Dengue Fever is a band with a sound so wild you have to hear it to believe it. They are six person band with a native Cambodian singer named Chhom Nimol. Essentially they are a rock band with that bizarre foreign sound to it. Its fucking great. I got a chance to talk with their bass guitarist Senon Williams about their album Escape from Dragon House.
Buy Escape from Dragon House
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whats going on today?
Senon Williams: Not much. I juyst got home from doing some work.
DRE: At your day job?
SW: Yeah its my day job. I work for a sculptor named Mark Lere as an artists assistant.
DRE: Are you a sculptor too?
SW: Nah. Im somewhat of a hobbyist when it comes to art. I keep a sketchbook and do things from time to time. Theres a group show at Sea Level Records, which is a record store in Echo Park. A friend of mine is curating it and Im going to submit something. I dont know what yet but Ill make something.
DRE: Do you work in one medium?
SW: No. Since I do it for fun I like to switch around, but I mostly do ink drawings on paper. Ive done some funky sculptures out of wood and other stuff but generally I draw.
DRE: How does that help out your music?
SW: If I didnt draw I dont think it would make any difference musically. Part of me is always trying to create something, draw, paint, music, dance. Sometimes people think one type of artwork is different from another but anything that gets your juices flowing is the same.
DRE: Which one have you done longer?
SW: Well we all did finger painting as a kid, right?
DRE: [laughs] Some kids pick up a bass guitar right away.
SW: Im 36 now. Drums were first for me. I started when I was about 13 and I started playing guitar when I was about 14. I started playing bass later in life like when I was 19. Back then I lived in Brooklyn and I was playing in a band with the bass player from Live Skulls. She was playing bass and I was playing guitar and that went really well. Then I tried doing some other projects. It didnt go well as far as making records or anything but it was fun. Im not even sure if we played a live gig. I started playing with these other two guys and one of them was this bass player. I cant remember their names but he was a bass player that just drove me so insane that I basically said How about you play guitar and I play bass? I didnt really care too much about anything but the rhythm so I couldnt take his bass playing. Then it just stuck with me.
DRE: I typed Dengue Fever into Google. You guys are fourth down from that awful disease.
SW: A few weeks ago I dont even think we were on the first ten pages. It was exciting for me when we came up on the first page.
DRE: Thats awesome but the disease is horrible.
SW: I wouldnt wish that on anybody. It just makes it funny when I read catch the fever. Catch Dengue Fever. People who have no idea what theyre talking would really be shocked to read something like that.
DRE: Chhom Nimol is from where the disease is somewhat common.
SW: In 1998, a friend of [Farfisa organ player Ethan [Holtzman] got Dengue Fever in Cambodia and thats pretty much why we named the band Dengue Fever because he was there when his buddy got the disease.
DRE: What does Chhoms family think of the name?
SW: Its funny. Nimols English is a lot better than it used to be. When we first met her, she didnt speak a word of English. That was four years ago. Now she speaks English. We can totally talk and laugh and have conversations in person, but once were on the phone with each other, its still really tough. I think her family thinks its cute and funny. To her, she thinks its funny just like we think its funny.
DRE: Your sound is described by other journalists as Bollywood mixed with punk rock mixed with Japanese screaming music. Its a wild sound. It seems like it really came together once Nimol joined the band. Is that true?
SW: Yeah, it wasnt really a band so pretty much she is an original member. In the beginning I got a phone call from Zac [Holtzman], the guitar player in the band, because he is an old friend. He said he just went down to Long Beach which has the largest Cambodian community out of Cambodia. Then he tells that he has all these singers lined up for this rehearsal but he doesnt have a bass player. Next thing you know Im in this room with four Cambodian women but not Nimol. She didnt come to the first rehearsal. Their singing was not good. I went outside for a smoke and one of the girls boyfriends comes up and said Want to buy some weed? Ive got a pound in the car. I wanted to buy just a little bag but the whole vibe was strange and the singers sucked. The next rehearsal, we went back to Long Beach again. The same girls showed up. Then were told that Nimol was supposed to show up and it turned out that shes a big a star in Cambodia. Nimol came in, sang one song and she was just amazing.
DRE: So it seems like the band was always looking for a Cambodian singer.
SW: Yeah. Have you heard of the CD, Cambodia Rocks?
DRE: No.
