Day 9 of 100 days: writing on flying through Space and Time with Kak Channthy and The Cambodian Space Project
Channthy’s love affair with France did not begin with a love-at-first sight experience… and this is well documented in our CSP story – think Have Visa No Have Rice, so it’s with a sense of irony that I’ll be back at the scene of her first visa application rejection – the French Embassy in Phnom Penh – this Friday night to start again. I’m at the Embassy with the basis of what comes next for me and my CSP musicians – we’re performing as the CSP Mothership at a charity ball for elephant protection but more about this later.
It’s strange how sometimes great news comes at terrible times… another French connection for me to ponder is the fact that Flicker & Fade – a short film by Mark Roy and I, has been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. This is big news but very short notice… France is on my mind as I try to figure out getting there and getting there is something I gotta do. You see, Flicker & Fade was supposed to star Channthy, it’s certainly a story based on a Cambodian singer and her relationship with a foreigner and was something Channthy wanted to do but was unavailable when we shot the film back in Feb. It’s a work with Channthy’s voice on the soundtrack but more so with her spirit and life and now it might be time to get to Cannes and talk about the idea of making a bigger film, a story in tribute to Channthy’s life and once that again connects us to France. Today I’m thinking about the last time we were there… a happy night in Paris and a week off in the French countryside.
It July 2016, we’d kicked off a quick’n’easy Europe tour with show numero uno at No Borders Festival in Bern, Switzerland… the show was pretty much a non-event but a great chance for Thy and to catch-up with our rhythm section – for the first time Hollie Lewis on bass and Dave Webb – a CSP studio veteran on drums… it was an unusual pairing and had we more time and more shows then we’d have toured with the full Cambodian line-up. Still, it was as good a place to start as any and Thy and I were really happy to hang out after the show with Dave and Hollie and wander a bit of Bern… the next day we relaxed, it was a hot summer’s day and Hollie and I even managed to get a river swim in before we all rounded up and took off on the road towards France… strange thing was, we didn’t have any gigs booked in France, not this time, just a very generous offer of a beautiful house in the French countryside. By great co-incidence the country house, Le Petit Nid, owned by David’s brother John, who are both very dear and old friends of mine and my early band The Stiff Kittens – fronted by brother Rich Webb, is also situated in same village Jugon Les Lacs where one of our founding members Gaetan Crespel’s mother lives. In fact we spend the best part of our first trip to France staying with them, just a stone’s throw from Le Nid and it’s a place of very happy, funny memories of friends and goodtimes.
By this stage in our career we’d already made many visits to France and Channthy loved the idea of a little holiday in Bretagne. So did I but it was going to be a long long drive. I nutted out a plan with co-driver Dave Eugene Webb and we decided a night in Paris would be first stop. I booked us all into a fun and somewhat eccentric hotel opposite the Fleche D’or at place called Mama Shelter. Mama Shelter’s also in Marseille and on an earlier trip we’d loved staying at this place so booked ourselves into the Paris one… pretty much the same style of hotel but on that occasion Channthy and I had a huge fight… a terrible time and bust up but more about that later… this time, I didn’t tell her were going back to the same place, we were already on the road, SatNav set and sound system cranked up with a great selection of songs courtesy of Dave’s ipod. The Swiss roads are the best in Europe and it was a beautiful summer’s day driving in the direction of Paris through stunning countryside. At one point, Thy woke up from napping in the back seat and over the top of the music we heard her say “….Oh! good song Bong….who this one?” “Haha this is Bob Dylan Thy, it’s a great song….called “Everything is Broken”. Thy, bopping along the swinging beat, says “yeah…. same same Cambodia…. everything broken…”. And on we went… 400k’s to go, Bern to Paris.
As we came to the outskirt of Paris the sun was already setting over the city. We were navigating peak out traffic and had switch the stereo to local radio… some kind of Turkish music station and already soaking up the rhythms and talking up ideas on how we could take these kinds of beats and sounds into our Space Project… after all…if you’re called a Space Project then there’s room for anything right? Thy had also figured out we were heading back to the same hotel – the scene of one of our biggest meltdowns – but stayed quiet about that time as the issue had largely been of her own shortcomings – often the other way round. Instead, I reminded her that a CSP fan had invited us all to dine at his Thai restaurant and that would be pretty damn awesome! also, some old friend would meet us there… a night of good friends, spicy food, vin rouge and a big sonte to Paris! Thy was happy and as often she did, broke into her take on the song Laisse Tomber Les Filles – a song we’d recorded last time in France, with Dave and Jim Diamond as well as with members of Mac Abbé et le Zombi Orchestra.
Check out and book yourself in CSP’ favourite French countryside retreat at Le Petit Nid
As we came to the outskirt of Paris the sun was already setting over the city. We were navigating peak out traffic and had switch the stereo to local radio… some kind of Turkish music station and already soaking up the rhythms and talking up ideas on how we could take these kinds of beats and sounds into our Space Project… after all…if you’re called a Space Project then there’s room for anything right? Thy had also figured out we were heading back to the same hotel – the scene of one of our biggest meltdowns – but stayed quiet about that time as the issue had largely been of her own shortcomings – often the other way round. Instead, I reminded her that a CSP fan had invited us all to dine at his Thai restaurant and that would be pretty damn awesome! also, some old friend would meet us there… a night of good friends, spicy food, vin rouge and a big sonte to Paris! Thy was happy and as often she did, broke into her take on the song Laisse Tomber Les Filles – a song we’d recorded last time in France, with Dave and Jim Diamond as well as with members of Mac Abbé et le Zombi Orchestra.
