This interview was originally broadcast over the KALX airwaves on June 15 2026.
Ears of Maize: I’m here today in conversation with Senon Williams of Dengue Fever. I’m Ears of Maize on behalf of 90.7 FM KALX Berkeley. Knowing that, you know, we’ve had the band both in-studio and sort of, um, within our orbit as East Bay, KALX college and freeform radio, what’s new and what has been sort of going on in your universe since either, you know, last record or last time we’ve seen you here in the Bay Area?
Senon Williams: I’m out in the Joshua Tree Desert. It’s a family friend’s cabin. We come out here together and we fix it up, you know, but the nice thing is that it’s open to me and the band to come here and record and write. So we’ve been out here a couple times to make music videos and also to– I think half of our last record was recorded out in the cabin. You know, I just brought a computer, bunch of mics and preamps, and sat up here for a week and wrote music, which was really great. There’s a little cave nearby. A couple of us will be tracking or doing overdubs while a couple of us would be in the cave working on new material. So it’s kind of, um, a good place to work. We’ve been recording lately with the idea of releasing some singles. We’ve already recorded a couple, and I think we’re gonna start dropping singles for a little while and just kind of keep it light and fun. And we managed to stay busy with– especially spring and summer, just with festivals and small weekend tours, and so we’re gonna kind of keep this thing going of dropping singles and playing as many shows as possible at the same time. So it’s kind of playing live and recording. We’re just really staying busy, and all this cool stuff keeps happening. There’s this thing called Cambodian Rock Band Play that used our music to score their play, and that has been turned into a feature. You know, kind of a reproduction of the play to film. That’s kind of a cool thing that’s just happening right now, and a couple of songs, um, probably will be out in the next couple of months, kind of during the string of shows that we got coming up, so we just kind of keep busy. We’re playing a small club in LA called Gold Diggers. So the first set is gonna be all acoustic. We haven’t done that before. You know, we haven’t really started rehearsing the acoustic set, but it’s something we– you know, we’ve done for radio shows and things, little acoustic things, but we’ve never done a proper acoustic concert, so that’s gonna be fun. You know?
Ears of Maize: Yeah. And to sort of lean into that, what does translating the music and the sound in an acoustic setting– what do you find in that space or what is in the discovery in the acoustic side when stripping things down? What have you found in that?
Senon Williams: Well, I think a song, a good song, could exist in any form of music in any way. It’s a matter of us playing all of our songs and seeing which ones really kind of have that essence and allow Nimol to be completely natural. Nimol is an incredible singer, but we’ve noticed as a band that when the lyrics hit home for her, when she loves the song, there’s something about her singing. It flowers or something, you know? And so we know– and it’s something that I think an audience will feel, but we definitely know in the band the songs where she is just really at home. And so we’re kind of focusing on those songs that are really emotionally attached to Nimol.
Ears of Maize: You know, there’s a big cinematic sort of component to the sound, and then also the way that you as artists have embraced that with collaboration in the filmmaking and documentary space.
Senon Williams: Mm-hmm.
Ears of Maize: And also you yourself as a visual artist, what’s that relationship as far as, you know, taking this audio art and then giving it a visual piece and discovery and next life of that next chapter, and can you speak to that?
Senon Williams: I think it’s all coming from the same place, all creativity. You know, I write words, lyrics. I write poetry. Um, I make paintings. I make music. I like to work in film and music videos. And I think it’s the same thing of trying to make sense of the world, trying to put something across, reaching a common space with emotions with someone else. When I have a shared emotion, it kind of validates the way that I’m feeling, and I don’t think musical genres or different types of art affect that feeling inside of me, you know? So when I’m working on a painting and I’m working– looking at composition, I’m kind of searching for balance and for a soul and for myself to be reflected in it. And it doesn’t matter if it’s music or a painting. Doesn’t make any difference for me. I’m still kind of searching for the same results, and I’m also searching for understanding myself. I mean, a lot of times when I’m painting, I’m not even thinking about the painting. I’m thinking about where I rest, you know, in this crazy world, or, you know, same thing with music, you know? Or it’s about getting lost, you know? So it’s all about achieving some sort of a feeling that I wouldn’t have without the art. And it’s not always creating. It’s also participating or listening or receiving. But, you know, there are differences in the essence of especially live performance. That’s a whole different thing. That’s– that’s like your physical body disappears for some time, you know, which is a good feeling. Whatever aches and pains you have in reality or figuratively kind of disappear for some time. I don’t know. It all kind of feeds into itself, and it’s an affliction that’s, uh, often painful but rewarding.
