Dengue Fever is a six-member band from Los Angeles who combine Cambodian pop music and lyrics with psychedelic rock. They were formed in 2001 by Ethan Holtzman and his brother Zac after Ethan was inspired by a trip to Cambodia. As Ethan and Zac were searching for a vocalist to sing in Khmer, lead Singer Chhom Nimol was discovered in a nightclub in Little Phnom Penh area of Long Beach. She was already a well-known karaoke singer from Cambodia, but decided to move to US after visiting her sister, and thought it was a good chance to make more money to send to her family back home.Zac performs vocals and guitar, while Ethan plays the Farfisa organ. Rounding out the band are bassist Senon Williams (who also plays in Radar Bros), drummer Paul Smith, and David Ralicke on brass.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2003. All lyrics on the earlier albums are sung in Khmer, whilst the third album introduces some songs in English. Many of the songs are covers of 1960s Cambodian rock tunes by such artists as Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea, but some are originals, first written in English by the Holtzmans before being translated.
In 2005, the band toured in Cambodia, and were acclaimed.
Also in 2005, their second album, Escape from Dragon House, was released, and contained more original songs. It was re-released on limited edition colored vinyl on August 26th, 2008. Escape from Dragon House was one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.
In June 2008, Real World Records released Venus On Earth in all territories outside of the U.S. and Canada.Peter Gabriel founder of Real World Records said this of the deal: "We have Dengue Fever coming out on Real World Records (outside of the USA) - its really cool stuff, with the small Cambodian singer and big American guys behind! Theyre California based but have taken 60s Cambodian pop as their main source of inspiration and its done with a lot of style. Its spirited, impassioned stuff."
Influences -Sin Sisamouth
Ros Sereysothea
The Ventures
Charles Mingus
Blondie
Funkadelic
Os Mutantes
10 сен 2024
