about Hanggai band

Hanggai, an ancient Mongol word. The meaning is, one place has the blue sky , white cloud , grassland , river , mountain and woods. HangGai bang is made up of 5 young musicians form different areas of China; it is a band that throws oneself into the Mongolian music. The Mongols and the Han nationality form the musicians. The musical instrument includes the horse-headed instrument, Tu-Pu-Shuo-Er (a kind of old plucked instrument in Mongolia), guitar, bass, and so on, Perhaps should count as that kind of peculiar " musical instrument " –Hu Mai－The singing laws that send out two even three pieces of sound with the throat at the same time . Through merging and developing the traditional music from different areas of Mongolia, the music of Hanggai band is changing direction in the oldest form from the most modern form. For Hanggai band, through go in for rock music and underground culture for a long timing, there is no difference between these two forms. “Do the Mongolians growing up in city miss their grassland?” In fact, this question belongs to all contemporary, those children beginning to miss the root.

Sometimes, people will mention the previous of the band, it once criticized, roared, having published the disc of the new metal style, but that goes over, Hanggai, it is today and the future.

Contact them:
Tel：13521276797 010-62357159 mail：hanggaiband@yahoo.com.cn

Banging to beat of a different drum
an article about hanggai band

"Linking ancient Mongolian musical traditions with their contemporary urban living experience, Hanggai is trying to create a unique sound of the ethnic Mongolian people in China..."

By Mu Qian(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-05-15 06:06
A young Beijing rocker has unearthed his Mongolian roots. Mu Qian reports

After listening to Ilchi's (Yiliqi) past and present music, one can hardly attribute them to the same person. While the former sound features distorted guitar, a galloping beat and a roaring style of singing, his new music is now melodic and soothing Mongolian folk songs accompanied by traditional instruments.

The 26-year-old musician has gone through a most dramatic change. Two years ago, he disbanded his alternative rock group T-9 after the release of their CD "Fix It" and formed his new band Hanggai. "The period of rock music in my life is over," he said.

The change of Ilchi may not seem so dramatic with his background. Ilchi was born an ethnic Mongolian in Xilinhot of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He moved to Beijing with his family at the age of 12, but he revisits his hometown every year.

Traditional folk songs sung by his grandfather and parents have been seeded in his memory since childhood. In his every visit back to Inner Mongolia, he looked for tapes and CDs of Mongolian folk music, even after he became fond of heavy music and formed his rock band in 2000. More contents...