Live music in Siem Reap, like in most resort towns, sucks and is confined mostly to covers of old 60s and 70s tunes, usually perpetrated by over-energetic Filipino bands.

Australian musician Daniel Sea, who performs three evenings a week at Molly Malone’s, laments the lack of decent live music in town.

“There’s not much of a music scene here to be honest, which is a shame because Siem Reap could use a lot more entertainment options.”

While his brief is, as usual, to play cover versions, Sea likes to mix it up to keep things interesting.

“I try to pick songs that people know but maybe they haven’t heard in a long time, and aren’t the obvious choices,” he said.

Sea, 35, grew up around music: his father was an Australian pop star in his youth. He moved to London in 1997 where he formed a rock band, Eight Foot Four.

In 2005, Sea started performing in Asia and first came to Siem Reap as a tourist over three years ago during a break from regular gigs at Choppers bar on Thailand’s Koh Tao.

Since then, he has shared his time between Koh Tao and Siem Reap. Sea also writes songs for other artists, in collaboration with songwriter/producer Niall Flynne.