Nomadic folk metal artist, Naturre Ganganbaigaali, had a chance to speak to Side Stage Magazine about Tengger Cavalry, tour life and the release of their new album, Die On My Ride.
Side Stage Magazine: Hello, is this Naturre?
Naturre Ganganbaigaali: Yeah this is Nature, How ya doing?
Good This is Melissa Clark, with Side Stage Magazine
Hey how ya doing? Thanks for calling
Yeah, I’m doing good, pretty rainy day over here where I am, but other than that, pretty good.
Cool, We’re over here in Fargo, North Dakota. It’s kinda a fun, small town.
Oh, nice, yeah, I live in Idaho Falls, ID. So yeah, I get the small town thing.
Right. No but it’s very beautiful, I love the downtown, I live in NYC, it’s crazy but here it’s like the downtown area is so chill. I like it.
Tengger Cavalry, that’s a pretty interesting name. What does it mean?
Oh, yeah, Tengger is a Mongolian-Turkish word for the sky, You know, so Tengger Cavalry is like the army from the sky. It implies a little bit of the Shamanic Tribal label that the music has.
You guys have been called Nomadic Folk Metal, can you tell me about it?
Sure, the music is mainly heavy metal but we do have a lot of influence of Siberian shamanic music, Mongolian Folk music, Central Asian folk music, You know, some how all the music are rooted or related to the nomadic culture. Even a little of native American music too. I guess, because, a long time ago I used to tell people, “Oh, we’re just Mongolian folk metal, but then I realized we have more influences than that. So nomadic is more appropriate, it relates to more people, so really Nomadic is more accurate.
The throat singing, that’s really interesting.. does that come from the Mongolian side?
Throat singing is mainly from the regions of Siberia, Mongolia, a little bit of Northern China, that kind of area.
I like it, I think it sounds really cool. It’s a good blend of the folk sounds and the metal, it comes together really nicely. It shows on your new album, Die On My Ride. Do you want to tell me a little bit about that album?
Sure, this is our sixth album so far, it just came out June second. This album is a little bit different from our previous albums. Most of them sound like very traditional nomadic folk metal, like the folk is much more according to the traditional feel. But with this one we tried to be more creative, You can hear the throat singing and all the nomadic instruments we use in a really western or contemporary way, I would say it’s more experimental with even some poppy chorus are used. I think that’s more of the interesting part of the album.
So you guys are on tour right now, What’s the craziest thing that’s happened so far on your tour?
We have been playing in Canada, and to a couple American cities, so far people have been very excited to see us, Especially with all these different instruments and different sounds, you know so we are just really happy to play in front of all these people who come to our shows. Tomorrow we’re heading to Canada, so we’re excited to play there, and actually this whole coming week it’s all Canada gigs. I’m excited to play in Canada, where we’ve never played before.
When I listen to your music it almost feels like there is an anti racial discrimination message behind it? Is that something that you’re trying to put out with the music?
Uh, No, Not very specifically, It’s more of a natural thing. You know, more like we’re not trying to make a point, more that it’s nature oriented music, but of course it will be like that, its more about tribal culture, it’s more about nature, about the traditional stuff, rather than extreme stuff. We’re not trying to force any point but more like let it happen? Does that make sense?
Yeah, yeah it does. I’m kinda a hippie myself, so the nature aspect of it kinda draws me to it. It’s pretty nice. If I was going to come to one of your shows, what do you think I should expect to see?
The throat singing sound in a live show. Also different traditional instruments. Our stage presence with the traditional outfits. Those things will be pretty interesting to observe.
Yeah, I’ve seen some photos and videos and I really love the Mongolian style hat you wear. It’s pretty cool. I like the vibe you guys put out with your music. If you were going to say something to your fans, what would you say to them?
We just want to say, we really appreciate all the support that we have from all over the countries. We make the music but without any support, without the people who love the music, the band won’t exist, you know. We all feel that our audience is a part of the band, they are creating something with us, together. We really appreciate all the support, especially the people who show up at our live shows.
Live shows are where it’s at, I go to a lot of live shows and the feeling you get from a live performance, you can’t capture in an audio track, It’s not the same. And having your fans there and being able to feed off of their energy probably really helps.
Yeah, totally, it’s cool cause then you can talk to the people who are really into it. You can connect with them and become friends. I think that’s a cool thing. That and getting drunk together, of course (laughter)
Yeah, definitely! So what are your plans after the tour, what are you doing next?
We have like 3 or 4 European festivals in July and August, and we have to get prepared for that. We need to have the best representation in Europe. So that’s going to be a little stressed and exciting challenge.
So when you guys get some down time, what are you looking forward to doing?
We all have part-time jobs so, we’ll be working, making some pocket-money. Me personally, I do a lot of boxing. So I would probably go to the boxing gym every day, train myself. I’m so behind now, so I just want to get back and catch up with my trainer.
Right on, what kind of boxing do you do?
You know, like boxing boxing, not kickboxing but the American boxing. Like hit me as hard as you can boxing.
Nice, nice. That’s probably got to be a good stress reliever.
Yeah, also it’s kind of using your strength as a management or a meditation. You learn how to control your body, you’re aware of what you’re doing, especially during the fighting. When you actually have to control different aspects. I think it’s a good thing.
So your band, how many people are in it right now?
We have 4 for now, last year we had 5 but this year, one person couldn’t come. So 4 for this tour.
How did you guys all meet?
We met online, through friends, different sources of different wealth, meeting through mutual friends or like meeting at a show or something. Or when you’re trying to find a musician you just ask people in the community, eventually you’ll find one. It’s kind of hard, finding people is always the hardest part, you got to just figure it out I guess.
I wish you guys the best of luck on your tour. I think that you guys are doing a really good job and the music sounds amazing, It’s definitely bringing some originality to the metal scene, something that you don’t really get anymore. Everything is so cookie-cutter, it’s nice to have something outside of the box.
Yeah, Thank you.
I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today, thank you.
Thanks for paying attention to our music and asking the questions. Have a great day.
