Mongolian Rock: The Real Hu (Part 1 of 2)

One of music’s most unlikely genre mashups is also one of its most fascinating and compelling. Coined “hunnu rock,” the combining of traditional folk music of Mongolia with modern hard rock/metal is the musical mission of the Hu. The quartet of musicians from the Asian country came together a decade ago with their pioneering hunnu rock, with a goal of bridging the gap – and erasing the lines – between ancient and modern. Tuvan throat singing, folk instruments and power metal come together brilliantly on records and live performances from the Hu. Ahead of a worldwide tour in support of their upcoming third album The Hun, band member Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts spoke with me – with the help of a skilled interpreter – about the group and its music.

Is it a challenge to apply traditional Mongolian instruments to metal?

Jaya: When the Hu started our music journey, we found that ancient Mongolian instruments like tovshuur and horsehead fiddle do fit into the tuning of classic rock music. We talk extensively about how [the two styles of music] fit into each other greatly and really complement each other. That’s why we have our own Hu style: hunnu rock. With hunnu rock music, we look for elements that give a grandiose feeling, of bigger-than-life energy to be received by the fans; that’s the feeling that we go for. Classic rock and Mongolian traditional music both have those elements anyhow, so we don’t see much difficulty.

In the studio and/or live, do you process the traditional instruments through modern effects like distortion pedals?

Depending on the song, we do use distortion. Of course we have very heavy songs and very melodic ballad songs as well. For the traditional instruments, we like them to be played as-is. On the third album specifically, we have classic metal songs, so those will use more distortion. But the classical traditional instruments have really good depth, so they [are unprocessed].

Tell me about the message within the lyrics of the new single, “The Real You.”

We’re living in a time when people judge each other ruthlessly, not understanding where they’re coming from. And that results in hate and division. The lyrics are a reminder for people to think internally, to see who you are and evaluate yourself before judging others. If you really understand how you’re making those decisions, then you will have empathy for others. It’s a very simple and yet very big philosophy. Basically, we’re saying, “Hey, are you that perfect? Are you divine yourself to be judging other people?” We’re trying to say that there is a version of you that’s humble, divine and understanding of others, so try to find that.

That’s the one track from the new album that we’ve heard so far. What can you tell me about the other songs on the upcoming album The Hun?

We do have songs that are very explosive and energetic; they have the hunnu rock genre elements, using traditional music as the base. But on top of that we also expand into songs that are very fast hard rock music. What we do is create songs dedicated to the wisdom of Mongolian traditions like family and Mother Earth. On the new album we’re going to have a slow song, if you will. So The Hun carries everything. It has one song that’s dedicated to fathers; we’re gonna have some songs that are mostly aligned with hard rock, and there are upbeat Mongolian rock songs as well. Our fans are in for a surprise, because they’re going to see how much the Hu’s music has expanded.

Is the band going to be playing songs from The Hun live in concert before the album is released?

Our world tour schedule has a first run in North America in May, and then we’re going to play Knebworth Park [in London] with the amazing Iron Maiden. Then we’re going to come back for the Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson tour in September. And then we’re going to go back to headlining in Europe in October and November! So the schedule is fully packed. We’re going to start promoting and playing songs from our new album in May, and our fans are going to be delighted. We’re going to bring in our new songs and we’re going to rock together. But [for now] we’re going to keep the names of the songs to ourselves, because we want that to be a surprise.

In the past, the band has taken part in a number of collaborations with English-language singers. Is more of that in the band’s future?

Yes, we’re going to have a collaboration, but again, I can’t reveal who it is at the moment. But our album is scheduled to be released in July, so you’re going to find out really soon. Normally we have our original version of a song released, and it’s then followed with the [English-language and guest vocalist] version. This time around we’re shaking things up a little bit, releasing the [English] version first.

There are 11 songs on the album. And at least one of them will have that feature, so we’ll see how people like it. We’re very excited to work with these people; they teach us, and we collaborate together on the songs. We understand how their melody works and they also see how our horsehead fiddle works; it’s a learning process throughout. We are very accustomed to be partnering and collaborating, and that tradition will continue.

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