music

Dengue Fever came out with their new album, “The Deepest Lake” and it’s awesome. The merchandise I ordered came in the mail the other day, sweet! We just wanted to show our support for such a great band. Unfortunately, my turntable is in need of a new needle, so I couldn’t play the record, but we live in a digital world, so it’s not like I haven’t been playing the album on repeat anyways.

I think Holly looks rather sharp in a kroma (traditional cambodian scarf).

Holly and Karla.

Being a first generation Khmer in the U.S., growing up people didn’t even know where Cambodia was on the map, let alone the atrocities that brought us here as refugees. So, to discover an American band that was so passionate about playing Cambodian rock n roll, that they even went out to search for a Khmer lead singer (the ever so talented Chhom Nimol) was pretty surreal. Listening to how their music evolved from covers of oldies to an infusion of all kinds of genres to create these wonderful unique sounds, I love it.

Check out some of their music!

Discovered this kickstarter project and went ahead to pledge my support. The trailer actually brought me to tears and made me really miss my father. All I could see were my parents face in the old clips, and their friends and family we never got to know… the life they enjoyed around this music, this was their Cambodia. This lively “Pearl of Asia,” all this youth, life, freedom that was tragically taken from them.

This is the Cambodia they wanted us to know… We grew up in America, not knowing much of what our parents had left behind. As a kid, I thought Cambodia was this backwards country with no running water, poverty, and the war, because it just seemed like such a scary place from the stories you hear. I used to think it was always like that, because my parents could never discuss all that they lost. After my father passed, films like these, can tell the stories of his youth that he really wanted to share with us, but was so hard for him to communicate.

I look forward to seeing this film and attending the concert in NYC. In the audience, I know my father will be there with me too.

http://www.dtifcambodia.com

http://citywinery.com/newyork/cambodiaslostrockandroll042415.html