SW: Its Cambodian music from the 60s. Its a straight influence from all of the psychedelic music that was happening in the US and in the UK at the time. Its all these Cambodian bands doing covers of Louie Louie with all this crazy wah wah guitar and distortion with these Cambodian vocal melodies that are very traditional to Cambodians but untraditional to Western ears. I knew about that music because Id gone over to Cambodia in 1995. I turned the other guys in the band onto it. Then they were in a bar one day talking about the music and some guy told them to go to the Cambodian section in Long Beach. Thats when the idea sparked in their mind.
DRE: How was it when you first got together with Nimol?
SW: She thought we were crazy. She couldnt even say hello in English. For the first six months she would always show up with an entourage. Nimols a Buddhist by spirituality and her best friend at the time was pretty much a devout Christian, which I thought was really strange. One time she brought her whole church group to rehearsal. So for the first several months it was like rehearsing to an audience, which I never experienced. But we got used to it after awhile.
DRE: Who writes the songs?
SW: Theyre written different ways. Zac brings in a lot of songs. A lot of songs are just created by jamming together. Id say like half the songs Zac writes, half of them are created generally together. Ive written a couple. Nimol has written some lyrics. Well have a melody and a groove then shell write her own lyrics. So she always kind of brings that into whatever melody she sings. Then some songs lyrics will be written in English and well translate them with her.
DRE: Who are you guys touring with?
SW: We did a tour with Jonathan Richman not too long ago, which was a lot of fun. We played with a band called Future Pigeon.
DRE: How does the audience react when you open for those bands?
SW: If the audience doesnt know who we are they are usually in shock. People just stare like What the hell? Inevitably a couple ladies start dancing. Once they start dancing it turns into a dance party. Nimol has a stage presence because since a little girl shes been doing this traditional Cambodian dance. When she sings, she sways and moves her hands in a really beautiful fashion. That seems to get people dancing.
DRE: Are you guys ever going to tour in Cambodia?
SW: We want to play shows in Phnom Penh and then travel to Phnom Chisor to do some live performances in the old ruins. Weve already connected with some master musicians and weve rented some studio time. So were going to go and record with some Cambodian traditional musicians over there and mix it with the rock and roll.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy Escape from Dragon House
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whats going on today?
Senon Williams: Not much. I juyst got home from doing some work.
DRE: At your day job?
SW: Yeah its my day job. I work for a sculptor named Mark Lere as an artists assistant.
DRE: Are you a sculptor too?
SW: Nah. Im somewhat of a hobbyist when it comes to art. I keep a sketchbook and do things from time to time. Theres a group show at Sea Level Records, which is a record store in Echo Park. A friend of mine is curating it and Im going to submit something. I dont know what yet but Ill make something.
DRE: Do you work in one medium?
SW: No. Since I do it for fun I like to switch around, but I mostly do ink drawings on paper. Ive done some funky sculptures out of wood and other stuff but generally I draw.
DRE: How does that help out your music?
SW: If I didnt draw I dont think it would make any difference musically. Part of me is always trying to create something, draw, paint, music, dance. Sometimes people think one type of artwork is different from another but anything that gets your juices flowing is the same.
DRE: Which one have you done longer?
SW: Well we all did finger painting as a kid, right?
DRE: [laughs] Some kids pick up a bass guitar right away.
SW: Im 36 now. Drums were first for me. I started when I was about 13 and I started playing guitar when I was about 14. I started playing bass later in life like when I was 19. Back then I lived in Brooklyn and I was playing in a band with the bass player from Live Skulls. She was playing bass and I was playing guitar and that went really well. Then I tried doing some other projects. It didnt go well as far as making records or anything but it was fun. Im not even sure if we played a live gig. I started playing with these other two guys and one of them was this bass player. I cant remember their names but he was a bass player that just drove me so insane that I basically said How about you play guitar and I play bass? I didnt really care too much about anything but the rhythm so I couldnt take his bass playing. Then it just stuck with me.
DRE: I typed Dengue Fever into Google. You guys are fourth down from that awful disease.
SW: A few weeks ago I dont even think we were on the first ten pages. It was exciting for me when we came up on the first page.
DRE: Thats awesome but the disease is horrible.
SW: I wouldnt wish that on anybody. It just makes it funny when I read catch the fever. Catch Dengue Fever. People who have no idea what theyre talking would really be shocked to read something like that.
