Srey Thy adores the rock ‘n’roll classics from Cambodia’s golden age of the 1960s and ‘70s. Julien adores Srey Thy’s voice and choice of material. The result of their meeting is romance and the formation of “The Cambodian Space Project”, a thrilling rock ‘n’ roll explosion that wows audiences from London and Paris to Hong Kong and Sydney.
From their formative days putting the band together to playing on the world’s stage, Julien and Srey Thy’s collaboration is a rollercoaster ride filled with passion, ambition and cross-cultural challenges.
With all artistic endeavors, especially involving lovers as collaborators, life on the road takes a major toll on their relationship. For Srey Thy, her fascinating journey is truly synonymous of annals of rock ‘n’ roll mythology – Also known as Srey Channthy, she is a mother, wife, rock singer, and survivor. In the last few years,
Thy has journeyed from gigs in seedy Cambodian karaoke bars to glam rock shows around the globe. Almost single-handedly, she has brought 1960s Cambodian rock ‘n’ roll – all but lost during the vicious rule of the communist Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s – to a new audience around the world.
She has hung out with a who’s who of rock royalty, from the likes of Nick Cave and MC5’s Wayne Kramer. It emboldens Srey to take the mantle in the preservation and perpetuation of her country’s music history that was almost decimated from human history by the Pol Pot regime.
Set to soul-stirring music that carries the joy and sorrow of Cambodia’s past in its unique rhythms The Cambodian Space Project – Not Easy Rock ‘n’ Roll tells the joyful, sad, uplifting and strikingly intimate tale of struggling performers whose path from obscurity, poverty and trauma to relative fame and no fortune has never been easy.
It also chronicles a journey where a singer can be an entire country’s ambassador and how music, especially rock ‘n’ roll, is truly a universal language that bridges cultures and erases borders.