Ears of Maize: A name that I see pop up in a lot of your work and collaboration is John Pirozzi, Sleepwalking Through the Mekong.
Senon Williams: Mm-hmm.
Ears of Maize: Even with the recent issue of the Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia, I see listed and quoted on there. Can you speak to how that relationship was first formed and how you guys continue to work together in that space or complement each other?
Senon Williams: Yeah. I mean, that was millions of years ago when we first connected, and it was because Matt Dillon asked us to put a song in a film called City of Ghosts that was being shot in Cambodia. Their music supervisor, Joey Altruda, our horn player, is still good friends with and has played music with this man, Joey Altruda, who’s an incredible Latin and jazz musician. And Joey was doing the music supervising for Matt’s film, and John Pirozzi was the cinematographer on that film. He was the DP. And so that’s how John got hip to our music. So John was working on this film called Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock ‘n’ Roll. So he’s working on that film, trying to get funding, trying to get it made. We had an idea that we wanted to make a film of Dengue Fever going back to Cambodia for the first time. And the reason why we came up with this idea to make this film was because we wanted to go to Cambodia, but we couldn’t figure out how to get concerts in Cambodia that would pay us. But then we had this brilliant idea that if we made a movie, maybe we can get the film funded. And so we got John on board to be the director, and then we started writing proposals as to, you know, how to make this film. But really, the original concept was: just get to Cambodia any way we could as a band. And, um, we got funding, and we made that film. We worked on that film, and I think it was released in 2007 or 2009. Can’t remember exactly. We shot it in 2005, so this is a long time ago. And then he went on to finish his film, ’cause our film kind of took him away from his own film, the Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten film. And then when our film was done, he went back and completed his film. And then Nimol is in that film, and some of our music is in that film. He shot a music video for us early on, too. I think that might have happened before we made the film. So I guess we just kind of developed a relationship after this Matt Dillon movie.
Ears of Maize: Knowing sort of the geopolitical history and consciousness of Cambodia, can you speak to that relationship and sort of what your mission statement is as a band beyond the music?
Senon Williams: You know, we began this band because we wanted to do something. The men in the band, the boys, we were all doing different things. I was playing in a band called The Radar Brothers. Zac was playing a band called Dieselhead. Ethan and Paul had some thing going. And Dave Ralicke, he’s always been our horn player, been into jazz and rock and session musicians. And when we got together, the whole idea was to do something just out of our zone, out of our comfort zone, something completely different. Not just playing the indie rock club, you know, the rock and roll thing or whatever we were used to doing in LA. We wanted to do something outside of ourselves. And Zac and Ethan are brothers, and they met this man playing pool, a Cambodian man, and he told them that there was this big Cambodian scene in Long Beach. And so they went down there, two brothers, met a bunch of singers, and then we started trying out all these singers. And this thing happened which was not expected. You know, it was something that we thought would be a gas and a trip for, you know, a month, two months, three months, you know, something, play a show or two. You know, it was just this idea, we were creating this thing at this time, and then all this magic started happening where, you know, our songs started getting soundtracks. We started getting offers, shows, and then we started playing world music festivals. All this magic started happening. And then we started realizing the history of Cambodia, which is– a genocide that took place in 1975 to 1979, something where our singer was a little tiny girl and heavily affected by it. And, um, you know, all these refugees into Thailand, you know, a third of the population dead, and we’re like, “Holy crap.” And then we travel to Cambodia in 2005, and we go, “Wow.” It’s like when the genocide happened, it was the educators, the artists, the journalists, you know, these are all the people that were killed in Cambodia first. And so you wipe out all of these people that create culture. I mean, I see art as the genesis of what culture is, you know? I think art and culture are the same thing. Anybody in Cambodia with means split the country. They came to LA, they came to Boston, they came to Paris, and most of them didn’t go back. And so a lot of this preservation of Cambodia’s culture was happening outside of Cambodia. So for us, bringing it back to Cambodia was, like, a