First there’s the quick smile, and the infectious laugh, and then there’s the sheer love of performance. Alli Gecikarana, best known as Alli G, was born in Borneo and spent many years in Kuala Lumpur. After an extended spell in Siem Reap he has come to Phnom Penh and is getting behind microphones across the city. Leng Pleng sat him down with him before his new residency on a Sunday evening at Duplex to get some more of his story.
“When I was 16 years old, one time I hadn’t eaten for ten days, living on the streets in Kuala Lumpur, sleeping under a bridge. I saw someone playing pots and cans and singing whatever – he got some money out of it. I thought if that guy can do that for some money, why couldn’t I? So I started busking. The first time I just closed my eyes – I didn’t play guitar yet, so I just clapped my hands and sang some Beatle songs that I knew. I put a handkerchief in front of me, and I heard a coin fall, and I opened my eyes – oh! There’s money! I get to eat! That’s why I love music so much, because it saved my life.
“My foster father Ayie is big legend in Malaysia, bass player in a band called Ella & The Boys – Ella is famous; the band players are not really famous. He looks like Gene Simmons from Kiss. He found me when I was living on the streets. He said it seems like you like music, I’ll teach you about music, I’ve opened a studio, you can come and help me.”
Guitar came later. “Later I was front man in a band, but no one really wanted to teach me guitar, because they said you stay at the front. Then all the band members were getting old, they had commitments, wanted to stay home with their wives. I knew how to sing already, so I sold everything and moved to an island and learned how to play guitar just by YouTube. So it’s only been ten, eleven years since I started playing guitar.”
Before long his desire to travel blended with his skills in musical performance, and he took to the road where he’s been happy ever since. “I love travelling. My work as a musician allows me to do that. I usually don’t have confirmed gigs, I just go somewhere and play, hoping somebody will give me the opportunity – and it always happens. I used to come to Cambodia only during high season, and only Siem Reap – it’s a tourist town and I’ve got a lot of friends there. And it’s so small, everyone knows everyone. I would come for three months, then go out to play in Japan, in New Zealand, and then come back again. Khmer people love Facebook so much, and they always message me. We miss you, Alli! Okay, give me five months and I’ll come back.
Alli at Tacos Kokopelli. Photo credit: David Flack
The pandemic has of course slowed his movement, like everybody else’s. “I’ve been to South America, some parts of Africa – South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania. I will always come back to Cambodia, it’s a home for me. All the wackiness and the craziness is here. This is the longest time I ever stayed in the country. Two years now. And I will to stay one more year because I already have a one year business visa. Now I can’t really travel – but go to Battambang or to Kampot, that’s already a big adventure.
Music has also taken him to high places. “In 2010 I took my guitar to Mount Everest in Nepal to play. I was with my South African girlfriend, we got as far as base camp, then we found out we had to pay $8,000 to actually get up higher. Oh, we don’t have that much money. So I wound up just busking on the street. I was outside a restaurant that loved me so much they gave me free food and drink to make me keep playing there. I was the only busker – all the other musicians were waiting to find gigs.”
His philosophy of music is simple. “I play music with energy – giving energy to people. And hopefully they give it back. When I play, for the first two or three songs I try to see what the crowd is, and then I see someone tapping, or humming, okay, now we know what kind of song you like. Choosing songs, it’s just a feeling – I open the lyrics book, and think maybe this song is right for right now. Performing on the big stage is something else. I opened for Slash twice in Malaysia. The first time I came to Cambodia I went to Sihanoukville, because the soundman of Guns’n’Roses was staying there – he said come and visit me. Okay, I come! And I fell in love with Sihanoukville before, I love Otres Beach – a long time ago. Now, hmm…”
And there is always something to learn. “For a while I was living in South Africa but I had to leave every three months, and one time I found a cheap ticket to go to Jamaica. Oh, I want to see Bob Marley’s studio and everything! I love Bob Marley dearly, the way he shows the way to the world, music unites people. The first day I was playing in the street in Kingston, and one guy came to me – bro, you play reggae wrong. He said come, follow me, I’ll show you. So we went straight into a studio and sat down to play with all these musicians. They told me it’s how you feel it. I was only supposed to be there a week, I wound up staying almost a month and playing a tour with Skip Marley, the grandson of Bob. So I learned from the best. Skip sounded the same as Bob. It was like I did see him alive.”
Alli G’s residency with drummer Chema Rodriquez continues at Duplex on Sunday evening, and you can catch him at The Box Office on Friday night with Troy Campbell.
Photo credit: Supplied