Returning to the stage this weekend is Electric Muxu Orchestra (pronounced moo-hoo), who a lot of folk missed during their first time around as they were mostly hidden on Sunday nights at Oscar’s on the Corner. Co-founders and Phnom Penh music scene stalwarts Marianna Hensley and Greg Beshers sat down with LengPleng this week to talk of the past and the future for EMO.
LP: It’s now two years since EMO launched, straight after the 1973 tribute at Oscar’s in January 2024. But it was duo first, right?
Marianna: The original Muxu wasn’t Muxu.
Greg: It was named a few things before we settled on Muxu.
Marianna: Happy Happy Smile Band. There was The Los (T)Apes with Phil Javelle. And I think we were something before that. Greg and Marianna? And we’ve since moved on – have we since moved on?
Greg: We haven’t booked a duo gig yet – but as soon as we do we’ll move on. But we still have Electric Muxu Orchestra.
Marianna: The duo is not committed to being defined by a single name. I can’t remember when we actually started doing the duo.
Greg: Odom Garden was open. So it would have been around 2022 I think.
Marianna: I can’t quite remember when the EMO idea came to be, I think it was one of those weird 2 am messages I woke up to from Greg saying let’s turn Muxu into a big band.
Greg: Yeah, that was probably around December 2023.
Marianna: Because once we had the people we pulled it together quick, in three or four weeks I think.
Greg: When everybody got back from Christmas holidays we did two quick rehearsals and then played. And at the same time we were the backing band from the 1973 tribute. I don’t know if Cameron was in the backing band.
Marianna: Not yet.
LP: Cameron didn’t arrive in Phnom Penh until January.
Greg: And now he’s just playing with everybody.
LP: So were you making a sound out of choosing the players? “I’d like to work with these people so that’s what the sound is”?
Marianna: No, the sound was first. Our word was ‘swampy’.
Greg: With harmonies.
Marianna: And I don’t know if that’s what you put in that initial message.
Greg: I think so.
Marianna: When I saw the word ‘swampy’ I said: I’m in. We started with the idea of the feel, and the players were picked based on that.
Greg: And doing the 1973 thing at the same time was a significant influence. And not letting Gaby play guitar, just lapsteel.
Marianna: And then for the second or third performance he came in with a mandolin. Yes, Gaby, you can play mandolin.
Greg: Some of the songs we were already doing as a duo.
Marianna: There is definitely an element of picking songs that we like, regardless of genre. ‘Swampy’ is the word for the essence of the sound and feel of the band but we’ve got everything from Frank Sinatra to Lenny Kravitz.
Greg: Tony Joe White.
Marianna: Mavis Staples. If ‘swampy’ is the feel I think another catchphrase is: we play songs you forgot you loved.
Greg: I mean, they’re originals. Other people’s originals, but originals.
Marianna: Oh, are we going to open that can of worms?
Greg: But I think fun and groovy songs, some are familiar, combined with enough of the…
Marianna: My obscure songs.
Greg: Yeah, yeah. Like, I don’t know what that is, but it’s got a nice beat to it! It makes me wanna dance! It balances out.
Marianna: I think our respective musical sense and preferences play out a little better in the full band context, because Greg always has such a good ear for what will work – and I’m thinking of all the early 1970s stuff that’s just wonderful, that we forget. And it balances with me turning up with completely obscure songs that no one knows. You’ve got to play something that people recognise. And other people started suggesting songs as well, once we kind of got into the groove of it.
Greg: We try to discourage that. It’s not really like a democracy.
LP: And then there was an apprenticeship on Sunday nights at Oscar’s on the Corner for seven or eight months.
Greg: Until about August or September, and then I fell ill and was out for several months.
Marianna: Back in early December.
Greg: And then people started travelling around April or May of 2025.
Marianna: May at the latest.
Greg: So we put the brakes on, and didn’t even really think about doing it again until someone suggested it. Was it you?
Marianna: Probably.
Greg: Just for a one-off.
Marianna: When we first started and you asked me if I would be open to a residency at Oscar’s, I remember at that point negotiating for at least one weekend off a month, which allowed me to sustain the rhythm of it longer.
Greg: Then it just got too much for everybody.
Marianna: The last two or three gigs we played at Oscar’s last year we were on, so tight, and everybody was really at the top of their game, and I just remember feeling nothing, recognising that I had to take a break. And It’s a good thing, and sometimes maybe even a wise thing, to take that break, if what you love about the project, that spark is gone. It wasn’t to do with the band, or the music, or the players.
Greg: Just burned out.
Marianna: By the latter part of 2025 I was getting that itch again. It’s been fun to hear others express excitement about being back. And in the same breath: but not a residency! And I hope that Saturday isn’t just a one-off.
Greg: I’m thinking of it as a first in a string of gigs, playing around town elsewhere. Maybe even getting south of the Monument, as they say. We’re in talks for the new venue, Motodop. And others outside the Oscar’s realm.
LP: And you have one new member?
Marianna: Yes!
Greg: We have a new bass player, Jedil. I’ve done two rehearsals with her, the band’s done one rehearsal. When she and I sat down with a long list of 20 plus songs, before she even played a note, she said can we do I want you to want me by Cheap Trick? And I knew it was going to work out.
Marianna: I am over the moon. I’m delighted that there will be another lady on the stage.
Greg: Me too. Yeah, I think it’s going to be pretty good. She plays drums so she always knows where the one is.
Marianna: In rehearsal it felt like she slid right in.
Greg: That’s not to say we don’t miss Chris, of course we miss Chris, he was a founding member and was there for every gig. But he didn’t feel able to commit at this time.
Marianna: It’s fun music, it’s fun to sing, I hope it’s fun for the people who are listening. We’ve got four soloists – and you could even count Gaby twice, lapsteel and mandolin. When we were doing the residency that really worked in our favour, because we’re such a big group, when somebody couldn’t make it – if any one player or even two players were out that didn’t cripple the band.
Greg: We could adjust.
Marianna: I remember some nights just being distracted by the solos. Oh, I have to sing again! I always loved to say – seven people, nine instruments. Because you had two guitars at one point.
Greg: Tuned differently, yes.
Electric Muxu Orchestra are back where it began at Oscar’s on the Corner on Saturday night.
