ULUVUS is a non–Lao pop/rock band comprised of four western guys from three different countries, who have lived in Laos for a long time and fell in love with the country. The four members include two Australians - vocalist and guitarist Chris Crash and bassist Tim Haward- aka Databass , one Canadian - Roger Rock who is also vocalist and guitarist, and one Briton, Tom O'Hawk, who plays the drums.
In a recent interview with VOA via telephone from Vientiane, two ULUVUS members - Chris and Roger – discussed how the band came about. The band members came to Laos many years ago to do volunteer work in some NGO projects. They fell in love with the country, its culture and traditions and most importantly its people. Chris told VOA how he and his band mates met, "We didn't know each other before. One day we happened to be eating at the same restaurant; we looked around and saw Westerners eating Lao foods: Tam markhoung, khao niew and padek - very spicy.We then hooked up and later decided to set up a band. We wanted ULUVUS to be the first Westerners to sing rock in Lao."
When asked how they came about naming the band ULUVUS? Chris & Roger laughed. "You should ask Tom & Tim about it; they're the ones who named the band. I & Chris were not around at the time. We enjoy and love to sing and perform for our audience; we want them to love us just the way we love them and that's how the name ULUVUS came about," Roger described.
Their first album, entitled "Seu Soy Dae" which literally means "Please help buy our CDs" was popular in Laos with a very attractive cover with Chris holding Tip Khao or rice basket and about to eat rice from it. Chris told us the reason he named their first album "Seu Soy Dae" was that it was a phrase that they hear so often at the morning market from "Maekha(s)" or female merchants, who would call out to people asking them to buy their goods. He thought it would be a cute title for his album.
The future of the ULUVUS band is not yet certain, but both Chris & Roger want to continue making more Lao rock songs and hope that, someday, they would have a chance to work with both Lao rockers inside and outside Laos. Currently, ULUVUS has about 5-6 top singles out and is working on their future project.
To
sample their music and videos, check out their web site at http://uluvus.com/
Click on our audio files to listen to our interview with ULUVUS in Lao.
