Bochan

"Bochan’s song “Believe” looks at the struggles of refugee families. She wrote the lyrics after working as a counselor for at-risk Cambodian kids in Oakland. Bochan says unlike her own family, who were educated in Cambodia’s capital city, she was working with families who came from poor, rural villages. Parents would often be illiterate in both languages, and unable to navigate urban environments like Oakland." - The World - Public Radio International

"In the clich version of the immigrant story, the hardworking parents want their first-generation kids to become doctors, engineers, lawyers — to have a more comfortable life and social prestige. Chhan Huy fled Cambodia during its horrific civil war in the 1970s, and settled with his family in California. He was an engineer himself, and a passionate rock musician, so his dream for his daughter Bochan was different: he wanted her to become a pop star." - Studio 360 - Public Radio International

"Huy’s version of the “Chnam Oun 16,” released on her debut album last year, is a direct result of this dual upbringing. It turns the song’s almost surf-rock riffs into a bass-heavy background atop which Huy’s soulful voice alternates between Sereysothea’s Khmer lyrics and her own thoughts on Cambodian and female empowerment. Oakland Rapper Raashan Ahmad chimes in for several verses, adding even more distinctly American flair to the cover of the classic Cambodian song." - Long Beach Post

"But few have performed the oldies quite like Huy. Her goal isn't just "Cambodian music for Cambodians," she says, but a music that relates her American upbringing and heritage — picking up the pieces of a shattered past and infusing new experiences. Among many young Cambodians, particularly in the states, her narrative of resilience constructed with the outfit, the Oakland sound and the in-your-face images did become the conversation piece she had hoped for." - Code Switch NPR

"One of the most striking tracks off Bochan Huy’s debut album, Full Monday Moon, sheds light on what the up and coming singer-songwriter brings to the table: hip-hop beats and soulful, socially conscious English vocals layered over the Khmer chorus and guitar riffs of one of Cambodia’s most beloved rock‘n’roll classics. The song, a re-interpretation of iconic songstress Ros Sereysothea’s Cham Oun 16 (I am 16), is a thoughtful blend of old and young, memory and creativity, the United States and Cambodia; musical fruit born of Phnom Penh native Bochan’s experience as a refugee raised in the US." - Phnom Penh Post

"It’s said that, in the best of art, form is an extension of content. What the artist is expressing is informed by how the artist expresses it. In this regard, Oakland-based singer Bochan’s new album Full Monday Moon is nothing short of success. The 11-track LP seeks to address and inspire contemporary, international Khmer culture. In its lyrics, genres and execution, the album achieves these goals, and then some." - Cambodian Alliance for the Arts

“'Like a Rose', originally written and produced by Cambodian-American Bochan Huy, is a painfully beautiful accompaniment to the love between Dr. Ngor and his wife." - Voice of America

"Her musical inspiration comes from an unexpected place - 1970s Cambodian psychedelic mixed with rock, hip hop, funk and soul - but this unpredictable blend of musical genres produces a sound that is extraordinarily powerful, moving and wistful, all at the same time... with a new twist, introducing strains of electro hip-hop and soul, to create a genre that cannot be pigeonholed - urban, alternative, indie or pop - the listener gets to decide!" - TalkingCranes.com

"I found this to be one of the most refreshing videos I’ve seen made by an independent Asian artist." - 8asians.com

"'Chnam Oun 16' by Bay Area Cambodian American indie musician Bochan Huy, featuring Raashan Ahamd of the Crown City Rockers. Nicely produced, and blending language, culture and history on top of a hot beat, she's taking Khmer music into the 21st century." - Angry Asian Man

Cambodia was a pretty cool place to be in the 1960s and early ’70s. Psychedelic rock music was introduced to the country by North American soldiers during the Vietnam War. But when the communist Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975, they killed all the singers and banned music (and books and dancing and poetry and pretty much anything fun or intellectually stimulating). Not surprisingly, many fled the country to avoid execution, but they still hold onto those rock songs as memories of better times.

“I get to choose my own culture. And in doing so I get to choose the best of both worlds, is what he used to say. There are wonderful things about American culture, and there are things that aren’t so great abo - KQED Public Radio

"Bochan Huy is putting an American twist on a Cambodian classic. The original song, “I Am 16,” comes from the heyday of Cambodian rock-the 1960s and 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge. Huy’s version, though, is something entirely new." - Voice of America

Bochan Huy is a Cambodian-American singer from Oakland, California. Born in Cambodia right after the Khmer Rouge regime, Bochan emigrated to the US with her parents in 1981. Speaking to VOA Khmer’s Poch Reasey recently, Bochan recounted her childhood and the influence her late father, who was also a musician, had on her as she was growing up. With her producer Arlen Ginsberg, Bochan performs her version of ‘Chnam Oun 16’ and shared with the audience what music means to her and her experience as a Cambodian-American. - Voice of America