Author | Ariana
Title | Provided by the respondent
"The guitarist - Su Bodai, the drummer - Xu Zhihong, Yidel Yider, and the keyboard player - Asr." The four members of NaraBara have been accustomed to this process of mutual introduction. When each performance is approaching the end, they must complete a solo in the cheers of the audience.
(Photographed by Nie Yifan)
In 2023, the four members took the band's first album, Hamt Zamin H ü m ü s, to many places in Eurasia: from Brussels to Amsterdam, from the show of Paris Fashion Week to the club in Berlin, from the valley to the coastline, from the plateau to the grassland
When the band came to Ulaanbaatar, it was late autumn in Mongolia, and the vegetation began to turn golden. There are scattered yurts on the way from the airport to Ulaanbaatar, and herdsmen are preparing for the long winter. Living in the city for a long time seems to slow people's perception of cold. The young people in Ulaanbaatar still wear thin clothes.
After an outdoor performance, the audience under the stage exhaled white water vapor and shouted the name of the band "Nara Bara" in standard pronunciation, which means "the outline of the sun" in Mongolian.
Tour of Ulaanbaatar
In the middle of September, I arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, separately with NaraBara. The journey from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar is not far away. When we think of the historical origins between the two countries, the city does not give us a strong sense of distance in space or psychology.
The Mongolian film Umbilical Cord starring Yidel Yider was released in Mongolia at the same time, NaraBara's special performance "Sainu" will also be held in Ulaanbaatar. The four main creators told me: "Sainu is the simplest and simplest greeting in Mongolian, which translates into" How are you
(Photographed by Nie Yifan)
When we met in the cafe outside the movie premiere as agreed, the band had just finished recording a program on the local radio station. This event was accompanied by more people than I expected, occupying the card seats in the corner. "Everyone is exhausted!" the band manager told me, "This time, we just want to do sincere music presentation, so we didn't do any commercial publicity in the early stage, but invitations to interview have been sent in succession, including the Mongolian National Public Radio and Television. Before leaving, the band's schedule was full. In order to ensure the rest time of the band members, we had to decline some invitations. "
The appearance of the premiere cinema looks like a game hall that will appear in old movies, but the internal facilities are not old. Local media and film practitioners have entered the arena one after another, and they seem to be familiar with each other. During the post screening exchange, Yidel Yider came on stage to interact with the audience in Mongolian. The Mongolian girl with him told me: "In the 1940s, influenced by the Soviet Union, Mongolia began to implement Mongolian marked by Cyrillic letters. In recent years, Mongolia has always hoped to resume the use of traditional Uighur Mongolian, that is, Mongolian written language used in Inner Mongolia. Although there are differences in the words used by the two places at present, there will not be too many obstacles in daily communication. "
On the way back to our residence, it began to rain again. We waved to passing vehicles like stranded backpackers. There are almost no taxis in Ulaanbaatar. If you want to take a ride, the simplest way is to wave to every passing car at the roadside. Most of the time, someone will be willing to stop to pick you up for a distance, and the charge is uncertain.
One Body and Two Sides of Contemporary Mongolian Culture
Traditional culture and modern life are two sides of Ulaanbaatar. Modern buildings support the central area of Ulaanbaatar. The famous historic sites stand in the light and shadow cast by skyscrapers, and the dense commercial residential buildings extend to the mountainside in the distance. Once you leave the central area of the city - it only takes a few minutes to drive in the right direction - the imagined appearance of the grassland appears behind a building, vast, vast and quiet. These adjectives about the grassland can be used one after another at this moment. In the "shantytown" on the hillside in the suburbs, simple houses also have colorful iron roofs, with white yurts interspersed among them.
"NaraBara feels like Ulaanbaatar," I thought.
At 10:00 am on the opening day of NaraBara's special performance "Sainu", the four members had already dragged their instruments to the scene for audition. Ydell Yider took out the horse head fiddle, flute, electronic music synthesizer, as well as the national music instruments of different sizes that could not be named. Throughout the afternoon, Mongolian musicians kept visiting, some brought their own signed records, and others brought a traditional Mongolian jacket to Yidel Yider.
(Photographed by Nie Yifan)
Before the start of the performance, it began to rain again in Ulaanbaatar, and the early arriving audience waited outside. "This city is wonderful, and you have never come to the wrong place." When he said this, Yidel Yider was taking advantage of the waiting space to quickly eliminate the fried chicken in front of him. "You think, in a place not far from such an international city, the herdsmen on the grassland still live a traditional nomadic life. However, young people in cities are especially active and highly accept different cultures. Popular culture in South Korea and Japan has a deep influence on them. Almost all Mongolian literary and art workers are in Ulaanbaatar, and everyone they meet these days is very sincere and enthusiastic. "
Before Nara Bara came on stage, the audience was already crowded in the rain. There were different faces in the crowd. From time to time, I saw the Mongolian robes with exquisite materials flash in front of me. I quickly looked up to find the owner of the clothes. In the chorus, everyone seems to have found their own voice part. The young girls dance to the music of NaraBara, with their arms flying, and draw the right arc, which reminds people of the scenery on the grassland when the water and grass are abundant. During the performance, the venue is always full of high-density energy.
Nearly half of the people in Mongolia gather in Ulaanbaatar, and the number of people flowing into the capital is still increasing every year. This is one of the cities with the lowest average age of residents. Even in the late night, Korean convenience stores that are open 24 hours a day can be found everywhere. There are young people waiting for admission at the door of the club. There are many restaurants in various countries on the pedestrian street. After driving out of the busy street, the city shows the general tranquility as in the well-known song "Night in Ulaanbaatar".
Fellow traveler
On the first day of the band's arrival in Mongolia, Nara Nara Nara, the accessory track of the album Hamt Zamin H ü m ü s, went online. The lyrics come from Mongolian nursery rhymes and are sung among children, expressing the purest wish: to invite light and kindness to our life and let darkness go away. This single was born by accident: Xu Zhicong played a drumbeat on a stone in the valley, Su Bodai and Asr Asr joined with their own instruments, and Ydell Yider finally entered and sang a melody. The original version of the single was born before the band left for Europe to tour.
(Picture/provided by the respondent)
"It's totally natural." Su Bodai likes the real collision in the process of making music. "When I was working as a band in the 1990s, everyone had time. When I had nothing to do, they would gather in the rehearsal room to make sounds together, let them collide, and then produce a work. Nowadays, music is mostly done with a single motive or idea to improve, and then superimposed and pieced together. The rhythm is faster than that. People have their own things, but we should also try to find a balance between life and creation. "
"After arriving in Europe, we got to know many local artists and musicians, who all held a very open and cooperative attitude." Xu Zhiman said, "The band decided to complete the recording of this single before returning to China. The local guitarists, percussionists, Bass performers and some African instrument performers in Berlin joined in. In a musician's own studio, we improvised and recorded the final version of Nara Nara together. In fact, this song was originally called "Stone", and "Nara" means "sun" in Mongolian. We hope to establish a warm relationship between people through music, just like the experience of completing this song, so it has its final name. "
Today, with so many popular music tracks, Nara Bara's attempt is to pass through a narrow door - which is also a dilemma for minority music. But they believe: "Stick to a relatively correct path, and more and more people with the same frequency will join."
Hidden uncertainty and romanticism
Aser Asr studied in a Mongolian language school when he was young, and received professional training in national musical instruments: "My major before was horse head fiddle, and later I also made explorations such as blues, electronic music synthesizers, or some single piece timbre expressions that favor electronic music. The feeling of urban life made me feel that I should make such an attempt. But national music is my foundation, and I will wonder if I can integrate the two. " Yidel Yider and Asr have similar cultural background and music aesthetics. They want to look for more possibilities from the perspective of Mongolian national music. "I don't want to be classified into the category of world music because it is minority music," said Yidel Yider
NaraBara hopes to make "true", "natural" and "lasting" music, not rigidly adhering to any genre, as long as these music naturally flow from every "fellow person": drummer Xu Zhimao once lived in Germany to study jazz drums; Guitarist Su Bodai was attracted by the national instruments in Mali, West Africa, and integrated the characteristics of Mali music into his playing style; Ider Yider and Asr Asr's understanding of Mongolian traditional music has injected soul into NaraBara's music.
(Photographed by Nie Yifan)
Although there are many elements, NaraBara's music always has a sense of flexible breathing. "NaraBara's music makes people feel comfortable because of its root causes." Xu Zhitong said, "At present, many people are trying to make integrated music, just under the framework of classical music system, world music system and modern music system. NaraBara's valuable thing is that we found the logic of the roots of modern music, and then naturally incorporated it into the characteristics of our four people who have been doing music for so many years, so that we have the final result. "
"Mongolian ancestors came to the grassland from the forest, and built cities on the grassland. As an ancient way of life, nomadism seems to be back in vogue recently." Yidel Yider said, "nomadism is to follow the laws of nature, which implies a kind of uncertainty and a romantic way of life. For making music, embracing uncertainty is also a valuable part of the band's character. It's best for us to do music in a very natural state. "
In NaraBara's music, the application of Mongolian language and instruments with local characteristics is a representation. Through these images, they use the modern expression of music to touch the root of culture.
(Photographed by Nie Yifan)
Modern people living in cities are in high-speed centrifugal movement. Many people are far away from the things that breed us. The relationship between tradition and modernity is often considered as a binary opposition. There seem to be only two successful models: to draw a clear line with their own roots, or to adhere to it permanently. NaraBara seems to have found a certain intermediate state, which is free to roam between tradition and modernity.
Original title:
NaraBara: between tradition and modernity, nomadism is the method
This article launches the 647 issue of the new weekly "Ancient Shanxi"
