Creator
Bochan
Bochan is a Cambodian American singer-songwriter based in Oakland, California.
Bochan, also credited as Bochan Huy, is a Cambodian American singer and songwriter based in Oakland, California.[1][2] Her music joins classic Khmer rock with hip hop, soul, jazz and reggae.[3]
Career
Bochan was born in Phnom Penh and came to the United States in 1981, after the Khmer Rouge war. She has lived in New York, Ohio, Colorado and California, and she calls Oakland home.[4] She began singing in public at age nine, performing at weddings, birthdays and community events.[4][1] She writes her own lyrics and melodies and works with the pianist and producer Arlen Hart Ginsburg, who composes the rhythm sections.[4][3] Her influences range from Whitney Houston, Lauryn Hill, Sade and Bob Marley to the Cambodian singers Pen Ron, Sin Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea, Touch SereyNech and Oum Chhoun Malay.[4]
"Desires" was her first single. Her second, "Chnam Oun 16," was set for digital release on October 19, 2010, with guest emcee Raashan Ahmad of Crown City Rockers, seven remixes and the B-side "The Music."[4] The song is her version of the Cambodian standard "I Am 16" (Chnam Oun Dop Pram Mouy), made famous by Ros Serey Sothea in Cambodia's rock era of the 1960s and 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge.[5][6] Her version adds hip hop and reggae, English verses, a Khmer chorus and guitar riffs, and it carries a message of survival that points to Cambodia's war and genocide.[3][6] She added hip hop to connect Cambodian youth in the Bay Area with earlier refugee generations.[1]
Full Monday Moon, her first album, blends hip hop, soul and classic Cambodian rock. It deals with the Cambodian American experience, including migration, family separation and memories of war, and some of its songs are in Khmer.[2][1][5] She produced it through an independent label at a New York studio.[7] She wrote the song "Believe," about the struggles of refugee families, after working as a counselor for at-risk Cambodian children.[1] To promote the album she traveled to Cambodia, her first visit since 1999.[5] A later release, Hello HI, joins Khmer psychedelic rock with urban soul.[8]
For the soundtrack of The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor, Bochan wrote special Khmer lyrics for her song "Like a Rose."[8] She performed at the first Cambodian Music Festival in Los Angeles in 2014.[6] In 2023 she sang at Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Khmer Community Day, held with its production of Cambodian Rock Band.[9] Bochan sees the Cambodian music revival as a new beginning after a period of darkness.[6]
Recognition
The music video for "Chnam Oun 16" reached third place among VEVO's most-liked artists in its 2011 release week.[3] Her music has been featured at festivals, venues, films, media productions and national music conferences around the world. She has been recognized by community organizations and the California State Senate for her work to make the Cambodian American diaspora more visible in music and the arts.[3]
Works
- Full Monday Moon (Music release)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 KQED, Cambodian-American singer fuses Khmer classics with Oakland beats (May 15, 2013)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bochan, Bandcamp
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Commonwealth Club World Affairs, Special Southeast Asian New Year Celebration (2024)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Cambodian Alliance for the Arts, Bochan Huy, Cambodian American singer and songwriter (October 18, 2010)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Voice of America, Singer puts American twist on Cambodian classics (February 11, 2012)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Orange County Register, A difficult past can't stop the Cambodian American music (July 31, 2014)
- ↑ Voice of America, Singer puts American twist on Cambodian classics (2012)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 DeepFocus Productions, The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor, Filmmakers
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, Essential Arts newsletter on Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band (February 14, 2025)