It finally happened. I walked into a bar where the audience was more mixed than the band: a bunch of young Cambodians playing tight, punchy, energetic rock ‘n’ roll to a lively dance floor full of Khmers and expats. The band was The Underdogs, who all met at Music Arts School, a non-profit grassroots institution on Street 370.
“We started about a year ago, trying a mix of different styles: some Khmer songs, some English songs,” explains leader and singer Sammie. “Then we decided we should specialise in bringing back the old songs from the 1960s. Everyone knows Chnam Aun Dop Pram Moi (‘I’m 16’) and Svar Rom (‘Monkey Dance’), but there are many more songs that we play that are less well known. We want to introduce the young people to more obscure songs that are just as good.”
And youth is key here: the oldest in the band are 25; the keyboard player just turned 18. One of the singers is still in high school. So how do they know the old music of the sixties? “We search in YouTube, listen to old cassettes, and we talk to the old people who remember the times.”
Sammie grows animated trying to expres his excitement about The Underdogs’ recent success, playing at Equinox, Doors, Sharky, The Village and Slur. “I never thought I would see a Khmer band playing Khmer music in Western bars.”
The band members describe their mission as reconnecting their peers with the music of their heritage. “The new songs copy too much; they sound just like K-Pop. We want to make a real Cambodian sound.” What about Dengue Fever and the Cambodian Space Project, mainly foreigners playing the old music with Khmer singers? “Oh, we really like them,” says Sammie, blushing. “They are my heroes. They play with more of a Western style.”
The Underdogs have a more traditional wedding-band form, with rotation singers: two girls and a boy. “This way we can give the singers a rest; each time they can come on fresh,” says Sammie. Also, it means a wider range of songs. The songs of Ros Sereysothea and Pen Ron are now widely known, but the band can also play tunes by the Elvis/Dylan/Sinatra of Cambodia, Sinn Sisamouth, as well as the wilder singers such as Yol Auralong, famous for Jih Cyclo and also responsible for the drunken raving blues of Syrah Syrah and the funky soul of Voa Saroun.
So where do The Underdogs see themselves heading? “We are writing some songs; they are in a modern rock style, but we want to try to make them into a more old style. And also we would like to have some costumes, so that we look more like a band from the sixties.” Local tailors, take note.
They go on for another set, before closing with a series of encores: a dead-ringer for a Blondie album track; Knyom Mon Sok Jet Te (‘I’m Unsatisfied’), the Khmer version of Woolly Bully and the epic closer Chol Chnam Thmei (‘Happy New Year’).
Long may the dogs run free!
WHO: The Underdogs
WHAT: Energetic Golden Era rock ‘n’ roll
WHERE: Equinox, Street 278
WHEN: 9pm October 18
WHY: Look to the youth to drive the future