When did you discover the Hang, and what draws you to it? I saw it for the first time in 2003. My dad saw it at a festival and showed it to me online. I love how versatile it is, and how close together beautiful melodic elements and metallic percussion sounds are.
How does it feel to be such an instrumental figure in the discovery of this unique instrument? It’s really interesting to be playing such a young instrument. There are no heroes or legends, it’s all happening right now, and things keep changing all the time.
How would you describe the atmosphere of a live Hang performance? I can’t speak for all Hang performances, but I personally try to surprise audiences and hope that I can give them something that they haven’t seen or heard before. Some bits of my show are very quiet, dreamy and mesmerising, other moments can be loud, rhythmic and energetic.
Playing the Hang is both an audible and visual treat. Do you have any stories of a time you left a crowd speechless or ecstatic? Lots of people see various images and explain to me how it is a soundtrack to certain moments or even their life. I purely think about the music and leave other imagination to the people. I once started a show and before I even played the first note a guy from the very back loudly shouted in a Birmingham accent: “Oh my god it’s a f***ing Hang drum.”
