The Brag

Hanggai
Mongolian Punks
By Benjamin Cooper

There’s a touch of the mystical in the mountains and plains of Mongolia, and awestruck Westerners are not the only ones to be enraptured. Ilchi, frontman of Beijing-based group Hanggai, is also taken with the power of the country – especially its music. “When I first saw it, it was very strong with me,” he says. Ilchi, the former frontman of punk group T9, was so impressed with a performance by Odsuren Baater – a master Mongolian throat-singer – that he decided in 2005 to journey to inner Mongolia and learn the technique himself. Whilst there he met with fellow students Batubagen and Hugeljiltu, and together they developed their shared interests: preserving Mongolian culture, while intensely rocking out. These three formed the group that would become Hanggai – a word referring to grasslands and open skies that captures only some sense of the vast and constantly-shifting country to which they belong.

While they may have taken on the massive task of keeping Mongolian traditions alive, Ilchi is quick to correct any perception that his group are sanctimonious culture crusaders. “I think we’re very much like normal people,” he explains. “I like to go down into the city to see different bands… Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of heavy metal shows.” Given Hanggai’s music blends traditional Mongolian instruments such as Morin Khurr with modern trimmings like electric guitar and delay pedals, will the metal influence translate to a heavier sound on their new recordings? “I’m not sure,” Ilchi says. “You have to be careful with metal – not all of it is so good.”

Ilchi favours the banjo, which he says few people in China are familiar with; “but we will show it to even more.” His first experience with banjo was similarly epiphanous to his encounter with throat-singing. “The American banjo player Béla Fleck once played in Beijing,” he says. The two ended up jamming together: “He kept wanting to play Hanggai style, but I was asking for him to show me some of his American style!” A friend brought a four-string banjo over from America for Ilchi a year later. “Béla plays a five-string, but even though I try I cannot [play it]. So I play four-string. It is fine for me.”

Australian audiences last had a chance to see Hanggai play earlier this year, when they toured at the invitation of the Sydney Festival. “We also played WOMADelaide… it was a very nice city, and a very good festival. We played in the park, which was very green, and we were also performing on a stage which was floating in the middle of a lake in the park.” There was food involved, too. “We were doing workshops on how to cook in a Mongolian style. We cooked up some fish, which people seemed to like, but the lamb was the best. I particularly like Australian and New Zealand lamb… the taste is very like Mongolian lamb, but not as hard.”

Another benefit of all this international touring is the chance to catch up with far-flung relatives. “My uncle and two brothers live in Sydney, so when we go there the whole band can relax and eat together,” Ilchi says. But when asked if any of his family will be jumping on stage for Hanggai’s show, he laughs. “Maybe. My brothers might want to join in, but my uncle… well, he’s just an uncle!” Yet even though there’ll be family times, the rock and roll lifestyle will still dominate. “We’ll be drinking and smoking, don’t worry – all the time.” Hopefully their throats can handle both the demands of singing two different pitches simultaneously, and the decadence of a touring band…

Where: January 3 & 4
When: The Basement, Circular Quay
More: Also playing Peats Ridge Festival, held from December 29 – January 1 at Glenworth Valley; for more on Peats, check page 20 & 21