'Don't take this road, its pretty rough, there's a
sealed road back there that will take you to the
Market.'
Andy Mann sped off on his bright-blue Honda Baja –
the perfect motorbike for Cambodian roads. We followed the sealed
road leading inland from the beach towards Otres Lake - a small body
of water connected by an estuary to the Gulf of Thailand, on
Cambodia's south coast close to the port city of Sihanoukville.
The area was pleasingly underdeveloped with just
a small bunch of guest houses and hotels.
The mini-bus pulled up at The Barn - the venue for
tonight's gig. Weary musicians and fellow travelers poured out into
the bright mid-afternoon sunshine. I looked at the row of muddy
scramblers lined up outside the building and thought about how
inadequate my 50cc Phnom Penh moto would be on these rocky, pot-holed
paths. Today was January 7th, a public holiday sometimes
called 'Victory Day' or 'Liberation Day'. We were greeted by Andy and
Matt. Andy and Max Mallender, together with Dave Allen, Soktia Jne
and Charlotte Crossing (plus a few other great people) built Otres
Market on the shore of Otres Lake in 2012.
Andy delivered some good news: 150 tickets for
tonight's show had already been sold, and Dave Allen was at this
moment buzzing around the beach selling even more. We knew that The
Cambodian Space Project would be a popular draw but this information
meant that we could be sure of a packed house. It was expected that
gig-goers without tickets would easily outnumber those choosing to
pay a few dollars in advance. It was less a question of 'how many
people are coming' than 'how many people can we fit into Otres
Market?' or, more importantly, 'have we got enough beer?'
![]() |
Photo - Dave Allen |
A few cold cans of Cambodia beer were cracked open
as the equipment was loaded on to the stage - a battered drum kit and
three guitars. Only one of the
guitars we had brought
down from Phnom Penh actually worked – that being the bass. At
least all of the
amplifiers we had were
functioning (that
is at least until later
that night when one of them blew up).
The stacks of public address speakers either side of the stage
looked pretty good but the mixing desk looked like something borrowed
from a small beach bar. There were a few microphones and cables of
indeterminate provenance and quality. All in all, a reassuringly
ramshackle set-up... just perfect for a Cambodian Space Project gig.
The extremely helpful Andy offered to try and source
a second guitar from a friend of a friend. 'I did meet somebody
yesterday who said he had a
guitar...'
But of course, it
all turned out alright in the end. Julien used a plastic straw to
patch up his beautiful Ibanez 'Artcore' silver-glitter-finish
semi-acoustic. His guitar amp wasn't loud enough on
it's own so he used two amps. I didn't need an amp because I borrowed
Michelle Flemming's Walden acoustic and plugged it directly into that
little mixing desk. Phea's bass amp was big enough to throw out
across the venue. Thy's
vocals were a little clipped but it didn't matter. The only member of
the band who suffered a
bit was Bong Sak
because
it
was difficult to get his snare drum cutting through the mix.
Bereft of any foldback, he also lost his way a couple of times,
misplacing his usually chronometric
timing. This only meant that
the hundreds of folks dancing on the sandy ground were (whether they
were aware of it or not) dancing more to the beat of the bass player
than the beat of the drums. Even if The Cambodian Space Project had
only half a rhythm section it would still be one hell of a rhythm
section. Phea's bass guitar-playing is inspired and astoundingly
good.

One drawback of
having a 10cm-high
stage is that it's very easy to invade. The goons that began their
monkey-business during Michelle's set went into overdrive during the
Cambodian Space Project's performance. The whole venue was rocking,
from the long wooden bar to the decked
platforms overlooking the lake. The people queuing for the toilet
were bopping on the spot and even the space-cake munchers crashed out
in hammocks suspended high above The Market were nodding along. When
the band started there were still people waiting outside to pay to
get in. Nobody was being too-cool-for-school
and pretending that they had seen it all before. Everyone
was smiling and dancing. This
was a thrilling, fantastic,
I-knew-it-would-be-good-but-this-is-amazing!
event. Some excited members of the audience spilled on to the stage.
Srey Channty had to politely brush off a succession of microphone-grabbing contenders for new lead singer of the Cambodian Space Project - or perhaps they were just looking for attention. Dave Allen had to 'have a word' with one geezer who kept stealing the microphone between songs to give explanations of the Khmer lyrics being sung. One energetic youngster flitted like a firefly between operating a dollar beer stall at one end of the venue, mixing cocktails behind the bar at the other end of the venue and dancing like a lunatic in front of the stage. All night.
