Mongolia is to honour its best-known rock band, The Hu, with the release of a special Bank of Mongolia commemorative coin featuring the fast-rising Ulan Bator folk-metal quartet.
Currently adorning one of four special Metal Hammer covers having been earmarked as one of the the bands taking metal into a new era, The Hu are enjoying a high profile start to their 2021, and the minting of this new coin, scheduled for release next month, can only boost the quartet’s profile further.
Speaking in this month’s Metal Hammer, the group are keenly aware that they’re now being looked at as trailblazers for the Mongolian music scene, and indeed the global metal scene, but are relishing the challenge of reaching a wider audience.
“It’s not easy to be the ice-breaker”, admits multi-instrumentalist Jaya.“Following in someone’s footsteps is easier most of the time. We work hard and we are proud to be the one to pave the way for other bands who will come after us. The satisfying thing is that other young people are coming up after us in Mongolia. We’re inspiring these people. If you work hard, anything is possible. If you really love it and picture it, and work for it, things will happen. This is the most satisfying thing for us.”
“This pandemic has given us so many perspectives and shown us the world is one family,” says Enkush, the quartet’s Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle) player. “We’re in it together regardless of our age, our race, our country. We’re going to cherish the lessons we’ve learned from this experience and we should work together to save this world.”
“This is a very important message in our music, too. Our band’s name is The Hu, meaning ‘human being’. We chose this name because of the inclusive nature of the word; this music is for every human being. We want to unite people through our music so we can stand together and fight against our challenges. When we’re together, we’re powerful. When we get the vaccine and get our normal lives back, that will be the biggest event of 2021.”
