The arts the screening of the films or the diverse musical performances of the 1960s have made Cambodians and foreigners from all over the world obsessed with the sweet, angelic voices and the vibrant display of the artists, musicians, and actors in each and every one of the performances. Without question, the old-time singers like Mr. Sinn Sisamouth, Mrs. Pan Ron, Mrs. Ros Sereysothea and many others are regarded as the most popular stars of all time, and some were even given the title of the Star with the Golden Voice from His Majesty, the King himself! Those glorious days are gradually coming back to life as two foreigners are collaborating on a graphic novel set in the golden era of Cambodian music.

          Our meeting with the writer, Greygory Cahill and the illustrator, Kat Baumann working on the graphic novel “The Golden Voice” reveals that this fascinating novel mostly centers on the Star with the Golden Voice, Mrs. Ros Sereysothea, as well as some other popular stars of the era. Greygory and Kat decided to create this novel about the life of Mrs. Ros Sereysothea because they both share a sense of appreciation and love for the classical timeless art that she and her fellow artists of the time represent. “The Golden Voice” is the first book that Greygory has ever worked on, and he mentioned that “The Golden Voice project has been underway since 2006, but it is still lacking a number of inputs and our budget has also been limited, plus I also have a specific era in mind as well as for when it will be released”. As time goes by, and the years pass, it has spurred Greygory and Kat to work even harder and make every effort to finish the project and publish this intriguing graphic novel as quickly as possible so that it can be released by 2021.

          Greygory has lived up to the challenges he’s encountered in finding all of the source materials saying that “I have spent more than 10 years looking for documents related to the life of the most popular star of the 1960s, Mrs. Ros Sereysothea, and even though it has been somewhat difficult, I have never given up”. Between 2006 and 2007, Greygory was on his quest to gather information on the background of Mrs. Ros Sereysothea by finding some of her former contacts that were still alive, but the information had yet to be completed at that time. Back to the present day and through the social networks such as Facebook, “The Golden Voice” page has given us glimpses of a novel that is filled with the most attractive and vibrant Cambodian aesthetics of the 1960s. The smiles of the musicians, the Cambodians, the views of Battambang city and other famous Cambodian places are heavily featured in the novel. The uplifting art style is the amazing work of Ms. Kat Baumann who has devoted all of her time and effort, and put all of her feelings, emotions and imagination into making a world based on a place she has never visited. However, she has been able to fit it perfectly with the story and narrative that Greygory has created.

          It should be noted that “The Golden Voice” will be ready to be officially published by 2021. Through this novel Mr. Greygory hopes that Cambodians and all the other people from around the world will continue to support the work of Mrs. Ros Sereysothea even more than they currently do now.

Article by PAN SIVLY