Srey Thy, The Cambodian Space Project's lead singer was born into war and poverty. Thy spent the first 10 years of her life moving about the frontlines of conflict (post Pol Pot) with her father, a tank driver, and has never had the opportunity to go to school. She has an enormous repertoire of songs, mostly memorized and improvises many of her vocals. Today, Thy is at the forefront of a revival of Khmer rock'n'roll, she writes original and witty lyrics in the style of the Chapei masters such as Kong Nay (also her teacher and recruited to record for Peter Gabriel's Real World label in the 1990's) The best example of this songwriting style is her story about trying, repeatedly to get visa for herself and the CSP to tour France in 2010 . The track called "Have Visa No Have Rice" tries to explain how even in France it's hard for a Cambodian to eat ! "Before having a visa, I had to go to the French Embassy. Unexpectedly and nervously, I was granted the visa. Comfortably, I could fly to France and discover Paris. After my arrival, I was a bit sad because I couldn't eat their food. They had bread and pizza while I could eat only rice." The Cambodian Space Project had a busy 2011 on the back of their debut single released in mid 2010. In January they toured Australia playing alongside the likes of Grinderman & Phillip Glass. This was followed by a short tour of Southern China in February and then off to Austin's SXSW in March followed by dates in Colorado, Seattle & Portland. The band then returned to Cambodia for Khmer New Year in April. In September they visited the UK for a short tour and a spot at the End of The Road Festival, from there to Bali for the Ubud Writers Festival and next onto Australia for a Xmas and New Year Tour and to start recording their second album under the tutelage of Bad Seed Mick Harvey.