DRE: Chhom Nimol is from where the disease is somewhat common.
SW: In 1998, a friend of [Farfisa organ player Ethan [Holtzman] got Dengue Fever in Cambodia and thats pretty much why we named the band Dengue Fever because he was there when his buddy got the disease.
DRE: What does Chhoms family think of the name?
SW: Its funny. Nimols English is a lot better than it used to be. When we first met her, she didnt speak a word of English. That was four years ago. Now she speaks English. We can totally talk and laugh and have conversations in person, but once were on the phone with each other, its still really tough. I think her family thinks its cute and funny. To her, she thinks its funny just like we think its funny.
DRE: Your sound is described by other journalists as Bollywood mixed with punk rock mixed with Japanese screaming music. Its a wild sound. It seems like it really came together once Nimol joined the band. Is that true?
SW: Yeah, it wasnt really a band so pretty much she is an original member. In the beginning I got a phone call from Zac [Holtzman], the guitar player in the band, because he is an old friend. He said he just went down to Long Beach which has the largest Cambodian community out of Cambodia. Then he tells that he has all these singers lined up for this rehearsal but he doesnt have a bass player. Next thing you know Im in this room with four Cambodian women but not Nimol. She didnt come to the first rehearsal. Their singing was not good. I went outside for a smoke and one of the girls boyfriends comes up and said Want to buy some weed? Ive got a pound in the car. I wanted to buy just a little bag but the whole vibe was strange and the singers sucked. The next rehearsal, we went back to Long Beach again. The same girls showed up. Then were told that Nimol was supposed to show up and it turned out that shes a big a star in Cambodia. Nimol came in, sang one song and she was just amazing.
DRE: So it seems like the band was always looking for a Cambodian singer.
SW: Yeah. Have you heard of the CD, Cambodia Rocks?
DRE: No.
SW: Its Cambodian music from the 60s. Its a straight influence from all of the psychedelic music that was happening in the US and in the UK at the time. Its all these Cambodian bands doing covers of Louie Louie with all this crazy wah wah guitar and distortion with these Cambodian vocal melodies that are very traditional to Cambodians but untraditional to Western ears. I knew about that music because Id gone over to Cambodia in 1995. I turned the other guys in the band onto it. Then they were in a bar one day talking about the music and some guy told them to go to the Cambodian section in Long Beach. Thats when the idea sparked in their mind.
DRE: How was it when you first got together with Nimol?
SW: She thought we were crazy. She couldnt even say hello in English. For the first six months she would always show up with an entourage. Nimols a Buddhist by spirituality and her best friend at the time was pretty much a devout Christian, which I thought was really strange. One time she brought her whole church group to rehearsal. So for the first several months it was like rehearsing to an audience, which I never experienced. But we got used to it after awhile.
DRE: Who writes the songs?
SW: Theyre written different ways. Zac brings in a lot of songs. A lot of songs are just created by jamming together. Id say like half the songs Zac writes, half of them are created generally together. Ive written a couple. Nimol has written some lyrics. Well have a melody and a groove then shell write her own lyrics. So she always kind of brings that into whatever melody she sings. Then some songs lyrics will be written in English and well translate them with her.
DRE: Who are you guys touring with?
SW: We did a tour with Jonathan Richman not too long ago, which was a lot of fun. We played with a band called Future Pigeon.
DRE: How does the audience react when you open for those bands?
SW: If the audience doesnt know who we are they are usually in shock. People just stare like What the hell? Inevitably a couple ladies start dancing. Once they start dancing it turns into a dance party. Nimol has a stage presence because since a little girl shes been doing this traditional Cambodian dance. When she sings, she sways and moves her hands in a really beautiful fashion. That seems to get people dancing.
DRE: Are you guys ever going to tour in Cambodia?
SW: We want to play shows in Phnom Penh and then travel to Phnom Chisor to do some live performances in the old ruins. Weve already connected with some master musicians and weve rented some studio time. So were going to go and record with some Cambodian traditional musicians over there and mix it with the rock and roll.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
kremlock:
Wow. I stumbled upon this and was sure it was an old interview. Kudos to y'all for this interview. Dengue are great!
dave_dillinger:
saw them at D-fest in Tulsa last summer....definately would see them again, there live show was amazing