Here’s an interview with Dengue Fever bassist, Senon Williams.

STELLA KIM: Please introduce yourself. What’s your name and what do you do in Dengue Fever?

SENON WILLIAMS: Hello, my name is Senon, and I am the bass player.

SK: Dengue Fever has perhaps the most unique sound I’ve ever heard from any band before. It’s commonly described as the mixture of Cambodian pop music and psychedelic rock. How did the sound come about? What was the inspiration?

SW: We were inspired by '60s and '70s psychedelic rock from Cambodia. The Cambodians were influenced by the strong signal sent by Military radio during the Vietnam War. That’s when they started mixing these new sounds with their own traditional folk and pop music and melodies.
I had been in Cambodia in '95 and got turned on to the crazy sounds coming out of cars as they passed, flea markets, and virtually everywhere. I wanted to hear it all, so I started collecting cassettes.

SK: Tell me about the latest release, Venus On Earth. Anything you want to say, your favorite song off of the album, anything about the title or the album cover, production process, et cetera.

SW: I like all the tracks. We decided going into this record that we were gonna make an album, not a few good tracks and some filler tunes.
The album title is about the aliens who inhabit Venus that are here with us on Earth. On the road, Nimol sings in order to channel extraterrestrials to join us on some lonely stretch of highway between gigs.
The album cover is meant to look timeless, old and new, something you’ve seen before but not sure where.
When recording this album we meant to make it sound sparse yet full and meaningful so all the instruments could be heard and Nimol’s voice could ring true, solid and sweet over the top.

SK: Venus On Earth is, if my knowledge is correct, the band’s first release with all original songs. Who wrote the songs and if collaborated, how did that work out? Was it a challenge to write an album with all original songs while staying true to your style?

SW: Our first album had two original tracks, our second record Escape from Dragonhouse was all original except one Cambodian cover and Venus on Earth is all original.
None of us except Nimol had been in a band that only covered songs before. We always meant to be writing the tunes for our albums from the get go. Our first record represents all the music we were influenced by directly to make the sounds and Nimol’s Cambodian roots. Now we are all more concerned with moving into the future with our music than looking for another song to cover.

SK: Where did the band name Dengue Fever come from? Most people know Dengue Fever as a tropical, infectious disease similar to Malaria. Not exactly a positive connotation, so what’s the story?

SW: It’s a play on words, dance fever, Saturday night fever, cabin fever, Dengue Fever.
Ethan’s friend got Dengue Fever in Cambodia. They hitched a ride to Phnom Penh to get his pal to the doctor, the driver of the truck had a cassette of the psych tunes blaring out of the stereo. And that is when Ethan first got turned on to this old music he never knew existed before.

SK: What should we know about the Cambodian music scene? Admittedly, I don’t know anything about it and I doubt most readers do. Tell me a little bit, your first impression of it and perhaps about Cambodian bands you’ve covered, et cetera.

SW: We have mainly covered tunes by Sin Sisamouth. He was the king of Cambodian psychedelic rock in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He is said to have written thousands of songs. The main voice is Ros Serey Sothea, a female singer with “the golden voice.” Both artists perished under the rule of Pol Pot’s fascist regime during the horrific Cambodian genocide in the mid to late ‘70s.

SK: Pol Pot’s regime had a devastating impact on the Cambodian music scene, like most dictatorial regimes do. How do you think it’s recovered, and do you feel that Dengue Fever should play a role in promoting Cambodian music and perhaps its tragic modern history?

SW: Not only did musicians die but anyone who had anything to do with western and outside influences including teachers, artists, business people, doctors and the like. I heard a story the Khmer Rouge would have people hold their hands out and if there were no calluses they were killed on the spot. The fact that people are getting into our music and learning more about Cambodian history, that’s great. Cambodia’s story needs to be told to help open people’s minds and not allow such horrible things to repeat itself. That being said, we are just a rock band playing music. We are not a political band on a mission. We are just trying to make great albums, play kick ass shows, have a great time doing it and share the good times wherever it takes us.

SK: Do you think American (or any non-Khmer-speaking) audience not being able to understand the lyrics affects the communication between the band and the audience at all?

SW: No, most bands I can’t understand what the singer is talking about in English. The stuff I love I sit down and figure out the lyrics, or I read the liner notes, or I search online. If I want to know the lyrics bad enough to any song I will find a way to know them.

SK: Speaking of lyrics, why did you decide to also have songs in English in the third album? Why not stay with Khmer lyrics?

SW: Nimol speaks English now and she wants to sing in English more. We will always do a mix of languages. Maybe we will throw some French in there, who knows? Why limit ourselves?

SK: Just for fun, tell me one strange or interesting fact that’s not well-known about Cambodia.

SW: The ladies swim in their pajamas at the beach.

SK: Future plans? Long-term, short-term.

SW: We have been working hardcore for two years straight. We just got off six weeks touring and are recording songs right now as well as producing the soundtrack to our film Sleepwalking Through the Mekong that will be coming out late this year. We hit the road for most of this summer in Europe and the States. We’re already getting booked into 2009.

Dengue Fever’s latest release, Venus On Earth, has been released M80 Records.