T9 (band)
T9 was a Chinese rock band from Beijing that combined rock with traditional Mongolian music . In the meantime, the band around band leader Yiliqi has broken up, who is currently performing with the band Hanggai .
history
Yiliqi, the son of a Mongolian and a Manchurin , founded his first band in 1996 - and at that time he had nothing to do with Mongolian folk music . His first band was called Qingpi, which means something like "loafers", and was mainly committed to grunge . When he founded his second band T9 in 1998, he was particularly interested in Rage Against the Machine and other hardcore punk bands. But little by little, Yiliqi began to get bored of just having to be angry on stage and having to write texts about drinking, frustration and fear of the future.
In 2001 and 2002, he remembered more and more how his father and grandmother sang Mongolian folk songs to him as a child. He traveled increasingly frequently to his parents' hometown, Xilin Hot in Inner Mongolia . From there, he and his parents did not move to Beijing until the age of 12 . In Xilinhot, Yiliqi meets Obsorung, a famous singing teacher who teaches him Mongolian overtone singing - a type of singing that can be used to sing two or more voices at once. In addition, Yiliqi learns to play Mongolian musical instruments such as the "Tobushuur" (a two-string banjo) and the Morinhuur . The now 26-year-old, who grew up with Chinese as his mother tongue and had only sung texts in English until then, soon decided to only sing Mongolian . Although the T9 CD, Fix It , and its concerts in Beijing were very popular, Yiliqi was less and less interested in rock music and allowed more and more Mongolian influences to flow into his music.
A little later, Yiliqi's new interests could no longer be reconciled with those of a rock band and he finally dissolved T9. He says that this is the end of the rock period of his life. Lately he has been appearing in Beijing bars with the Hanggai Band and interpreting exclusively Mongolian folk music with them. Later, when they're good enough, he'd like to incorporate electronic music. His three new bandmates come from Inner Mongolia and worked there as professional musicians until they moved to Beijing . In the summer of 2006 they recorded their first studio album.
Beijing Bubbles
Alongside 4 other bands, Yiliqi also appeared in front of the camera in 2005 for the documentary film Beijing Bubbles , which portrays the blossoming punk and rock scene in Beijing . At the time the film was being shot, the band slowly turned away from classic rock and flirted more and more with traditional Mongolian music, so that you can hear the unusual mixture of rock and overtone singing in the film.