Dengue Fever Says Thanks A Lot: Nelson Slater

Dengue Fever is anything but your average indie-rock combo. Based in Los Angeles, the exotic six-piece outfit is fronted by Chhom Nimol, who sings in her native Cambodian dialect, backed by guitarist Zac Holtzman, his brother Ethan (keyboards), Senon Williams (bass), David Ralicke (horns) and Paul Smith (drums). Some photos of the boys in the band from their three previous albums look like they’ve come from Homeland Security’s no-fly list. In reality, Dengue Fever may be the best U.S. cultural ambassadors to Southeast Asia since the glory days of jazz stars Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane 50 years ago. The band’s “new” album, Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia (Minky), spotlights vintage performances by its favorite Cambodian artists from the late ’60s/early ’70s. Dengue Fever will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with them.

Senon Williams: I guess my favorite this time around is about being humbled. I met Nelson Slater years ago while on tour. He was the bartender in this funky, stark hotel I was staying at in Cincinnati. The bar itself resembled a broom closet and had a roll-up iron gate, and the place was carpeted and furnished with fold-out tables and chairs. Nelson was way out there and told amazing stories about cutting Andy Warhol’s hair, making an album with Lou Reed and curing neck cancer with his mind. Sure enough, most of what he talked about I later found out to be true. The one album I found of his is called Wild Angel; produced by Lou Reed, it is amazing, solid from beginning to end. Humbling is you can live a million lifetimes and be to the tip top of your scene and still end up anonymous and forgotten, scrubbing a hole in some fake-wood linoleum with an old bar rag.

Video after the jump.