Kaza is the first Cambodian to push Industrial Techno in Phnom Penh
Captured by: Jerda Photography
Local DJ Kaza has a big agenda: to bring Industrial Techno to Phnom Penh.
Not only to the tourist and expat community, who make up a big part of the city’s underground music culture, but to local Cambodians too.
Read on to learn about the complexities of Phnom Penh and Kampot’s rave culture, and how Kaza has navigated this scene by staying true to himself and true to the music…
Hey Kaza, so happy to connect! How long have you been raving for?
Hey Verity! I’ve been DJing for 7 months but I’ve been partying for 3 years. The story is that I used to live with my ex boyfriend, and I had nothing to do with techno at all. I liked retro synthesisers, 80s vibes.
You know Lana Del Rey, I love her. I’ve got a back tattoo with her face on it! My bike is Lana Del Ray, everything is Lana Del Ray. So that was me 3 years ago!
Then I moved in with another guy and I went to a party once, and that was my first time raving. He stayed home and I went to a fucking Techno rave. Haha!! I came home and he was packing all his stuff.
“One month later, everybody in town knows who Kaza is. In just one month. Because I’m always on the dance floor!”
Even when it’s 6am and everyone else is dying ahha. Phnom Penh is a small town. Imagine techno is not really popular at all and then suddenly there's this poppy beautiful me. Hahaha! I'm kidding, but I always dress up when I go out.
“When I made this set, I imagine myself on a boat with Sam again, dancing to deep dark techno sexy music with the fan on my hand winging non-stop, floating and tripping with the magic super magic I got before the trip started. And then I ask myself what music would it be done, so here I am the captain. Haha, crazy mental bitch as I always am!”
I’m not surprised everyone loves you, your energy is infectious! What inspired you to start DJing?
Clubs here are missing something. They play the same stuff some nights. So everyone asked me to host a party! I was living in this house with my roommate, and it became the club. It kept on growing every weekend until I can't handle it anymore. That's when I started to play as well.
I got inspired by this Russian girl, Svetlana. Her stage name is INEE and I always play with her. She said you got it and she’s been teaching me.
Kaza and INEE: Captured by Pungkas & Rezqoi
How is your deep and dark Techno received in the Phnom Penh? Have you experienced any challenges as a DJ?
Well I’m the only DJ with this weird taste.
“And if you want to study in a DJ academy here, it's 35 dollars an hour, it's not a rate for Cambodians”.
It's really challenging. People here are about business. They don't really care if you're Cambodian, they don’t think “we should inspire you because you're the only Cambodian here”.
I dunno. It's so weird. I appreciate white people wanting to live here, but few of them wanna do something for Cambodians. There's only one girl, this Russian girl Svetlana, who’s really supported me with music the whole time. She’s helped teach me to play and been on my back.
And then I met these two promoters, Phnom Penh Underground and Raveology. They saw my talent and believed it. And Kampot! The love of Kenny’s Korner will always be with me. So everyday it gets better. Getting gigs here as well. So I’m grateful now!
Wow, I’m grateful to hear about these guys too! What kind of music do Cambodian DJs usually play?
There are other Cambodian DJs as well but they play Tech House and Psytrance and stuff like that.
“I always try to introduce Techno to Cambodian people. Typical locals”.
If I go to work, I'm showing them my Soundcloud. Some say “this is really cool, really nice. I love this tune”. Some say “uhh what is this, it’s really weird!” We do have our own Psytrance thing. But Chinese, Vietnamese Psytrance... I'm like noooo. Ahaha!
Captured by Jerda Photography
So would you say generally local ravers prefer Psytrance?
Yeah, it's 180 BPM. So when I say to local Psytrance ravers, “OK this is Techno. It’s 130 bpm and it's so nice it's a really good melody and good symphony in there”, a lot of the time they're like naaah.
And our Techno nights get raided too.
“If it’s Cambodian Psytrance, the police won’t go there. If you play Techno you get raided because it's all the white people going”.
When I play, most of my crowds are white people. So we’ve got a bit of an issue!
So tourists and expat Techno parties are more likely to get raided? That must be so frustrating when you’re trying to push your own agenda for Cambodian Techno.
Yeah because Techno is known by the Tourists and Expats. That's why everyone is really proud of me. They're like, “this lil hot Cambodian bitch plays Techno!” They call me “lil Phnom Penh bitch”, it's tattooed on my back ahaha!
OMG I love this energy!!! Can we dig deeper into the underground music scene in Phnom Penh? What’s the sound like?
Here's the thing, Phnom Penh is really limited. It's a small city. You get Techno, Drum and Bass House, but barely any people who play really good Techno. Sometimes they call it Techno but they mean House. I'm like excuse me. I dont wanna pay for this thing!
For me it's hard to get a gig where i can play my own music. My music is too hard.
“In Phnom Penh, music is more Tech House, people here love pool parties. They don't like hard stuff. I'm a Hardcore bitch, that's what I want!”
I have a feeling they will like it soon enough! From your experience, what’s the DJ culture like?
People here are trying to survive as a DJ because they don't get paid much. So they lost the motivation, which comes from what music is inside them. I can't blame them, but their commercial thing becomes competitive , so they lose their potential in what they play for.
There are two places where music is not a competition: Phnom Penh Underground Cambodia, and Raveology. They wanna make music as it is. They wanna respect it. And they want the ravers to really party til morning. So they always inspire me to keep on going to keep on. These promoters have told me this is why they really pushed me up there.
“they said this is Cambodia, this is your country and you are the host here. And to make Techno big here, it has to start with Cambodians. From the heart”.
And I'm like yes, I'm here!!!
You are really that person! No pressure then hehe ;)
Hahaha but they do really support me to do anything. they’ve helped sponsor me, post my music, and share. So I'm really proud of being Cambodian.
Massive respect. I absolutely love your agenda to push dark Techno in Cambodia and to get more locals involved as well.
Thank you! And I have a dream too. So gay bars are big here. Straight, gay everyone is going. They're really open and have all the vibes and colourful fashion. But if you want Techno music you have to go to this club, cover up, it's super strict. I don't want this, I can't bear this anymore.
I would love to bring these two things together: gay club vibes and dark techno. I looked at this club in Berlin, Kit Kat, and I wanna be there. One day I would love to start a Cambodian Kit Kat. Where I could wear Japanese rainbow shoes for my Dark Techno gig. That's my fashion and music revolution...