Sainkho Namtchylak

Sainkho Namtchylak (; ; born 11 March 1957) is a Russian singer-songwriter from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She has resided in Vienna, Austria since 1991. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing .

Style Namtchylak is an experimental singer, born in 1957 in a secluded village in the south of Tuva. She is proficient in overtone singing; her music encompasses avant-jazz, electronica, modern composition and Tuvan influences. In Tuva, numerous cultural influences collide: the Turkic roots and culture it shares with Central Asian states, Xinjiang, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan; the strong Mongolic cultural influence and traditions it shares with Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Buryatia and Kalmykia; the cultural influences from the various Siberian nomadic ethnic groups such as Samoyeds, Yeniseians, Evenks and from the Russian Old Believers, the migrant and resettled populations from Ukraine, Tatarstan and other minority groups west of the Urals. All of these, to extents, impact on Namtchylak's voice, although the Siberian influences dominate: her thesis produced while studying voice, first at the University of Kyzyl, then in the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow during the 1980s focussed on Lamaist and cult music of minority groups across Siberia, and her music frequently shows tendencies towards Tungus-style imitative singing.

Being the daughter of a pair of school-teachers, she grew up in an isolated village on the Tuvan–Mongolian border, exposed to the local overtone singing – something that was generally reserved for the males; in fact, females were actively discouraged from learning it (even now, the best-known practitioners remain male, artists like Huun-Huur-Tu and Yat-Kha). However, she learned much of her traditional repertoire from her grandmother, and went on to study music at the local college, but she was denied professional qualifications. Quietly she studied the overtone singing, as well as the shamanic traditions of the region, before leaving for study further in Moscow (Tuva was, at that time, part of the Soviet Union). Her degree completed, she returned to Tuva where she became a member of Sayani, the Tuvan state folk ensemble, before abandoning it to return to Moscow and joining the experimental Tri-O, where her vocal talents and sense of melodic and harmonic adventure could wander freely. That first brought her to the West in 1990, although her first recorded exposure came with the Crammed Discs compilation Out of Tuva. Once the Soviet Union had collapsed, she moved to Vienna, making it her base, although she traveled widely, working in any number of shifting groups and recording a number of discs that revolved around free improvisation – not unlike Yoko Ono – as well as performing around the globe. It was definitely fringe music, although Namtchylak established herself very firmly as a fixture on that fringe. In 1997, she was the victim of a serious attack that left her in a coma for several weeks. Initially she thought it was some divine retribution for her creative hubris, then she recorded Naked Spirit in 1998, which had new-age music leanings. However, by 2000, she seemed to have overcome that block, releasing Stepmother City, her most accessible work to date, where she seemed to really find her stride, mixing traditional Tuvan instruments and singing with turntables and effects, placing her in a creative firmament between Yoko Ono and Björk, but with the je ne sais quoi of Mongolia as part of the bargain. A showcase at the WOMEX Festival in Berlin brought her to the attention of many, and in 2001 a U.S. tour was planned.

Career After graduating, Namtchylak worked with several ensembles: the Moscow State Orchestra; the Moscow-based jazz ensemble Tri-O (since 1989); School of Dramatic Art under the direction of Anatoly Vasiliev (Moscow), various orchestras in Kyzyl, the Tuvan 'folkloric orchestra'—a far less sanitised example of folk baroque than, say, existed in pre-independence Kazakhstan—that has housed many of Tuva's other important singers. However, for several years Namtchylak annually invited foreign musicians to Tuva to promote Tuvan culture. alt=Image of a woman in a dress on stage singing into a microphone in front of a man playing trombone and a man with a violin. Based in Vienna, Namtchylak sculpted Stepmother City to reflect her ambivalent feelings about European metropolis. Calling herself "first and foremost a woman from the Steppes," Namtchylak's first musical inspiration came from her nomadic grandmother, who would sing lullabies for hours. She grew up in a culture where people just sing when they feel like it—singing when they’re happy and singing when they’re sad. Denied professional credentials from a local college where her explorative nature led her toward forbidden male-dominated overtone singing styles, Namtchylak transferred to Moscow where she discovered Russian improvisation and where she also continue to study about vocal techniques of Siberian lamaistic and shamanistic traditions.