In Paris, we dropped our bags, showered and took a bit of a rest them gathered ourselves up to head to Jean Luc Chagniot Mai Thai restaurant. We got there later than our friends who’d already arrived and in fact had been there the night before, some mix up on dates! It was great to see another CSP originator there, Gildas Maronneaud with friends Emilie Charlie Milou and my dear friend Regis with whom I’d formed a band on my own pre-CSP adventures in France. We were all old friends and everyone had been there for CSP and Channthy’s first big trip to France. Channthy was probably very different to that first time, much more worldly and much more in love with French cuisine and culture.. she knew Paris. Also, the fact that we were eating some fabulously hot and spicy Thai food – Channthy was in her element. It was a warm summer’s night off in Paris – no shows this time but a real holiday. Jean Luc’s hospitality was awesome and we promised we’d be back to check-out his other excellent Thai place called Bai Thong.
That night, we rested and slept in the next morning then set the Sat Nav for Orleans – made a quick visit to our booking agent Jean Luc Jousse’s place in Orlean… returned to a familiar place a Khmer restaurant called Angkor Watt then carried on crossing the country until we got to Le Nid – Jugon Les-Lacs and it felt like home. For a few days, Channthy lazed about the lake, occasionally giving me orders and a shopping list for my excursions into the local shops or coming along for a walk and talk and perhaps stoppipng for a glass or two in the town square. It was here, in this tiny little village, that one afternoon at the Tabac bar, Thy I bumped into the brother of another dear friend in France – it was Martin Perrault brother of legendary drummer and artist Tonio Marinescu who is sadly no longer with us but was a member of my short-lived Phantom Travellers outfit and who also graced us by playing drums at CSP’s first gig in Rennes – another very memorable city, and night, but I’ll get back to that later.
Before we continued on our touring – with dates to come in Brussels, Geneva, Lake Biel, I took Channthy on a blind date… I didn’t tell her exactly where were were going except that we could take the car and do a little trip to the seaside, stop and eat some Moules et Frites somewhere …that somewhere would be none other than one of the most spectacular places in the world – Mont Saint Michel. Thy screamed with joy as we drove up over a ridge and finally the stunning view showed where we were headed… “Oh my god Bong… so amazing… wow! we’re going there?”. We did too, it was such a nice afternoon, a day or two later we returned with Hollie coming along for the ride… we didn’t quite make in time but did stop for Moules et Frites and a glass or two under the shadow cast by Mont Saint Michel.
The last time I spoke with Channthy, we had a long talk about things… she said she was looking forward to going back to Europe, “France again Bong? Switzerland?” and was happy to have these prospects ahead. But I also told her that I thought things were changing for us and CSP, I’d decided to go back to Australia for a while… “Things not so easy for me, staying here in Cambodia, Oun I feel like I need to go back to Tasmania for a while… I want to write about our first 5 years…take some time and finish this….”. Thy said she understood my feelings and it would be alright (ti would also mean no gigs and no money for a while) she was okay, we’d talk more in Phnom Penh. Another place Thy loved – we were only there a short time – was Denmark and if asked, she’d tell people that of all the places she’d been and seen, Denmark was the best place for living. We were booked to play Gutter Island Garage Rock Festival, and I new Thy would love this! We just had to figure out how to get there.
Right now, it’s strange how sometimes great news comes at terrible times… Fance is on my mind.
Flicker & Fade – a film by Mark Roy et Moi, has been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. This is big news but very short notice… I gotta figure out how to get there? where to stay? fly to Nice or start with a few days in Paris?
The film itself is just one cartridge of Super 8 but demonstrates a ‘proof of concept’ and is a great start towards making a bigger film about a Cambodian singer during the early 70’s. Initially it was conceived as a stage play for a musical by CSP – Yesterday Once More (Msel Menh Medong Tiet) is a story based on the extraordinary life and disappearance of Poev Vannary with music by The Cambodian Space Project. Now I feel like this film of ours should have a rewrite to pay homage to Channthy’s life and to be developed as a feature film that her story deserves. So this is very important to me and Cannes is the best place to begin the journey towards making this happen.
I will be keeping everyone update on our progress but first up, big thanks to the actors, extras and crew – Paodavy Da, Wesley Taller, Sak Von aka Bong Sak as The Singer, The Foreigner and The Driver. Also,Jason Shaw, Ori Tchechik for their work on music and foley. Villa Grange Cambodia for accom. The Commandant’s House, Kampot and all at Straight-8 for selecting Flicker & Fade. Here’s some stills from behind the scenes while making the film.
If you’re reading this far, please don’t forget that I’m writing for 100 days to honor Channthy and also remind our friends that we need to continue to work and fundraise to support Channthy’s son Makara so that he can get an education and grow up with a world full of opportunity and hope.
Please support KAK CHANNTHY MEMORIAL FUND
