Striking chord
Band in Xinjiang grassland tunes into surroundings with music
With a clear and endless sky framing the radiant sun, a band performs on a yurt-like platform against the backdrop of the wide-open spaces of the Nalati grassland.
The snow-capped mountains in the distance and animals leisurely grazing provide a setting reminiscent of another era.
The songs, some deep and resonant, seem to hover above the grass and crowds of tourists who come to get some idea of the spectacular vastness of the grasslands in Xinyuan county of Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
The band, named Nalati after the area in which it is performing, and its nine members, aged from 25 to 31, are locals who have a passion for music and promoting the diverse cultures in their hometown.
They play four gigs a day, each lasting for 40 minutes, during the peak tourism period from May to October, according to Wan Haitao, leader and guitarist in the band.
During the off-season, they livestream shows on the short-video sharing platform Douyin, where the band has garnered around 30,000 subscribers.
Wan, 31, used to be a ballad singer-songwriter, who performed in bars and live music venues in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.
In 2018, he was invited to play at the Nalati grassland.
“I was a freelance singer in Chengdu, which meant an unstable income. Currently, being a member of the Nalati band, I can stay closer to my family and earn more than 10,000 yuan ($1,563) per month, which gives me a feeling of security,” he says. His home is just 50 kilometers away from the scenic spot where he performs.
The band was founded on Nov 20, 2018. They began to rearrange their songs into choral music, using the accompaniment of dombra (a longnecked lute with two strings), tambourine, harmonica, panpipe and other instruments.
“We would often use the traditional musical instruments of different ethnic groups, especially the sybyzgy (a type of flute) and dombra of the Kazak people, in our musical works. I think these ethnic cultural elements can empower our band,” Wan says.
The band has also appeared in commercial shows.
A music festival in April at the scenic spot drew visitors who relished the local delicacies and the chance to camp in the wilderness.
“On that day, members from a post-rock band and a blues band that were also invited to perform for the festival told us that they were impressed by our style,” Wan recalls, adding that they received invitations from the two bands to do gigs in Zhejiang province’s Hangzhou city.
For Marzhan Baysamqyn, a 31-year-old Kazak music lover who once worked for a song and dance troupe in Xinyuan county as a solo performer, joining the band helped him advance in his technique.
He used to be a member of another band named Abuzi that played traditional Kazak tunes and won a national folk music competition in 2015.
“However, it later disbanded as most of the members were consumed by their day jobs,” he says.
Marzhan is adept in humai, or throat singing, and has been awarded as a successor of intangible cultural heritage in Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture for his expertise in playing the sybyzgy.
The Kazak side-blown flute is made from a hollow reed tube, on which three or four holes are cut. The instrument requires the performer to master a guttural sound while playing.
Marzhan learned how to master the instrument from his father at a young age. As he grew up, he endeavored to improve his playing technique and expand the repertoire on the instrument.
“I have been teaching more than a dozen apprentices how to play the instrument,” he says, adding that he wants to pass down the tradition to future generations.
Ulan Haltay, 29, is a vocalist and dombra player in the band. He graduated from the music school at Xinjiang Normal University and hopes that he can combine the traditional music of the Kazak people with the various popular genres of music.
“Our style is a bit more rock ’n’ roll. In this way, maybe we can attract a more contemporary fan base to our songs,” he says.
As a Kazak, he grew up on the sweeping pastures and is obsessed with the tranquility of the environment.
“Now I get to perform on the grassland every day. This is definitely what I want,” he says.
The band members have collaborated on nearly 20 original songs which mainly portray the beautiful scenery of the meadowlands and the unique lifestyles of the nomads who inhabit them. They plan to produce their first album this year.
“If we are well-prepared, we will also compete in some hit talent shows to further spread traditional Kazak music among people from outside Xinjiang,” Ulan adds.
Last year, the Nalati grassland scenic spot received nearly 1.85 million tourists with related income reaching 109 million yuan. This year, as of the end of May, about 96,500 tourists had visited, according to the local publicity department.