Dub Addiction
have just released their awesome new album Khmer Dub Empire.
The
13-track
opus is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to their 2013
debut album Dub Addiction Meets Kampuchea Rockers Uptown. This
fiercely independent and original group play 'Cambodian music
presented in a Reggae Dubwise' style. Leng Pleng
spoke
to band-leader, vocalist and producer Professor
Kinski
to find out more.
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Professor Kinski with Dub Addiction at Phnom Penh Nightmarket |
Congratulations on the release of
the superb new Dub Addiction album, Khmer Dub Empire. How long have
you been immersed in this project?
The first ideas of
the new riddims you hear on the album were created by Sebastien
Adnot and me shortly after our first debut album Dub
Addiction Meets Kampuchea Rockers Uptown in
2013. Either Seb or me create a bassline plus beat, let it rest for
a bit and think about what kind of Khmer vocals or traditional Khmer
instruments could fit on the beats. The whole process took us about
one-and-a-half years. We have the iconic Lisha (Cambodia's
first hip-hop queen) on our album who did a fantastic job creating
outta-space sounding minority tribe melodies on songs like Elewa
Yanoy and Tonai Tin, she also recorded alternative
versions of the songs Snae Hae Knong Pel Reatray (one of last
year’s Cambodian summer hits) and Mae Roe Koh Haoy including her
recognizable female Khmer Rap style.
One year ago, Jimmy
Kiss (well-known for his song Baby I’m Sorry)
joined the band and he contributed four songs for Khmer Dub
Empire. The whole production process was non–linear. We
recorded over a period of one year, with Chhen Chantrea on
guitar, Deth Toch on runeat, sampled a lot of Khmer
instruments, even 'Cambodia’s Ray Charles', Kong Nay is
present… and of course the usual suspects Toma Willen
on drums, and Okoro Elias Jeffers'
African-sounding vocals.
We had a six-month
production break in the middle. A good album needs time to sleep and
wake up again in order to come to real greatness.
Khmer Dub Empire
sounds like it was created in a world-class studio. Where was the
album recorded and mastered?
The whole album was
recorded and mixed in my own home studio in Phnom Penh, 'Kinski’s
Mad Lab', like our last album. The difference is that this time we
did not record a full drum set in a studio… we recorded and
sampled the drum sounds and created the beats in a drum sequencer,
added real hi-hats, drum fills played by Toma and percussion
played by KCM. First, we programmed the bassline with a
synthesizer and replaced it later with the real five-string bass of
Sebastien. The magnificent (and in my opinion best Khmer
guitar player) Chhen Chantrea was responsible for the
solos and guitar licks, I played additional 'Skunk Riddim' guitar
and on top of it we added loads of samples and synth sounds to
provide the original Dub Addiction flavor. Jimmy,
Lisha, Jeff and I did their vocal parts and, after all
the recordings were in place, it had to undergo the Professor’s
dub treatment. When the album was finally mixed we tried out four
different mastering studios and the results could not have been more
different…. so we decided to get it mastered in a studio in
Marseille, France… the result is a lot of deep and massive bass!
The guys in the
band are from Cambodia, Germany, France, Nigeria... It's kind-of hard
to classify Dub Addiction as either an
'expat' band or a 'Khmer' band. Is this the way you like it?
Dub Addiction
has always been a fusion of Khmer and foreigners. There is the core
of the band: Seb, Toma and I who create the basic
songs and there is the big variety of Khmer guest musicians and
singers. You can compare it with bands like Massive Attack etc. who
have always used guest singers on their albums. Every Dub
Addiction album has different Khmer artists on it, from MC
Curly, DJ Khla, Nen Tum and
Pou Khlaing to Lisha, Jimmy Kiss
and other not-so-well-known artists, not to forget the additional
Khmer musicians (tro, runeat, kloy etc…). Dub Addiction's
trademark is Cambodian music presented in a 'Reggae Dubwise' style.
It’s new for Cambodian ears and also new for foreigners who grew
up with this kind of music. Every singer on the album has performed
live with us on stage and there were a lot (we count about 25
singers including our non-official Dub Addiction
Collective album from 2013 with international artists from
Germany, France, Switzerland, Nigeria, etc…) Our next album, which
is currently in production, goes even further in this direction: We
have worked with singers from all over the world (USA,
England/Jamaica/France/Bavaria and of course Cambodia). The album is
due next year.
What has been your most memorable
live gig experience with Dub Addiction?
We played a show in a
prison on Reunion Island …immediately the next morning after we
arrived there. That was a pretty weird experience, playing for the
inmates. Block A, Block B and finally Block C arrived and they all
sat down on chairs 10 metres away from the stage in that half-lit
meeting room in the prison. It took us a while until the first
people got up from their chairs and grooved along the music. They
seemed to have enjoyed the show. After we smuggled in some
cigarettes for the 'Creole gangsters' inside and they were being
locked up into their cells again, we enjoyed a big buffet with the
Prison Chief, the guards and the journalist... Awkward.
Dub
Addiction have self-released this title on the Yatra
Production imprint. Is Dub Addiction strictly an 'underground'
band, would you welcome a deal with a major label?
Major labels are very
bossy in telling you what to do and what kind of style to play. Dub
Addiction wants to be independent and decide itself what to
produce and how to sound. Of course, I’d welcome a major label
deal when they pay a million bucks in advance.
Dub
Addiction shows are usually very busy and very lively. Why do
you think the band's live sound resonates with so many people?
First of all, a deep
groovy bass always hits peoples asses. The musicians in this band
are all very talented and professional. Since our first show at
Equinox in 2011, there was the same magic spirit at all of
our shows. ragga plus dub and Khmer is a potion with a big seduction
quality. A lot of people do classic Khmer psych-rock and it works…
Dub Addiction tries to bring a new style of Khmer music to
the people and it seems to be very infectious. Big up to all the
people who make our shows a boiling pot of sweat and sexiness.
Professor
Kinski, if you could mix the Dub Addiction experience into a
special cocktail to be drunk at your next gig, what would the
ingredients be?
Mango happy-happy shake with loads of vodka red bull and a bit of prahok on top.
Stay connected to the pages Leng
Pleng and the band's Facebook page for all the latest news
about Dub Addiction.
Many thanks to Professor
Kinski for this Q&A session.
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