Hanggai: Sounds from the Mongolian grasslands -- right to your local rock stage

The streets of Beijing are the last place you’d think to find the sounds of Mongolia, yet when Hanggai hits the stage, a Mongolian revival is in full force.

Hanggai is a team of young musicians from Beijing and Inner Mongolia who bring together the sounds from Mongolia’s folk traditions and the rock from Beijing’s livehouses. The result is a hybrid sound that’s winning fans worldwide -- and next door.

Intrigued yet? Of course you are. To listen to three of Hanggai's most well-known songs, click the links below:


Song 1: 圣祖成吉思汗

Song 2: 乌仁都希

Song 3: 托尔金山

Ilchi, Haggai’s frontman, chats with CNNGo before their upcoming concert on November 7 at Zhijiang Dream Factory.

CNNGo: So pop quiz, describe your music in one word.

Charming

CNNGo: Okay, can you do it in five words?

Traditional, modern, real, abstract and passionate

CNNGo: We know you're asked this all the time, but what does the word “hanggai” mean?

The origin of the word "hanggai" is from ancient Mongolian, it means an ideal farmland with blue sky, grassland, mountains, rivers and forests -- a heavenly homeland. This concept fits with the meaning we wanted for our band.

CNNGo: Your band has been described as on the forefront of a musical movement in China. In your mind, what movement is that and did you mean to be leading it?

I don’t know that we are the pioneers of the Chinese musical movement, I don’t even know if there is a complete musical movement in China today.

The growth of the nation’s economy should run in conjunction with its cultural growth. With the development we have today, the public expects more free, original and real music. We see a great number of rising acoustic artists in China as well as a more diversified rock music scene. Happy Girls show us that some girls even play guitar now.

Society naturally needs these changes to happen, which no one can ever stop. We are only a tiny part of that total change, as our Mongolian music brings a bit flavor to that change.

CNNGo: You’re based in Beijing, a city known for its live music scene, but not necessarily its traditional music. How is it being a band that plays a more traditional style of music in that environment?

We have been in Beijing for several years and we have a rather fixed fan base there, but I think we just need a bit more time to grow our fan base from what it is now there, and in other cities. Although our music is quite traditional, it’s also infectious, full of rhythm and power. We used to rock a lot.

CNNGo: If you could play a private concert for one person, who would it be?

I’d like to play for my grandpa who died a few years ago, he’s a real hero in my mind.

CNNGo: In earlier interviews, members of your band have sited Western groups like Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Secret Machines and Electralane as influences on your music. Can you explain the effect they’ve had on your sound?

Personally speaking, I was influenced by Rage Against the Machine when I was 19 or 20 years old, an age that people tend to rebel. I had wild ideas about society and our future and they fit that with their kind of music. The rhythm and lyrics within by Rage Against the Machine’s music, releases those emotions.

CNNGo: You’re from Inner Mongolia. How has your music received back at home?

There’s little access to our music in Mongolia, but I’m sure those who have heard love it, no matter where they come from, either cities or farmland.

CNNGo: What is the best reaction you’ve gotten from a fan a show?

It’s quite hard to think of just one instance. We respect our audiences and they usually express their love and appreciation for us each time we have a gig.

CNNGo: There isn’t one fan that stands out?

Well, once during a performance in the U.S. there was an Indian man there who after our gig, introduced us to a traditional Indian revival ritual as a way of expressing his connection with our music.

CNNGo: What is your first musical memory?

The first Mongolian song my Grandpa taught me when I was five years old.

CNNGo: Finish this sentence: Performing is like …

Performing is like retrieving one's truly inner self again and again.

CNNGo: So what’s next?

Keep working hard.