Audiences are astounded by the diversity of sounds Namtchylak can produce with her voice, from operatic soprano to birdlike squawks, from childlike pleas to soulful crooning; which at various moments elicit comparisons to Zap Mama, Patti Smith, Billie Holiday, and Nina Hagen. In 1997, Namtchylak was horrifically attacked by Tuvinian racketeers in Moscow which left her in a coma for two weeks. Again, sources regarding this contradict – others maintain that she underwent surgery for a severe malignant brain tumor; regardless, 1997 marked an appreciable change in her life. Since then, she has been resident in exile in Vienna, and has also recorded more prolifically as a solo artist – although she has released over thirty albums in the past twenty years, only seven have been entirely solo.

Namtchylak claims that music and spirituality are related by desire, or the tension that yells to reawaken people. Eager to take part in the process of remembering what has been forgotten, Stepmother City presents itself like a map, proposing routes to connect Western physicality with Eastern spirituality.

In 2005, the Italian publishing house Libero di Scrivere released a book of poetry Karmaland. In 2006 in Saint Petersburg, a book Chelo-Vek (a play on words in Russian, conflating "chelovek" meaning "person" and, though the hyphen, obsoletism "chelo" meaning "front" or "forehead" and "vek" meaning "age" or "eon" or "century", into something like "front-eon") was published in Russian, Tuvinian and in English.

in 2016, she released "like a bird or spirit, not a face", an album produced by Grammy-winner Ian Brennan (music producer, author) and featuring members of Tinariwen.

In 2024, together with Steven Brown, among others, she participated in Mirco Magnani's album Zarathustra – Der Große Mittag, performing lyrics from Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.

