We've been gone for a week now, and its been a typical day for us in Phenom Phen. I was woken around 730 by feleciacruz, who showed me some of the edited alphabutter release party footage that she'll be uploading to YouTube soon. I walked outside, and heard around 5 grown men scream "SPILLLL!!!" At this point, they don't even ask me whether I want a tuk-tuk ride or not - they just come up and shoot the ish with me for a little, tell me about their escapades from the night before, ask about my night, etc. The language barrier is surprisingly irrelevant.
We then hit up our regular breakfast spot, the Indian restaurant around the block, for naans, samosas, and coffee. A little bit on the expensive side (read: $5 breakfast for 2) but its totally worth it. Felecia then goes off to edit video / upload pictures / twitter/facebook away, while I sit down to get some beats done. By noon / 1 pm, she's started her class with the kids, running around having a blast taking pictures for around an hour or so. Be sure to check her blog to see pics and get updates on how the class is going.
Yesterday, I went over to Tiny Toones Cambodia, an organization that uses "breakdancing, hip-hop music, and contemporary arts as creative tools to empower the youth of Cambodia to live healthier lives free of HIV and drugs, build a more promising future by furthering their educational opportunities, and become positive role models for their community. I had a great time chilling in their studio with their main producer, Peanut, who uses pretty much the exact same software that I do, in addition to some rockin' external hardware. I plan on going back often, and hopefully I'll be able to help them with many projects in the future.
It was somewhat surreal, as I got a little lost trying to find the place, and the area around there is pretty run down (that is, its more of an industrial area, not so many tourist spots - but the people were as friendly and helpful as elsewhere). When I got there, the place itself looked normal - but I stepped foot in the studio and was blown away by how hi-tech it was. MPC's, turn-tables, guitars, keyboards, people sitting around with macbook pros, sound-proofing all over, a HUGE vocal booth, great mic, etc. Peanut had me step in the booth to drop a quick free over some crazy Cambodian-sample-heavy hip hop beats. Its funny because his beats have a heavy west coast hip hop influence, and he uses a lot of Cambodian samples, whereas my beats have a more east-coast sound, and I use a lot of Indian samples. I think we'll be able to learn a lot from each other.
I got to play ball with one of their stars, a legendary little b-boy (I think he's around 7 or 8) who was featured in an article in the NYT. Then Peanut let me blast Alphabutter for a minute, and it seemed like they were all digging it.
Overall, things have been better than I could have hoped, and I plan on continuing to make music and explore this wonderful city.
