Last Saturday, 4th of February, the Cambodian association based in the Netherlands organized an event for the Cambodian community. Not only was it an event of the association, it was also the introduction of the Khmer music band Sin Sisamuth New Generation, where I take part of as a key player. 

The name

Sin Sisamuth is actually the name of a very famous singer-songwriter in Cambodia from 1950s to the 1970s. He was considered as the 'Khmer (Cambodian) King of Music'. Along with other Khmer artists like Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron and Mao Sareth, he was part of a thriving pop music scene in Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia) that blended elements of Khmer traditional music with the sounds of rhythm and blues and rock and roll to make a Westernized sound. Sin Sisamuth unfortunately died during the Khmer Rouge regime. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinn_Sisamouth)

How it all started..

The reason why our band is called after his name is because the old Dutch Cambodian band with the old generation was called Sin Sisamuth. The Cambodian old generation came to the Netherlands in the eighties. As the Cambodian community is very small here, everybody knew each other back at the time. They started to organize Cambodian events to meet each other and of course they needed a music band to entertain the people. Some elder people decided to form a music band and everyone looked up to the famous singer, that is why they named their band after Sin Sisamuth.

Twenty years later, this band broke up because of circumstances. After their break up, the Cambodian events are not the same as they were before. As a kid, I remember the music was great and the events had a great vibe. Cambodian people were closer than ever back then, however, time changes and it is not like it was before. Now that the kids of my generation grew up and got older, we realize that we miss those times where we met all Cambodian children and had an amazing time together. That's why we decided to continue this band with the new generation.

After we knew we would form this band, I immediately asked my brother who is a graphic designer, to design the logo. We wanted to have a design with the biggest temple of Cambodia, Angkor Wat but also something with music. It took a while before we could compromise what kind of design it would be, and this is the outcome! The colors are not only of the Cambodian flag, but also the Dutch flag. Later, my aunt asked someone she knew to make an embroider version of the logo. The results:

This was my outfit with the shirt on the event

The introduction event

The introduction didn't went well as we hoped so. Before the event, we had to rehearse but some members didn't have time to rehearse as some had to study or work. Therefore, we weren't prepared well for the event, although the public thought it went well! There were some points that we need to improve but we have faith in our band! We just started, so we have to find our way in here.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to make more pictures of us during the event. But here are some pictures that were taken before and during the event.

Goals

Our goal is to entertain those who enjoy Cambodian music. We cover Cambodian songs but with a touch of our own taste. Not only do we cover Cambodian well-known songs, but also other well-known 'English' songs like Ben E. King - Stand By Me. In the future, we would like to make our own music but that is something to work on ;)! Besides that, the band wants to go on tour not only in the Netherlands, but also Belgium, Germany, France or wherever! Hopefully, we can improve ourselves so far that we can go to Cambodia and play for our people! We know everything is possible and we're looking forward to a beautiful future for the band!