July 99
Artscape
Baltimore
Alexei Saaia (left) on morinhuur
Aldyn-ool Sevek (right) on igil (or sometimes spelled, egil)
Evgeniy (Zhenya) Tkachov (left) on drum
Albert Kuvezin (right) on zither
Q: Have you ever been on television in Tuva?
A: Yes. Many times. The last time was in April. We did a festival of live rock music, because for many years since perestroika, playing music live became very rare in Tuva -- not only in Tuva but also in the Russian Federation. And now many musicians have forgotten how to play like this.
We did the festival, and we even have a small movement in Tuva. So it's like rebuilding.
Q: Who organizes the festival?
A: The festival is organized by the musicians, themselves. And sometimes, we do short live performances. They're not like Yat-Kha concerts, but usually myself and some of the musicians in Tuva. After that, the local Tuvan tv invited us to comment on the festivals. They were also interested in our lives because for many years, they didn't exactly know about our band. They got all their information from central Russian newspapers and tv.
Q: So, in some sense, your band is underground, almost.
A: Yes, and in the Soviet Union times, we were underground because it was so ideological and oppressive of youth culture, especially of rock music. Everything from the West was forbidden, especially rock and roll, hard rock music...
(Thanks to Mary Huey for transcription help.)
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