***for full gig listings jump to the bottom***

Greetings:

Tonight in Phnom Penh find Stu Cottom at Villa Grange (and later at Excelsior), while Arome Khmer are at Duplex, the regular open mic hosted by Initial G is at Cloud, Austin and Ratha are at Mayazon, while new jazz-reggae-punk-funk outfit Smack the Unicorn are at The Tin Hat.  Nico Thoma is at Kampot Lane in Kampot and in Siem Reap Rod Tolentino is at Republic Bistro.

Friday night in Phnom Penh kicks off with Big D Walker at Sra’Art Wine Bar and Arome Khmer at Craft.  Kampot visitors Bald Gringos are at Botanico and Australian visitor Justin Frew is at Little Susie.  Cardboard Lo-Fi are at The Velvet Room and there’s a tribute to Sixto Rodriguez by Mirasol, Alli G & Jedil at Back Street Bar.   Going late at Oscar’s on the Corner is Montra.   In Kampot Nowhere celebrate their three year anniversary with Low Season Riders, and in Siem Reap there’s the open mic at The Welsh Consulate.

On Saturday, starting from 4 pm, there’s a mini-festival at The Deck featuring Bustaka Boys, Maozi & Friends and headliners Soselo Summer, while out at Coconut Park there’s Pinoy Harmony and Green Leaf Motif, Gabbie Elle is at Thmor Supper Club and Ice & Elle are at Botanico.   Birthday action for Buntheourn sees D&Y and Phil Javelle at Little Susie, while Cardboard Lo-Fi are at Sundance and there’s a Latin night with Tona Record at Rumba Bites and The Bald Gringos are at Duplex.  Going late, The Lark are followed by blender Oscar’s on the Corner.   In Kampot Kellie Olson is at The Bay and Gerard Evans is at Harry’s & The Welsh Consulate.

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: Steve Porte

Dylan & Ysabel Rubis, the brother-and-sister duo D&Y, who are beginning to build a repertoire and a reputation around Phnom Penh with their mixture of classic and alternative rock with a bit of folk mixed in.   They will be playing at Little Susie on Saturday night as part of Buntheourn’s birthday celebrations.

Do you have a pet musical hate?
D:  Speeding up.  As a drummer it’s my job to set the tempo, and I tend to unconsciously speed up a song.
Y: I have the same thing with the tempo of a song, and I sometimes have trouble with lyrics, mixing up words, missing lines.

A private musical indulgence:
D: Most of our music stems from classic rock, alternative rock, but I like to also explore jazz and blues.  Most of our musical influences have come from our parents, the parents that we grew up with, and that they grew up with.
Y: 90s grunge music.  When I started liking grunge I thought nobody will like this, it’s so loud.  I started playing grunge on acoutic guitar first, and then with Dylan, the audience liked it eventually.

The year you first came to Cambodia:
D: The last week of September, 2012.
Y: We found out that the King Father died .
D: We were watching TV in the hotel going through the channels and came across a local channel – who’s this man?  We had no clue.  He must be important.  We started living here in 2013.

An early music memory:
Y: When I was three or four years old, in the Philippines, the most prominent band I liked was Kings of Leon, and the frontman Caleb Followill – he inspired me to play the guitar.  And folk singer Damien Rice, I would lipsynch his songs in the car with my dad.  And Journey, Separate Ways.  I like that song a lot.
D: I remember really liking Linkin Park at around the same age, three or four.  Very unusual, these are very heavy influences.  Even our parents were surprised.

The last thing you had to eat:
D: American style breakfast at La Chronique Café.
Y: Carbonara at La Chronique Café.

A country you want to visit:
Y: Seattle, USA.  Where the grunge scene started.  One of my musical heroes, Chris Cornell, was born there.
D: Greece.  I’m a history buff, interested in ancient civilisations.

A book or movie you keep going back to:
Y: The old Hollywood movie Roman Holiday, 1953.  Very romantic.  I like reading Sherlock Holmes books.
D: Gladiator is one of my favourite movies.  It does all the right things for a good movie.  For a book, the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

What languages do you have?
Y: Tagalog and English.  Dylan is the linguist.
D: Amateur linguist.  We’ve been living here in Cambodia for a long time, so I could say Khmer.  I picked up a little bit of French, but I write better than I speak, while in Khmer I speak better than I write.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
Y: Guitar, when I was eight or nine years old.  I didn’t take classes right away – Dylan started play first, and then he taught me some songs.  When I’m on stage I’m more comfortable with a guitar in hand, otherwise I don’t know what to do with my hands.
D: I started out with drums back in the Philippines at around 10 or 11, and I’ve continued in Cambodia, studying for about four years at Simphony Music School with Toma Willen until he moved to Siem Reap.  I also dabble in guitar, and I can sing a bit but not really for public consumption – I leave the singing to Ysabel.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:
Y: We are very young and we play old peoples’ music.  And that I have very short hair.
D: The main surprise is that we are old souls in terms of our musical interests.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
Y: I would like to be in Seattle in the 90s.  I wonder how it really felt being there, with all the musical freedom of expression.  It looks like it was really fun.
D: Woodstock in 1969.

A question from the last participant – what is your favourite Teenage Ninja Turtle?
Y: I don’t know the names.  I know the colours.
D: Raphael is the red one, Leonardo is the blue one, Donatello is the orange.
Y: I like the blue one.  Leonardo.
D: Michelangelo is the purple one.  I’ll go with Raphael, the red one.  I watched a bit of it when I was young.

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

Our latest addition to the Friends of LengPleng is the Coz Collective, a collection of Phnom Penh musicians led by Roz Fisher brought together to record songs written by Roz’s Aunty Cathy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a Friend of LengPleng gets your logo into the weekly email and onto the weekly wrap page and an automatically click through to a page on our website for further information, photos, videos and so on.

We also pay special attention when you have a good story for us – an upcoming event or an artist you wish to highlight.

Email gigs@lengpleng.com for further details or bail up Scoddy wherever you see him.

Steve Porte Photo of the Week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost pulling a face:  Ned Kelly of Soselo Summer at Oscar’s on the Corner, on Friday 18 August, 2023

If you wish to receive LengPleng in your inbox every Thursday please send a subscribe email to gigs@lengpleng.com.

Musicians, venues, punters:  if there are things you know that LengPleng should know, please tell us and we’ll do our best to tell the world.

See you around the traps.
your correspondent,

Guillermo Wheremount
LengPleng.com
gigs@lengpleng.com (mailto:gigs@lengpleng.com)

Weekly Gig Guide – week commencing Thursday 24 August 2023

** residency/weekly

For DJs and clubs, we recommend Phnom Penh Underground

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

*Note that Wednesday events are often not announced until early in the week – check back here for updates*

Coming soon:

 

 

By Weekly Wrap