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Until recently, I'd never heard a mastadong. Actually, I didn't even know such a thing existed. Listening to the Los Angeles-based band Dengue Fever however, I was eventually able to pick it out from the swirl of sounds, a hybrid instrument created by combining an American electric guitar with a two-string Cambodian chapei dong veng. Strange though it may be, the mastadong is a fitting symbol for a group that categorizes its music as Asian Psychedelic. In my Two Minute Interview with co-founder and keyboard player Ethan Holtzman, he told me about performing at a cult compound, meeting Beck in Norway, and touring Southeast Asia as a cultural ambassador. Dengue Fever is currently on tour.
- How has travel influenced your music or changed your songwriting? Travel has had an impact on our music. The initial idea to form Dengue
Fever came after I'd traveled to Cambodia and discovered some of the
recordings they made during the late ‘60’s early 70’s. Also playing
festivals around the globe with bands like Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80,
for example. You can hear an influence in the rhythm on the song
"Only A Friend" off our new album Cannibal Courtship.
Help me get to 200 Twitter followers (I know, I know, not exactly a staggering number) and you could win the Australia & New Zealand episode of "Best of Travel," hosted by Rudy Maxa, public radio's original Savvy Traveler. Sign up to receive tweets from @WhereandBack and if you're my 200th follower, I'll DM you for an address and drop the Combo Pack in the mail.
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