinary. 

"When I was a kid playing rock music, hip hop and all this other stuff, 'world music' was not necessarily a good thing," Williams said. "I think it's now normal and not considered to be strange or a gimmick. In our early days when people listened to our music or saw us play, they realized we were being authentic and true to ourselves in the interpretation of this music. A lot of bands are now able to mix cultures and rhythms in a sincere way." 

Williams estimates the band has toured Cambodia five times and performed in a variety of venues such as cultural centers, open-air venues, universities and schools, temples in the countryside and a free concert in the middle of Phnom Penh. He described the reception in Cambodia as "wild" and every show as "completely unpredictable." 

"We've gone as cultural ambassadors and there was a tour funded by the U.S. government," Williams said. We did a lot of educational stuff, but also played some cool places in the middle of the street and a mini-festival just popped up on the fly. During our off-time, we visited sites, made a bunch of friends and ate great food." 

Khmer rock is being preserved and  reintroduced 

According to a 2018 article by Medium , most of the recordings by prominent Khmer rock musicians such as Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Sothea and the band Drakkar were destroyed  during the Khmer Rouge's rule. But the world has been reintroduced to the genre thanks to copies of those records purchased as souvenirs by tourists or hidden by Cambodian citizens. Projects such as the Cambodian Vintage Music Archive are tracking down copies and create high-quality digital transfers. 

Many of these records have been released on compilations or as full-length albums, and they've become popular with music aficionados around the world. Williams said this resurgence and interest is due to the internet. 

"It's not just Khmer music, it's music from around the world," Williams said. "I think you could be into Top 40 and pop music and then all of a sudden you hear (world music) on the radio, and instead of not knowing what that is, you (discover) it through (the music app) Shazam. The next thing you know, you go down this rabbit hole of music you would have never been able to figure out what the heck it was before. I think people at a younger age are being influenced by music from around the world and it's informing their musical tastes." 

Dengue Fever hasn't released anything since the 2015 album "The Deepest Lake." Williams said the band toured for two years, spent the following year on a break. Recording sessions for a new album were paused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but were later resumed and a new album will be released next year. 

"During the pandemic, we got together to figure out what our future was and then we thought it was silly," Williams said. "We were like, 'We love each other.' We make music, don't need to make any decisions and [we can just] create when and how we feel like creating. The inactivity is the result of not being in a hurry." 

The band has performed at Pappy and Harriet's before, and Williams called it "one of my favorite venues in the world." 

"A close friend has a cabin that's not too far from Pappy's, so I'm always crashing there whenever we play," Williams said. "We'll always have a late night after Pappy's. There's always the big night sky and the Milky Way galaxy, which is not visible from Los Angeles." 

What:  Dengue Fever

When:  8:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 14 

Where:  Pappy and Harriet's, 53-688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown

How much: $25

More information:  pappyandharriets.com

Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

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Dengue Fever

“Through the Arts Envoy Program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. Department of State is pleased to bring the rock band Dengue Fever back to Southeast Asia,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Thomas Hodges. “The U.S. Embassies in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are looking forward to working with the Los Angeles-based band this month on their Electric Mekong Tour. The band will do a variety of shows and conduct workshops with local musicians in order to foster goodwill, engage foreign audiences and provide insight into American culture and values.”

Dengue Fever, whose exotic blend of Cambodian rock, Afro grooves, surf, and garage psych returns with Cannibal Courtship , the group’s first studio album since 2008’s Venus on Earth and their Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group debut. With 11 new tunes, Cannibal Courtship , features songs sung in English, and Khmer (Cambodian). The album also features beautiful backing harmonies by The Living Sisters. With Cannibal Courtship , the band has reached a powerful new plateau, deftly balancing the wide-ranging influences that inform their sound and songs. Longtime fans will get their required dose of Nimol’s haunting vocals and the band’s spooky, kinetic, mood-swinging sound on the new disc but the group, which produced the set together, has upped the creative ante. The band’s eclecticism gels instantly on the slinky, spiky rock of “Cement Slippers,” “Family Business,” “2012″ and “Cannibal Courtship.” They display a deep pocket and soaring vocals on the Cambodian dub track “Uku,” deliver bilingual, gear-shifting drive on “Only a Friend,” and mesmerize on “Mr. Bubbles.” Cannibal Courtship is, like the tropical malady that gave the band its name, wildly infectious.

“Before it was partly Cambodian and partly indie rock,” explains Dengue Fever bassist Senon Gaius Williams of the band’s evolution. “Now it’s 100 percent both.” Brothers Ethan (keyboards) and Zac (guitar) Holtzman started Dengue Fever in 2001. Once they added the saxophonist David Ralicke, drummer Paul Smith and bassist Senon Williams, they went looking for a Cambodian singer. Enter singer Chhom Nimol, who performed regularly for the King and Queen of Cambodia. Her powerful singing, marked by a luminous vibrato that adds exotic ornamentations to her vocal lines and hypnotic traditional dance, complimented the band’s driving Cambodian/American sound. Since their inception, the band’s unique take on 60s Cambodian pop and American surf rock has garnered praise and attention from fans and critics alike. True Blood named an entire episode after one of their songs and featured the band’s music throughout the show, Spin highlighted the band in their ‘Breaking Out’ section, and profiles on the group have appeared in the New York Times, Magnet, Wired, and NPR’s “Fresh Air” and Radio Australia. Ray Davies from the Kinks called them “a cross between Led Zeppelin and Blondie.”

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Sleepwalking Through The Mekong (OST)

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Even when you consider the cultural cross-pollination that goes on in large metropolitan areas, L.A.'s Dengue Fever had perhaps the strangest genesis of any band in recent memory.

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in my opinión is one of the best way to Start sightseeing ,time enough to discover this amazing... read more

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We took the Free tour in Spanish, it was excellent, we got to know many things and discover this beautiful city. I definitely recommend it!

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in my opinión is one of the best way to Start sightseeing ,time enough to discover this amazing City. I recomend it.

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Apart from own travel, we took an evening tour with lovely Katriana from TourGratis, through GetYourGuide app. Katriana was a delight: fluent English Spanish, caring in her manner, an encyclopaedia of knowledge, efficient in its transfer to us. Communications with TourGratis were excellent. We learnt some history and a little appreciation of its impact on today’s events. Amazing metro network for the people by the people. Efficient, low cost, no hassle, beautiful stations, clean, no advertising, employs 50,000 people, around 220 stations, expanding. Take the tour irrespective of your everyday Metro travel, gain insight into a superb cultural transportation system.

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