Inspired by Blondie, Cambodia’s punk rock queen uses music to empower women and challenge old-fashioned views
- Rather than sing love ballads as others in her country do, Sochetra Vartey writes lyrics about issues such as domestic violence and poverty
- Lately she’s softened her sound, but the empowering messages from Cambodia’s leading lady of punk still pack a powerful punch
Dressed in an elegant wide-legged jumpsuit, Sochetra Vartey takes off her oversized sunglasses and flashes a broad smile. “I’ve changed my style slightly,” Cambodia’s leading lady of punk rock confesses, as she runs her perfectly manicured fingers through her glossy hair, revealing a set of gold hooped earrings.
She looks a picture of glamour, a far cry from the stereotypical image conjured of a female punk. Her gentle nature and soft tone also sit in contrast to the feisty female portrayed in the video for Pdey Chongrai (“Evil Husband”), the hit that catapulted her to fame in 2017.
“I wanted to do something different with my music,” she says. “Something people in Cambodia aren’t used to; something that would make them listen.”
And Vartey is no diva; shunning the bright lights of Phnom Penh for life in the provinces, she lives in the small village of Prek Lvea in Kandal province, about an hour from the capital, where she grew up.
“Phnom Penh is too loud. There’s too much traffic and pollution. I love my province,” she says. “I have a big garden and my animals with me, so I’m cool. I don’t want to live in the city.”
Vartey harboured a passion for music from a young age. Inspired by her mother, who wrote poetry and song lyrics, the 25-year-old recalls a childhood filled with the sounds of upbeat Cambodian rock ’n’ roll from such icons of the 1950s and ’60s as Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea.