Interview by Eric Nakamura
The show went quickly with Ondar blowing the minds of those who had never seen or heard of Tuvan throat singing before. He walked on the stage with a Jet Li hair-cut and wore clothes that made him look like he was about to get on his horse to take over all of Asia.
For those of you who have no clue what throat singing is all about, just imagine yourself belting out a low note much like how you would imitate a roar. Then imagine a high pitch whistle accompanying it at the same time. In some forms of throat singing, four notes come out at once!
While intermingling hilarious body motions and gestures with an occasional heavily accented, "Good evening," Ondar's grin makes people smile and his voice makes everyone's jaw drop. He a showman at heart. All the while, Pena narrated every action of Ondar's performance. On occasion, Ondar would yank out his horse whip at the end of a song and slap his shoe with it to spark a powerful ending. After the Tuvan vocal samples, Ondar played a plucking guitar type of instrument to accompany his vocals. And then later in his set, he played some co-written songs with bluesman Paul Pena, which will appear on their upcoming collaborative CD.
After the show in the lobby of the museum, Ondar was working the crowd, signing autographs, gesturing, and smiling in photos. In reality he was hungry and had a foot infection that he was waiting to get looked at. After his PR run, he was huddled to the backstage area to have a waiting doctor check out his foot. It appeared to be some kind of painful rash. The doctor prescribed an ointment and some pills that he should take to cure it-the only hitch was that he couldn't drink any alcohol during the medication. Kongar-Ool winced at that information and gave a bummer smile; he likes his drink. He put his funky curved toe boot on, grabbed a plate of beef, rice, and some vegetables, and sat and talked with us in Russian through an interpreter and friend, Roko Belic.
GR: Are you a full time teacher?
GR: Is throat singing really popular?
GR: How did you start?
GR: What's up with your haircut?
GR: What about the shoes?
GR: What's your favorite place to perform?
GR: So now you're like a rock star!
GR: In Tuva, when you perform do you have to be different?
As a musician my job is to give as much as I can and I have to do it 100 percent. Some people do amazing things. They have dreams that are unusual. For example, there's a white person who goes to China to learn kung fu or he's seen karate movies and there's a lot of people who aren't from China or Taiwan in those movies, so those people are honest within themselves. They have a dream and they come to learn it themselves. So that's what I strive to doÐto do it well and as best as I can.
GR: Do women do this also?
GR: You are Asian. How does it feel to have the Russian title?
GR: Do you travel into Asia too?
GR: Do you need special care for your throat?
GR: Do you like liquor?
GR: What do you drink in Tuva?
GR: What's arakar?
GR: Since he liked the music, did that bring any monetary funding?
GR: Would you rather have Tuva as a separate state?
GR: What do you do for fun?
GR: Is Tuvan wrestling the same as Mongolian style?
GR: What's the best goal for the future of Tuvan throat singing?
GR: What kind of music do you like?
Translation by Roko Belic
GR: How's the tour going?
KO: Five years ago, I left the life of a travelling musician and began to teach in school. In Tuva there's not enough teachers to pass the tradition to kids and a lot of people are getting into modern things like rock and roll. So I took that upon myself as aÊsign that I need to teach. When I come here I get excited and love being on stage so much that I want to do it more and more. And then I think that I shouldn't be aÊteacher, but a musician again.
KO: In Tuva, I rarely perform these days because I spend a lot of time teaching, and on top of that, I spend a lot of time organizing concerts for my students as well as for adults.
Roko: The first time I went to Tuva he held the first ever rock concert at the national theater with a band that he put together with these guys who listened to rock and roll. And they had a light show and they did so much with so little that it was amazing. They sang traditional songs in a rock and roll style.
KO: In Kyzyl, I teach at the national school that was set up by the government where kids can stay, they live free, get a stipend, and they learn only art, so the most talented people of their country come there. But there are lots and lots of people who to go there and can't since there's so few spaces. For every three or four people that you meet on the street, at least one or two can throat sing. They are not professional, but they know.
Roko: We were bumping into people on the street and they could do it. We went to the symposium and 1000 people tried out for 130 spots. A lot knew many styles and played many instruments that Kongar-Ool doesn't play.
KO: I woke up and wanted to sing and I did it. I was in school. In my little town where I was born, Eeme, the lowest part of Tuva, the most talented people come from this region. One of the greatest masters of throat singing is there and he is now 78 years old. I consider him my grandfatherÐthe one who taught me. There another guy (dukpie)SP?. If he wasn't around, I might not have learned it. He was an inspiration. When we went to the summer ranch to relax, my mother's brother (uncle) and his friends would get drunk and sing a little bit. He was a great singer, and I think that's where I absorbed it. And I listened to it so much that I realize now that it's a natural thing because of that.
KO: My roots are Asian that's why. Within our culture for a long time, there are myths that go back forever. Even in the sports center downtown, there are paintings of wrestlers that have that hair. But not many people have this hair style.
KO: I regret that I can't tell you for sure why they are like this. However, the shoes culturally respect Mother Earth. They are shamanistic boots without a heel, and the curved toe helps us not attack the Earth in a negative way.
KO: I feel comfortable here. I always say I love San Francisco since this is where I met Paul Pena five years ago. February 6, 1993, on a Saturday, I met Paul here. There were so many people, and two other singers went back into the theater and I stayed outside, and Paul came up and sang to me and we became friends.
KO: I was born in the year of the Tiger on the Chinese horoscope, and in the month of the Archer. Whoever is born on that day will be a great throat singer and will also strive to achieve his dreams as strong as anybody can. So I think it's from the gods that I am like that.
KO: It depends on what kind of concert it is. When Tuva earned itself its own parliament in 1991, there was a ceremony. It was a very serious thing for Tuvans, so it was a serious concert. When people came to a concert, they pay money, and they didn't pay money to go home with nothing. They paid money so they can feel somethingÐthey spent their money well, so I feel responsible to give them something. Something they can take in their spirit. In San Francisco, I'm not in charge here, so I'm not quite as comfortable as in Tuva. So like at a rock concert in Tuva, I give away prizes, and have a raffle in the middle of a show. I gave away a sheep on stage! I buy stuff here sometimes like T-shirts, Walkmans to give them away.
KO: There are a few. Sometimes when mothers sing lullabies to children, they throat sing. Some people think that's where it came from. Women usually don't do that style. At the symposium, some people did it.
KO: It's horrible. In Russia, a lot of people have no idea that within Russia, this kind of culture exists. The talents that we have are different than other people. When we go to Moscow, we are scared, we don't know where to go, it's totally foreign to us. It's a horrible thing to be tied to Moscow.
KO: I want very much to go to Asia. I am going to Japan for four concerts in two weeks. I want to share what I have with people in Asia. Especially for my students. They want to go to China, Korea, and Japan. The greatest thing is to bring these kids out there because they learn fast. So as they interact (with other kids), the other kids will pick it up. When professional musicians (in America) hear throat singing, they don't think that they have to learn that (except Paul). When people think that they are professional, they have their set ways. But kids are totally open. If you are a kid, you think if he can do it then I can do it. That's what Ian does. Every time I stay at Ralph Leighton's place, his son Ian is singing for the next two months. (Ian gives a sample of his throat singing). (Kongor-Ool laughs) "American throat singing."
KO: If I do anything special for it, then it would hurt even more. I love ice cream and eat cold things that you aren't supposed to have for your throat.
KO: Terribly so.
KO: Whatever there is! There was a cultural rule that people didn't drink until they were about 40 years old. Russians came in and it's all messed up. Now there's drunks all over and there's teenagers stabbing themselves on the street. We are proud that we are descendants of Genghis Khan and that fighting is not all that bad.
KO: It's fermented milk, and they distill the stuff at the top and the nasty stuff settles to the bottom. They eat that stuff later and it's milk alcohol. That's the traditional drink.
Roko: When Yeltsin came a few years ago, he was the first Russian leader to come to Tuva. Kongor-Ool sang for him face to face and he was warned that the secret service was going to be there and he can't come within 20 feet. Kongor-Ool started singing and Yeltsin got out of his chair and he was so amazed that he walked right up to Kongar-Ool and Kongar-Ool thought he had to move back. And there's this great photograph of Kongar-Ool singing and Yeltsin, a tall guy looking down at him. Yeltsin drank the Arakar and got drunk.
KO: Very much. Many of our national heroes received official awards of recognition from the Russian government.
Roko: Kongar-Ool is a Russian hero also, not just Tuvan.
KO: The man who's yurt (hut like domecile) Yeltsin ate in runs a factory. After Yeltsin left, he asked him, "What do you need?" And they gave him a tremendous tractor for his farm. It helped to make a connection between Tuvans and Russia. They gave the Tuvan president a plane!
KO: It would have been great, but it would be very difficult now. It would be difficult if we did achieve that status. The economy is heavily subsidized. So many things are dependent on Russia like electricity, gas, lots of things are dependent. They gave us money so they have a hold on us.
KO: I don't have much free time. We take off sometimes to the country-side. Medicinal springs are all over Tuva and we go there, and we camp, or sometimes there are festivals in the summer for wrestling.
Roko: Kongar-Ool is related to these festivals since he organizes them and gets people together. He's a big fan of wrestling.
KO: Tuvan wrestling. There are some Mongolians who wrestle in Tuva.
Roko: There's a Tuvan kid on the Russian freestyle team. Two years ago, we went to Atlanta to see the World Wrestling Championships. The next year we went to the Olympics too. In the huge stadium, there's the last two wrestlers, a Romanian and this Tuvan kid. There's no one from Romania in Atlanta, and then there's this Tuvan kid, and no one knows who he is. The place was empty and everyone was mellow. And then there's this dude (Kongar-Ool) yelling in Tuvan from the cheap seats and the whole stadium looked at him. On TV in Tuva, the Russian feed, they heard his voice!
KO: A lot of his students are learning academic music. They are learning to read notes, and are learning how to play instruments they have never seen before. They are going to be accomplished musicians. I hope they bring Tuvan throat music to other types of music, like jazz and rock and roll. I hope that it grows.
KO: Pop music and rock music since it's everywhere. I especially like other Asian traditional music. That's calming to my spirit. You can tell whoever is singing or performing is singing from the soul and it's not something superficial like pop or something.
