ALTAN URAG SUR CNN

Mis en ligne le 2011-09-17

Altan Urag sur CNN

 

On CNN interview

par Altan Urag, samedi 10 septembre 2011, 16:42

D'après Facebook

I`m very disappointed, he says, that recently young people rock, pop style, changing our throat singing, because the basic characteristic of throat singing is lost in that way.

Well, try this. This is Altan Urag, a band that is taking Mongolian folk music, cranking the amps up to 10 and blasting it out to the world.

Of course, there was some criticism, but not very much, says Erka, the band`s leader. We are creating a new style based on our national instruments. So it caught the audience`s interest. The band formed a music school in 2002, now travels widely throughout Europe and Asia.

At the time we were setting up Altan Urag, Erka says, it had become just a symbol. Young people didn`t really listen to it. So we play our national instruments because we want to spread our national music to Mongolians, especially young people and, beyond that, to the world.

The instruments are the same. The music comes from the same traditions. But like everything in Mongolia, the past is giving way to the future

ALTAN URAG (Message Facebook): "With the goal of embracing and promoting Mongolian folk music, Altan Urag (AU) formed in May 2002. To attract young people, AU chose to meld a folk songwriting style to a rock backbeat, using traditional Mongolian instruments. In 2003, AU made its first public appearance at the Roaring Hooves Contemporary Music Festival. AU independently released its debut album Foal’s Been Born in 2004, followed... by Made in Altan Urag (2006), Mongol (2007) Blood (2008), Hypnotism (2008), Nation (2010), and Once a Upon Time (2010). AU has also been featured on the soundtracks of two films including Khadak and Mongol, the latter of which presented at several international film festivals. In 2004, AU was approached to be a Mongolian ambassador for cultural events in Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Uzbekistan. AU gained additional international recognition by participating in the Biennale Bern Arts Festival of Switzerland, Riddu Riddu Folk Music Festival of Norway, Macau International Arts Festival Macau and Fuji Rock Music Festival Japan. Festival audiences varied from 200-10,000 people; along with the other international bands, AU shared tickets with more well-known musicians such as Oasis, Paul Weller, Patti Smith, Lily Allen, Doves, White Lies, Fall Out Boy and Brahman."