Sounds and Visions: Senon WilliamsSenon Williams, bassist of Cambodian psych-rock outfit Dengue Fever, is also a dedicated visual artist and poet. His atmospheric, text-augmented drawings and luminous, large-scale paintings—along with zines, artist books, and monographs—merge harmony and dissonance, chaos and control, danger and dazzle. And the same dynamic fusion applies to his music. So how did his creative life come to span so many mediums?“I did not go to art school,” Williams says. “When I was a child at punk shows and backyard parties, I didn’t believe school was the education I needed to create art. Later, after working as an art preparator for some amazing galleries and large art moving companies, I worked as an artist’s assistant—not art school, but an art education.”However it started, it’s working out just fine, because Williams is currently in England, en route to the prestigious Freud Artist Residency in Příbor, Czech Republic. Over the next year, he’ll return to England and Europe for exhibitions at the Freud Museums in London and Vienna.He’s also just completed a new monograph, Scrapyard (Hat & Beard Press), which he calls “a facsimile of a scrapbook I created over three years of studio practice.” With 10 historical vignettes by Plain Sight Archive “about the history of scrapbooking,” its fall release coincides with a new short film, Tilt Horizon, which Williams co-directed with filmmaker Tabbert Fiiller. Williams will also host upcoming events at the Philosophical Research Society around his art, poetry, screenings, and books.This is all between tours with Dengue Fever, of course. “We played the Palupo Festival in Thailand, went to Phnom Penh to perform and record with master traditional musicians... the Levitt Pavilion in L.A., Seattle, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Calgary Folk Festival… and have shows coming up in the fall.” A new album is on the way, plus instrumental and collaborative releases.As if that weren’t enough, Williams is also now playing bass in Acetone. “Acetone stopped playing in the early 2000s when key member Richie Lee passed away,” Senon says. “Due to a massive box release, my old friends Mark and Steve asked me to sit in. We’ve been performing live—during a N.Y.C. residency we played with the wonderful Susan Alcorn and Marshall Allen from Sun Ra Arkestra. Not originally in our plans when we started playing, we’ve since begun working on new material, and can expect a new album down the road.” And what a road it is.The post Sounds and Visions: Senon Williams first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.