The rains are settling in, the airport is busy, and a lot of live music is on hold as the vacation season gets well underway. For many musicians this means an enforced break in the gigging calendar; for some both the need and desire to play means new combos can get a start. One such band debuting on Saturday night in Phnom Penh at Back Street Bar is 4Beats, three quarters of whom sat down with LengPleng to talk gigs, music and economic dynamics.
“Getting together was actually very spontaneous,” says singer Intan Andriana. “Yusbel [Ramos] and I are working a lot together at the moment as a duo, singer and keyboard. Leo and I used to play together in Funky Chicken, but that band is no more. Then Leo’s friend, who happens to be a bass player, came to Phnom Penh, and we were introduced. So Yusbel said, hey, maybe we could play at Back Street Bar. I thought: Yes!”
“We are playing mainly soul, jazz, pop, R&B,” says drummer Leo. “We want people to hear good music, particularly other styles. We have tunes from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder. Rock doesn’t have the same feel, and our songs are more commercial than straight jazz. I think here the range of music available can be quite narrow.”
All four are professional musicians, augmented their income through teaching – locally or online – and, in Intan’s case, producing events and doing social media marketing. With gigs running thin in low season, Intan highlights the point that the gap in the schedule calls for a different approach. “As artists we try to be creative – when something is not happening we have to create something.”
“We are trying to give people a bit of something they don’t know,” says Leo. “Most of all it’s having a band that can adjust to any style. For this kind of music you need to rehearse and put the effort into it, you can’t just show up and play. Otherwise you are just reproducing the same thing, and you get bored. The music has to be all going in the same direction, it’s very important to have all the players in the same boat.
For keyboard player Yusbel it’s a different challenge. “I’m not a professional keyboardist, my main instrument is tuba. I also play trombone in the PPIIA Symphony Orchestra and and I’ve gigged with Los Primos and Maki Orkestr. I’ve been living in Phnom Penh now for almost a year – before that I was in Sihanoukville.
“Within the band I sing, but also my job is getting the gigs,” says Intan. “The first gig is at Back Street Bar on Bassac Lane in order to reach a wider range of people.
Leo sums it all up: “Where the music goes, we go there.”
4Beats play at Back Street Bar on Saturday night from 9.30 pm. Get a taste on Intan’s Facebook page.
Former Funky Chickens Intan and Leo reunite in 4Beats