The Hidden World Of Thai Psychedelic Rock
Many people know the famous band Khruangbin. Some even know Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band. But few know that their grooves come from lam storytelling
We often remember many country’s history through tragedy. One prime example is Cambodia because of Khmer Rouge regime and their being the cause of genocide of the 1970s.
However, that is not true if we look beyond the grim chapter of its history.
In fact, in the 1960s and early 1970s Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, was a regional hub of Southeast Asian music. It had Cambodian singers such as Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea, who used to blend traditional Khmer melodies with surf rock, soul, and French pop.
That came to an abrupt end, when the Khmer Rouge violently disrupted the music scene, destroying archives and killing many Cambodian musicians.
Luckily that changed after the Khmer Rouge regime. In recent decades, surviving artists, younger Cambodian musicians, and the Cambodian diaspora have revived Cambodian music.
I will discuss both chapters of Cambodian music.
After the Khmer Rouge regime destroyed Cambodia’s cultural life, many Cambodian musicians and artists fled the country, especially to the United States, France, and Australia. These exiled communities preserved recordings, Khmer musical instruments, and performance traditions.
In recent decades, Cambodian diaspora artists have been reviving Cambodian music by blending traditional Khmer music with hip-hop, rock, and electronic music. Musicians such as Laura Mam, Cambodian Space Project, and others are now reaching wider audiences through streaming platforms.
Laura Mam is a Cambodian-American singer, music producer and entrepreneur who was born in America to Cambodian parents. Her parents, who fled Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era, raised her in Khmer language and culture.
After graduating from University of California, she recorded a Khmer‑language song with her mother which was uploaded online. This Cambodian song went viral, attracting thousands of views overnight. That early success brought her to Cambodia in 2013 to rebuild the Cambodian music scene.
Over the years, she has produced original Khmer, moving Cambodia’s music away from covers and karaoke. Her own music blends Western‑style pop/rock with Khmer language. She has two albums and many singles to her credit.
You can stream her TedTalk on how the music revolution changes Cambodia narrative.
Dengue Fever is a Cambodian-American band, which blends 1960s/70s Cambodian psychedelic rock with contemporary Western indie, surf, and garage rock. The band was created in 2001 by two brothers after they heard 1960s–70s Cambodian pop during a trip to Cambodia.
Interestingly, to keep the sound in Khmer, they brought the Cambodian émigré singer Chhom Nimol on board. Nimol sings exclusively in Khmer to provide authentic Eastern music over the band’s reverb-heavy instrumentals.
Their debut album, Dengue fever, has covers of lost classics by Cambodian musicians like Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea.
Later, they have written their own albums, successfully blending Cambodian rock with psychedelic rock. Their most recent album, Ting Mong, came in 2023.
The Cambodian Space Project (CSP) is a Cambodian music band by Australian musician Julien Poulson along with Cambodian vocalist Kak Channthy. The group’s mission was to resurrect the lost spirit of Cambodia’s 1960s‑70s “Golden Age” rock & pop.
To imitate the era, they blend Khmer-language vocals and traditional Cambodian musical instruments with psychedelic rock, surf‑garage and funk.
The band released their debut album A Space Odyssey in 2011, which featured reimagined versions of classic Cambodian songs from the pre‑war era. Over the next eight years they released 2 more albums and countless singles.
Cambodia’s “Golden Age” was all about the fusion of traditional Khmer music, French pop, rock ’n’ roll, and soul. I will discuss some of the best Cambodian musicians and their contributions to the music of Cambodia.
Sinn Sisamouth was Cambodia’s most influential singer-songwriter. He is widely known as the “King of Khmer Music”. Although a medical professional, he was a passionate song composer and used to write for state radio and the Royal Palace.
Apart from composing, he recorded a large catalogue working across romantic ballads, film soundtracks, and fusion of Khmer music with Western genres such as rock, Latin, jazz, and soul. Some estimate his compositions and recordings to be between 3000–5000 songs.
His unique contribution was adapting traditional chapei and smart vocal techniques to Western chord progressions. Some of his famous collaborations were with Ros Sereysothea, Pen Ran, Huoy Meas, and Pan Ron.
Sadly, he was executed during the Khmer Rouge regime or made to disappear. Precisely, no one knows what really happened to him.
Ros Sereysothea was the most important female musician of Cambodia’s Golden Age. She had this great ability to shift between traditional Khmer singing techniques and Western pop stylings. She entered music through local singing contests and moved to Phnom Penh in the 1960s.
Unlike many contemporaries, she was not a songwriter. But, producers and composers wrote lyrics specifically for her voice, including Sinn Sisamouth, with whom she recorded many duets that popularized the Cambodian pop music across Southeast Asia.
