A Uygur singer's road to music
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E-mail icrosschina.com, October 24, 2014
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Perhat Halik |
During a folk performance, he spotted his friend, also in the rock and roll bandwagon, wearing a folk costume and playing a traditional musical instrument.
"For the first time in life, I noticed the beauty of Xinjiang folk music and realized this is what I want," he said.
After that, he began blending Western rock and roll with Chinese folk elements, using the style to found a band named Qetiq in 2005.
The band earned small, but livable wages by singing in bars. While performing at such venues, Perhat Halik would occasionally sneak in original songs, but many guests, who were used to listen to familiar songs of famous singers, complained.
Eventually his band members tried persuading him to give up his original works and continue singing cover songs. But Perhat Halik insisted he continue, believing the audience would come to accept his music if he gave it more time.
He was proved right. "Some guests told me they felt uncomfortable if they didn't hear my songs for a long time," he said.
More recently, his mixture of traditional musical instruments like Dutar and Tambur with guitar, as well as his husky voice, attracted a German musician, who invited Perhat Halik to perform in Germany in 2010.
The tour was a success with his band becoming popular among European audiences. They now frequently travel to Europe to perform and last year Qetiq released its first album in Germany.
"The audience shows respect and tolerance to different music. They see it as an art," he said.
Now Perhat Halik often performs in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but he says he will never leave Xinjiang, the soil of his musical roots.
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