Playing Sober: Tulegur Swear Off the Sauce and Talk Making Inner Mongolian Rock Ahead of June 3 and 15 Gigs

Though Gangzi keeps Inner Mongolian traditions like throat singing and grassland folk alive in Tulegur (the duo he formed with guitarist Wang Zongcan), he doesn't swill baijiu compulsively, play aggressively or succumb to any other stereotypes that have been unfairly thrust on his people. Instead, he and Wang play nuanced, earthy folk that incorporates elements of grunge rock, with a literal clear-eyed, sober outlook. Ahead of their School and Modernista shows, we talk to Gangzi about swearing off booze, devoting himself to songwriting, and his beginnings in an entirely different genre of music.

You began your musical career by training as an opera singer. What was that like, and why did you stop pursuing it?
When I was young I wanted to study music, but there was no higher education facilities for modern music. Also, my parents would have been against that. So I went for traditional opera instead. My parents thought it was a more normal path to take, and that it would be easier to get a stable job later as teacher. But singing opera didn’t really suit me – I didn’t love it even though I’m not bad at it.

In a 2015 interview you said "I came to Beijing to play rock, but the minute I heard about Mongolian throat singing, I felt a strong connection to my heritage." Some people might be surprised that you found out about throat singing in Beijing, that it wasn't something you grew up with back home in Inner Mongolia. Does it make you feel like the tradition is dying off?
Yes, but the loss of such traditional culture itself does not make me sad. I just feel that someone needs to carry it on and keep on developing it, be creative with it and help it reach a broader audience. Recently traditional Mongolian culture is getting more recognition and more people are starting to explore it.

You've also said in the past: "It was common for Mongolian horsemen to sing what they saw as they saw it, so the lyrics are in perpetual flux. I do the same. While the themes are constant, there’s an element of improvisation.” Can you give me some examples of how you've done this at recent shows?
This is a very interesting question. Lately at our shows the songs have changed a bit. When I was performing solo I could go as I liked. But now, being a duo that occurs less and less. Two guys performing is very different to a solo show, and we both care about the details very much.

Tell us more about your dynamic as a duo.
I love working with Zongcan. We are both are from totally different musical backgrounds. We now know what direction we want to go in, even though the only things we really have in common are our devotion, and the high standards we set for ourselves in terms of music. We don’t settle for so-so results, we both need to feel 100 percent solid about it. I love musicians with such high demands.

And another important thing: neither of us drink anymore. I quit a long time ago, and Zongcan was never really into drinking anyway. We think it's important to play music with a sober mind.

How was your drinking affecting your music?
I discovered that once you talk to people in a sober state about ideas or plans, there will most likely be serious followup afterwards compared to if you are in a drunken state of mind. Besides, I was drinking too much back then.

What's next for Tulegur? Have you written and recorded new songs since Wind, Grass, Sound?
Yes, Tulegur is working on a full length album this year that shall satisfy ourselves first. And we will also put our energy into touring and live activities. We didn’t play many shows recently because we were both busy with our daily lives.

But we still spent a lot of time on songwriting and arrangements. Every week we’d do about five rehearsal sessions. So hopefully, in the second half of the year, we will showcase the results of those rehearsals, and get more feed back from the audience about those new songs we have been working on. We will head to Europe on tour first in July, and then come back for a China tour starting in August.

Tulegur will perform at School Bar on June 3 at 9pm and at Modernista on June 15 at 9pm. Check out their 2015 EP Wind, Grass, Sound here, and their 2016 single "The River," here.

Pictures courtesy of Tulegur