notion of the past by implementing a radical form of agrarian socialism while simultaneously shunning outside aid and influence. In order to build and protect their utopian goals, the Khmer Rouge perceived enmity in anyone tied to the previous Cambodian governments, ethnic and religious minorities, intellectuals, and members of certain professions. In the ensuing Cambodian genocide, about 25 percent of the Cambodian population perished. More than half of those who died during the genocide are believed to have been directly executed. The rest died through forced labor, malnutrition, and disease due to the Khmer Rouge's cruelty and poor management of its utopian project. Musicians posed an apparent threat to the Khmer Rouge regime due to their influence on culture, incompatibility with an agrarian lifestyle, and foreign influences. Many of Cambodia's rock musicians disappeared during the genocide and their exact fates have never been confirmed. Due to these musicians' enduring popularity with the Cambodian people, reports differ on how some of them died. Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea are both believed to have been summarily executed by Khmer Rouge soldiers out of fear that their popularity could foment resistance among the population. However, these reports have never been confirmed. Meas Samon is believed to have been executed at a work site after refusing to stop playing music during breaks. Other musicians like Pen Ran, Yol Aularong, and Pou Vannary simply disappeared sometime between 1975 and 1979 with no information available about their fates, as is the case with most of the ordinary Cambodians who perished during the genocide. Some Cambodian rock musicians survived the genocide through various hardships. For example, Drakkar guitarist Touch Chhatha was among many professional musicians who were forced to play traditional and patriotic music every day to Khmer Rouge troops. Chhatha's bandmate Touch Seang Tana survived several years' imprisonment at a work camp by pretending to be a common peasant. During the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh, singer Sieng Vannthy was confronted by insurgents who demanded to know her occupation. She lied and said she was a banana seller, which probably saved her life as the Khmer Rouge were already known to target musicians for imprisonment or execution. As with many other aspects of pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodian culture, much of the country's rock music and information about the musicians was lost during the chaos of the regime. In their attempt to "purify" Cambodian society and