After the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975, she was forced into agricultural labour. There’s little documentation of her, whether she was executed or killed through forced labour.
Also, as most of her master tapes and archives were destroyed, little of her Cambodian music remains. These recordings survive mostly from refugee-made cassette dubs.
Yol Aularong was another legendary Cambodian musician in the 1960s and early 1970s. Western rock and funk were evident in his influences. However, his performances were most interesting for their theatricality and humor.
Tragically, his life was also cut short during the Khmer Rouge regime, and much of his work was nearly lost. Today, his music survives through rare recordings and the dedication of collectors and revivalists.
If you want to know more about the Golden Age of Cambodian music, you can stream, Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock & Roll, for free on Youtube.
For more knowledge, you can also read Lost Generation: The Story of Cambodian Rock and Roll. And some more great books about Cambodia.
Cambodian Soul Sounds, Vol 1 is a great compilation of Cambodian songs by Cambodian musical legends and some others.
There was very little music during the Khmer Rouge regime, as they killed all art forms. Artists were persecuted, executed, and some had to flee, with very few surviving. Similarly, the regime also destroyed the music of Cambodia because of its disdain for arts and the Royal Palace.
However, Cambodia slowly rebuilt its music scene. It brought new influences of pop, hip-hop, and traditional Cambodian music. Let’s discuss some of the modern Cambodian singers that have revived the music of Cambodia.
VannDa is one of the biggest Cambodian singers. He is credited with introducing Khmer-language hip-hop to global audiences.
His music includes the integration of Khmer language, folk melodies, and traditional instruments with hip-hop, trap, and R&B production.
He rose to international fame with the song, Time to Rise, featuring Master Kong Nay. It perfectly fuses the traditional Khmer “chapei” with contemporary hip-hop.
The song now has over 132 million views on YouTube. For more such great music, I have compiled the list of YouTube music channels.
Meanwhile, works such as $kull the Album and his multi-part TREYVISAI series are some of his ambitious works that redefine Cambodian music.
Preap Sovath is one of Cambodia’s most successful contemporary singers, whose career began in the early 1990s. As part of the Rasmey Hang Meas Production (RHM) since the mid-1990s, he’s been singing Khmer pop music.
His style is a bit of contemporary pop-rock and he generally avoids traditional Khmer genres. That’s why, latest sounds and instruments are quite in his Cambodian music, which makes him popular in urban Cambodia.
So far, he has released 8 solo albums. Beyond music, he also works in Cambodian films with a notable appearance in The Crocodile.
In recognition of his contributions to Cambodian music, he was granted the honorific title of “Oknha” by the King in 2022
One can without any doubt argue that music of Cambodia is truly a story of remarkable resilience. And one must credit Cambodian musicians, especially the contemporary Cambodian singers, for reviving the music.
Not only have they revived the music, but after experimentation and fusing with global sounds, they have taken Cambodian music to global charts. Millions of views and global tours by Cambodian singers show that the music of Cambodia is here to sway!
For more such great coverage, keep visiting CulturalReads and my Substack newsletter!
The Golden Age (1960s–early 1970s) was a period when Phnom Penh became a hub for musical experimentation. Artists like Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea, and Yol Aularong fused traditional Khmer melodies with Western genres like rock, soul, and French pop.
Contemporary artists such as VannDa, Preap Sovath, Meas Soksophea, Aok Sokunkanha, and Laura Mam are blending traditional Khmer instruments with hip-hop, pop, R&B, and rock to modernize Cambodian music.
During the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979), most music and artistic expression were banned. Artists were persecuted, executed, or forced to flee, and recordings and instruments were destroyed, leading to a near-total loss of Cambodia’s music.
Diaspora communities in the U.S., France, and Australia preserved pre-Khmer Rouge music, kept performance traditions alive, and produced new recordings. They have reintroduced Khmer music globally.
Bands like Dengue Fever (USA) and Cambodian Space Project (Cambodia-based) fuse Khmer-language vocals and traditional melodies with psychedelic rock, funk, and Western instrumentation.
Do you want global book, music, and movie recommendations straight to your inbox?
Sign up for the newsletter below!
Many people know the famous band Khruangbin. Some even know Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band. But few know that their grooves come from lam storytelling
When we talk about the best music documentaries, people always mention some of the famous music documentaries. These names could be Amy (UK), Buena Vista
The 1960s and 1970s were wild times in Latin America and Spain, basically all of the large Spanish-speaking countries. There were cultural revolutions, anti-establishment movements, and
