Interview with Nine Treasures – Metaldays 2016

You drew such a big crowd to the second stage! That’s while Electric Wizard were playing on the main stage, so it was tough for myself and many others, wanting to see both bands at the same time.

Oooooh!

So, my first question is – where exactly are you from?

Inner Mongolia. [It’s not exactly China, and it’s not exactly Mongolia – it’s an independent region of northern China]

Is it difficult to travel abroad?

It’s fine actually, we just need to do all the paperwork. If you do it right, then it’s ok, I think, nobody stops you.

How many folk metal bands are there in Inner Mongolia?

Just a few bands, I think. Not so many.

I’m from Russia, so I’m familiar with the balalaika [triangular string instrument].

Can you explain the morin khuur?

Ah, that’s the traditional Mongolian instrument. It just has two strings, and then you have to make the harmony. You do not press on the strings, you just have to push the strings from the side.

Does it hurt?

Yes.

What kind of response do you have in China and Inner Mongolia to folk music? Where is your biggest audience?

I think now it’s maybe Beijing and Inner Mongolia – kind of north.

And where do you have the most fans? Abroad or in China?

I think in China because we have a lot of performances there and we come to Europe once a year. But, the European fan base is growing very fast right now.

How about the US? We have a folk metal following there as well.

We haven’t toured the US yet.

The problem is that we don’t have a label there right now – in Europe or in the US. It’s pretty hard to tour without that because you are actually booking a tour without promotion, so it’s pretty hard. The promotion is there, but it’s just a Facebook event or something, and that’s not an amazing promotion…

You do all the promoting and marketing by yourself?

Yeah, pretty much.

From my point of view, Nine Treasures is still an unknown band in Europe, so until you have the support, you can’t imagine what it’s like. So we have to put [our music] out there and have them see it – even if it’s just 10 people… And now we have a few thousand people who have seen us, and that’s nice.

Thank you for your time! I hope to see you guys again soon!

And if you’re a promoter and you’re reading this, I hope you get this hard-working group the fan base they deserve!

Interview – July 29, 2016