really big deal, you know? And also to see the folks through our singer, Nimol, who is– you know, I mean, she is from Cambodia. That is where her heart is, you know? And for her to kind of guide the band, saying, “Oh, this is important to me,” and we go, “Okay. Well, let’s do something,” you know? And so it wasn’t anything that was really complicated. It was just kind of a part of who we are as a band and what we need to do, you know? I mean, if someone wants one of our songs and they’re, you know– it’s like a nonprofit or, you know, Cambodia Living Arts who is finding traditional musicians and giving them a classroom to teach younger kids these traditions. And if we could give a song or some time, you know, or we could do this compilation record, or we could do a concert in Cambodia and give the money, it doesn’t take much to give back. And so what we do is just as much as we can, kind of in the fabric of who Dengue Fever is. You know, musically, we’re not trying to necessarily revitalize the ’60s sound. I came out of R&B, punk rock, you know, rock and roll. LA music scene is what I came out of, and so when you hear me perform, I’m not necessarily relying on the basslines of ’60s Cambodian tunes. I’m relying on myself as a person and what I wanna bring to all of this strange amount of sonic sound that’s coming at me. You know what I mean? It’s like with Nimol singing in microtones, and Roly laying down his jazz vibes, and Zac on his surf guitar and Ethan on organ, you know? And then we did this tour, um, called WOMAD where we played these giant world music festivals, and we got to spend a lot of time with Seun Kuti, Fela Kuti’s kid. And we were hanging out with the band, you know, backstage, and we played a few shows together, and next thing you know, we’re in the studio, and me and Paul, our drummer, just laying down Afrobeat grooves, you know? And it’s like, ’cause it’s so infectious, you know? And then Nimol sings over that, and then here comes some garage rock guitar, and it just, you know– then a Dengue Fever song is born. You know, so we have Nimol, you know, and she’s our singer, which is, like, the top of the pyramid, and the rest of us kind of support that point. You know, she’s 100% Cambodian, but the rest of us are whatever we are.
Ears of Maize: You mentioned places that you’ve toured and the opportunity to do these world music festivals, and you talk about hotspots like Boston or Paris or even looking here in the United– or in, just in California, you know, the outcroppings of Long Beach or even, like, Stockton as places that are hotbeds for Cambodian refugees.
Senon Williams: Yeah.
Ears of Maize: Have you experienced places in your traveling of this music that you didn’t expect to find, either Cambodian families and the spirit or audiences that are super receptive to this music that kind of surprised you?
Senon Williams: Well, I think Nimol has this infectious stage presence, which is a combination of, like, a vulnerability and power and strength all kind of wrapped into one. We do pretty good, you know, and then we play for ourselves. It’s almost like the audience is more in that category of, like, unexpected. You know, like, “Wow,” like, “What the hell is this?” Or we’ll have Southeast Asian folks come out of the woodworks in Wichita, Kansas or something like that, and they’re like, “Oh, we found out you were coming,” or– I guess another thing that’s surprising is the multi-generational thing, which does surprise me, where it’s either the grandparent telling the grandkid to come to our show or the opposite, where the grandchild is telling the grandparents to come to the show. I mean, there’s times where there’s this crazy crowd going, and then there’s, like, an 80-year-old woman right in the front, like a old Cambodian lady. And the whole crowd’s going crazy, but at the same time, the crowd is protecting her.
Ears of Maize: Mm. Yeah.
Senon Williams: You know what I mean? Oh, here’s an ex– something unexpected. This, uh, Cambodian break dancing troupe I think up in Seattle, been showing up to our concerts to where it’s– and like a certain song hits, the crowd opens up, and then it’s like we’re talking incredibly insane head spins, back flips. Like, the place opens up into this like here we are playing surf rock, and we have dudes doing head spins in front of the stage. So that’s unexpected.
Ears of Maize: Hell yeah.
Senon Williams: You know what I mean?
Ears of Maize: I love that.
Senon Williams: [Chuckling.] Yeah.
Ears of Maize: And, too, way to, like, write your own current chapter of, of this whole scene. I really love it.
Senon Williams: Yeah. Lots of surprises.
Ears of Maize: Fantastic. Well, again, I, um, I wanna thank you, Senon, and best of luck to you as you hit the road here in May and, and, too, with that new acoustic setup. I’m excited to hear about it.
Senon Williams: This is Senon from Dengue Fever, and you’re listening to 90.7 FM KALX Berkeley, our home away from home. Thank you for this incredible station. Peace and love to the world.
