As part of Khmer New Year festivities, Sereiyos Productions released the song Love Adrift by new music artist Sopharoth. Love Adrift gives fresh life to the mahori melody Lao Chom Chan which is beloved in Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, by combining traditional Khmer instrumentation with those of international origin and featuring vocals in English. Prumsodun Ok, founder of Sereiyos Productions—and a Khmer American dance artist who has gone viral several times in the kingdom due to his TED Talk—worked with composer Hong Sreysantepheap of Rukkha Dantrei Studios to rearrange the melody, with Ok inviting his American friend and collaborator Tara Jane O’Neill to improvise solo electric guitar.
“In many ways, this is a first for all of us,” says Ok. “In order to be a better teacher, I have been evolving into a producer so as to push my students onto their highest and fullest paths as artists and human beings. This is the first song that I have produced and the first film that I have made in thirteen years. It represents a reconnection to my music and film backgrounds, but is a delving into design work as well, as can be seen in the wardrobes and sets.”
Prumsodun Ok founded Sereiyos Productions to reflect his experiences as an interdisciplinary artist, and to find, nurture, and elevate the next generation of stars in Cambodia’s dance, music, film, and design fields. The music video, of which he wrote and directed, features a young and vibrant cast of Khmer, Khmer American, and Khmer Canadian artists, models, and aspiring talents. Japanese artist Nobuyuki Arai was its director of photography, with teams from Kong Chak Pictures and AP Lighting involved. Ok worked with Formal Bespoke and Kong Atelier to design the wardrobes, and with Daneth Eng to produce the set.
Sopharoth is a student of Sophiline Cheam Shapiro and Prumsodun Ok, who has performed throughout Cambodia and in India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Germany. Born and raised in Phnom Penh, the multi-hyphenate alumnus of the Royal University of Fine Arts and the Institute of Foreign Languages is the first artist being trained and produced by Ok’s Sereiyos Productions.
Of this, Ok says, “This is just the first step of many for Sopharoth and for Sereiyos. And I hope that in the future, we have the capacity to amplify the voices and uplift the lives of many more worthy artists in Cambodia so that our society may thrive and prosper.”