The crowd was very mixed. Young and old, Western and Khmer. It felt like the entire population of Sihanoukville had shown up. As the Space Project performed their second encore, Dave was poised like a sprinter at the side of the stage – ready with a trestle table, a lap top, and a nineteen-year-old DJ wearing a neon tribal-patterned t-shirt and baseball cap. Within seconds, the space-garage-rock of the Project had been replaced with weird dubstep versions of old rhythm-and-blues tunes. I didn't get the music, but that crowd of young backpackers dancing in the middle of the venue certainly did. Not a Newton of momentum was lost as the party smoothly changed gears. What a night.
As the band stood around
at the side of the stage, buzzing, wide-eyed and soaked in sweat,
Dave filled in a little background about Otres Market:
" The
stage was actually an afterthought. We were sitting around with all
this leftover wood and thought... maybe we should build a stage! We
didn't have that much wood, thats why it's so tiny.
We
bought the house ['The Barn'] for $1000 from downtown Sihanoukville
and we pulled it apart piece by piece. Then we moved it 10km by more than 10
truck loads to a piece of land on a small lake. We built the house
and market in about a month and we were still painting paint tins to
make stage lighting as we were opening, had no toilets and were
borrowing a mates bar (needed 10 people to carry it into the barn).
We
worked very hard to get it ready for the Grand Opening. We opened on
the 1st of December 2012 and it was a great turn out. We
had a lot of live music and
Jitterbug Jackson the circus
performer.
We
have about 35 stalls. We focus on trying to make the stalls full of
unique clothing, hand made jewelry and food from all parts of the
world. At Otres Market our aim is to stay away from the typical 'same
same' t-shirts and Angkor beer shirts. The jewelry and clothing is in
general hand-made by people living in Otres and people passing
through.
During
the whole of
our first season a lot of
great acts from all over the world entertained the audiences.
The general vibe of the place
is that it is a chilled festival every Saturday focusing on live
music with the option of taking home some unique things from the
stalls. We also have a cocktail bartender named Ryan who makes
cocktails with over 20 years experience.
This
season we are running the
market in the same way every Saturday with new acts taking the stage
but we are also focusing on doing mid-week events at The Barn (same
venue but the market is closed so we can focus on the live music).
Dub Addiction are playing
on the 4th
February, and we have some
other acts soon to be announced..."
Visiting Otres Market and The Barn, the first thing I noticed was the wonderful, laid-back atmosphere and 'vibe' of the place. It is striking. I haven't felt that since I stepped off a long-boat on to the Mekong-river island of Don Det in Laos. Others tell me it has a 'Goa vibe'. Everyone you meet has a smile for you. Looking closely, you can see that a lot of thought and design has gone into this place. It is basically a wooden barn on a lakeside with a stage, some stalls, a courtyard and a deck overlooking the lake – but there are things going on in every direction you turn. There is a large wooden model of London's Big Ben which is used as a noticeboard. Some swings, a food bar and.... a tattoo parlour. The intricately-designed logo was created in a London art studio.
The young team who put this project together are not
transitory hippies or flaked-out expats. They are bright and
resourceful and keen, creating something really cool and special in
Cambodia. As Andy Mann told me, 'there isn't the same restrictions
here as in other countries, if you have some money and get a piece of
land, you can do something'.
I retire
along with the Space Project to our rickety bungalows on Otres Beach.
The following morning I am eating an omelet and drinking my second
cup of strong black coffee while the band are knee deep in the Gulf
of Thailand. They are getting their beautiful black tuxedos
salt-watered in aid of a photo-shoot with Jeremie Montessuis. The
'manager' of the guest house chats to me in toothless broken English.
He is from Europe. I can only catch about 30% of what he is saying.
He excuses the state of disrepair of his accommodation
(malfunctioning light bulbs, dodgy shelves) by explaining 'I don't
want to fix anything because next year the Cambodian government will
take everything! What's the point of spending money! Next year the
government will take all these bungalows anyway!' I don't really
follow his point so well but I think he's commenting on the tenuity
of asserting property rights in Cambodia. Over at Otres Market they
are already getting ready for their next party.
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Photo - Dave Allen |
THE ROCK TREE BAR NEXT TO OTRES MARKET HAS DAILY ENTERTAINMENT FROM POET LAUREATE
ReplyDeleteOF NEW ZEALAND
S H
ReplyDeleteWish I’d been there, sounds like an awesome night.
ReplyDelete