30-Minute Music Hour

And, cue the band. Up on slate. The 30 Minute Music Hour, Show 116, "Dengue Fever." Take black. Ready up on 2. Up on 2 and go. From Los Angeles, California, and Cambodia, it's the 30 Minute Music Hour. I'm Andy Moore. This is Dengue Fever. ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) Thank you! Thank you, what a thrill. Very nice, very nice. I'd like to turn it, almost, into a talk show, but it's a music show. There's so much to learn about you guys. And the story that I like, or that I know a little, is how you found each other. You're from Cambodia, and the rest of you are from L.A. How did you guys find each other? I was living in Long Beach, and those guys live in L.A. So close by, about 30 minutes. My brother was traveling in Cambodia when he first heard music that we were inspired by, Cambodian psychedelic music from like the '60s. And when I moved from San Francisco down to L.A., and started hanging out again, we were like, what if we pulled together a band based on that body of music. And so, we started going down to Long Beach. We went to the night clubs in Long Beach, the Cambodian night clubs and we saw Nimol singing, and we asked her if she wanted to join our band. And you said, "No, way." (all laugh) No way, I'm thinking. (laughs) Her sister didn't trust us at all. What was behind that? So, I'm... - Why didn't she trust us? Right now? ( all laugh ) Your sister! In the beginning. Oh, okay. I think the first we met each other, and so, my sister see Zac have a big beard. ( laughs ) And also, we never speak with the people they never know. And also, those American. You can't trust those Americans! Where Nimol lives, she lives in Long Beach, which is a really heavy Cambodian community. So it's like if you hang out in Long Beach, it's like, there's not a ton of mixing between, you know, like the Western, you know, people that were raised in the States, and the Cambodian community. So bascially, when these guys came around, it was kind of like, wait a minute, who are these jokers coming in? (all laugh) How long ago was that? - Like five years ago. What does your sister think of these guys now? We went to Cambodia together. She was there, too. She loves us! ( all laugh ) - She sings with us. Yeah, she sings with us. We're all a big family now. Well, there is a tremendous film that we hope to share with our audience some time, that actually followed the band back, well, to Cambodia. First time for you guys, right? I had actually been to Cambodia in 1995, so it's the second time going to Cambodia, but the first time ever playing music there. Briefly, talk about your experience taking your sound back to your home. But also, where you decided to play live. That's really interesting. You want to talk about it? I can talk about it. First of all, it was just amazing. For one, Nimol hadn't been home in five years. And so, she had, you know, some minor visa problems. And once those were fixed, we were all free to go and visit Cambodia and have an amazing time. And some of the stuff that happened there was incredibly touching. Like we hooked up with some traditional master musicians, you know, kind of more of Cambodian folk music. And then we kind of set up our instruments and we all played together. It's in the film, of us recording and hanging out. You worked with children, too. Yeah, also in a district, in a very poor neighborhood in Phnom Penh, they have an organization called Cambodian Living Arts, where they're teaching kids, all the traditional dance, and keeping the whole spirit and the Cambodian culture live through the arts. So we met up with these kids in this classroom. We rehearsed, and we played a show in the neighborhood. And it was pretty amazing. It's a long way from L.A. - It was just all car lights. Generators. - Yeah, generators, car lights. It was really cool. Tell us about the next song and play a couple. I'll come back in just a little bit. The next song is, "New Year's Eve." ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) Thank you. Incredible sounds from Dengue Fever. Here's their record, "Venus on Earth." Incredible sounds. And yeah, nice shot, Nate. Let's see if I can reflect it. Whoa! Look at the power! And I don't want to yack through any more music. We need a couple more songs. But Zac or Senon, would you just introduce everyone quickly. This is Zac Holtzman on guitar. Hello. Chhom Nimol, lead vocals. My name is Chhom Nimol. I'm a singer. This is Joe as the drummer. Ethan Holtzman. - Hi. And David Ralicke on sax. All right, Dengue Fever. "Venus on Earth." And we have time for two more songs. Cool. - Thank you. YOU LIVE IN PHNOM PENH YOU LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH I FORGET TO GET TO EAT

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00 A.M. I CHECK MY EMAIL I'M TOO GEARED UP TO FALL ASLEEP SO I WRITE YOU BACK AND COUNT THE DAYS UNTIL WE'LL BE TOGETHER THE FIRST THING THAT I DO IS THROW MY ARMS AROUND YOU AND NEVER LET GO AND NEVER LET GO I CALL YOU FROM MY HOTEL ROOM I'M SITTIN' ON THE HALLWAY FLOOR I KNOW THAT WE ARE SO SO SO SO TIRED MY PHONE CARD JUST EXPIRED YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE DRUNK I CAN TELL IT BY YOUR VOICE IT'S THE ONLY TIME THAT YOU OPEN UP TO ME AND TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME THE FIRST THING THAT I DO IS THROW MY ARMS AROUND YOU AND NEVER LET GO AND NEVER LET GO I'M 30,000 FEET HIGH FLYIN' THROUGH THE DEAD OF NIGHT I TOOK AN AMBIEN AND YOU CAME TO VISIT ME IN MY DREAMS YOU WERE BATHED IN BLUE LIGHT FLOATING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME YOUR FACE WAS SO SO SO SO BRIGHT I HAD TO CLOSE MY EYES TO SEE THE FIRST THING THAT I DO IS THROW MY ARMS AROUND YOU AND NEVER LET GO AND NEVER LET GO AND NEVER LET GO AND NEVER LET GO AND NEVER LET GO AND NEVER LET GO OH, AND NEVER LET GO ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian ) ( singing in Cambodian )