Discography

Albums 1990 – Transformation of Matter, Document, Vol. V, with Tri-O, Leo Records, London, UK 1991 – Tunguska-Guska: Eine Meteoriten-Oper, EFA-Schneeball, Germany 1991 – Lost Rivers, FMP, Berlin, Germany 1991 – When the Sun Is Out, You Don't See Stars, FMP, Berlin, Germany 1991 – Octet-Ost, with Christian Muthspiel, Amadeo, Austria 1992 – Marsias Song, with Mattias Ziegler and Mark Dresser, Zürich, Switzerland 1992 – Pulse, with Michael Sievert, Dizzy Essentials, Germany (Helmut Diez) 1993 – Letters, live recordings, Leo Records, London, UK 1993 – Live, with Kang Tae Hwan, Free Improvisation Network Record, Japan 1993 – Out of Tuva, Crammed World, Belgium 1993 – Expos Jazz & Joy, Ver Abra Records, Germany 1993 – Mixing It, Chill Out Label, London, UK 1993 – Synergetics Phonomanie III, Leo Records, London, UK 1994 – Live at City Garden, with Moscow Composers Orchestra, U-Sound 1994 – The First Take, with Biosintes, FMP 80, Berlin, Germany 1994 – Dancing on the Island, with Irene Becker, Olufsen Records, Denmark 1995 – Techno mit Störungen, with Jon Rose, Plag Dich Nicht, German 1996 – Mars Song, with Evan Parker, Victo, Canada 1996 – Amulet, with Ned Rothenberg, Leo Records, London, UK 1996 – An Italian Love Affair, with Moscow Composers Orchestra, Leo Records, London, UK 1996 – The Gift, with Moscow Composers Orchestra, Long Arms Records, Russia 1997 – Let Peremsky Dream, with Moscow Composers Orchestra, Leo Records, London, UK 1998 – Naked Spirit, Amiata Records 1998 – Kharms-10 Incidents, Long Arms Records, Russia 1999 – Aura, Solo: Sainkho, Duo: Peter Kowald & Sainkho, Trio: Sainkho & Vl. Volkov, Vl. Tarasov, Einsai Records 1999 – Temenos, Leo Records, London, UK 2000 – Stepmother City, Ponderosa 2001 – Homo Sonorus, International Anthology of Sound Poetry, poetry compilation, Vol IV, Russia 2001 – El Lebrijano, Lagrimas Cera, EMI International 2001 – Time Out: Seven Songs for Tuva, Ponderosa, Italy 2002 – Golden Years of the Soviet New Jazz, Vol. 3, Namtchylak with Pop-Mechanika 18 November 1989, Namtchylak with Mikchail Zukov 10 June 1990, Namtchylak + Tri-O 1989, 1991, Namtchylak with Sergey Letov 11 June 1989, 1991 2003 – Who Stole The Sky, Ponderosa, Italy 2005 – Arzhaana, a Musical Fairy Tale, Asia Plus Records, Russia 2005 – Forgotten Streets of St. Petersburg, Tri-O & Namtchylak, Leo Records, London, UK 2005 – Karmaland, Live CD add to the book Karmaland by LiberoDiscrivere, Italy 2007 – Tuva-Irish Live Music Project, electronics with Roy Carroll, Leo Records, London, UK 2008 – In Trance, acoustic duo with Jarrod Gagwin, Leo Records, London, UK 2008 – Mother-Earth! Father-Sky!, Huun-Huur-Tu feat. Namtchylak, Jaro Records, Germany 2009 – Portrait of an Idealist, Moscow Composer Orchestra feat. Namtchylak, Leo Records, London, UK 2009 – Tea Opera, electronics, with Dickson Dee, Leo Records, London, UK 2010 – Not Quite Songs, electro acoustic with Nick Sudnik, Leo Records, London, UK 2010 – Terra, jazz arranged songs with Wolfgang Puschnig, Paul Urbanek, Leo Records, London, UK 2010 – Cyberia, solo voice, Ponderosa Music and Art, Italy 2010 – Simply-Live, compilation of live recordings of Son Program, Tree Music, China 2013 – Go to Tuva, Sainkho & Garlo, BP12 2015 – Like a Bird or Spirit, Not a Face, Ponderosa Music & Art, Italy 2016 – Pulse of Karma, with Alpha & Co, Russia 2017 – 6.8.17, as SainkhoKosmos, Otoroku, UK 2019 – Echo of the Ancestors, as Sainkho Kosmos, Stallion Era, China 2020 – Earth, with Minim, KOLD, Poland 2020 – Antiphonen, Ned Rothenberg, Dieb13, Klanggalerie, Austria 2021 – Manifesto, with Minim, KOLD, Poland 2021 – Where Water Meets Water: Bird Songs & Lullabies, Ponderosa Music & Art, Italy 2021 – Ethno Tribal B.P.M., Drugaya Kultura Product, Free Flight Records Limited, Russia 2021 – Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas, with Evan Parker ElectroAcoustic Ensemble, Les Disques Victo, Canada 2022 – Survival Songs, Guangzhou Cuckoo Music Co., Ltd, China 2023 – Eternal Song of Ene-Sai, with Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Pollux, China 2024 – Zarathustra Der Große Mittag, with Mirco Magnani, Steven Brown, Nikolas Klau, Paganland 2024, Klanggalerie, Undogmatisch, Austria 2024 – Lost Rivers 2, Klanggalerie, Austria 2025 – Song for Leluhur, with Sabu Toyozumi, Masashi Harada, Kosei Yamamoto, Noriko Terukina, Chap Chap Records, Japan

Singles and extended plays 2001 – Stepmother City Remixes, Ponderosa Music & Art, Italy 2002 – Naked Spirit (Dance-Remixes E.P.), Sun Generation Records, Italy 2016 – Earthly Conditions (Remixes), Existence Records, Canada 2022 – Lightkeeper, with Slumberland, Morphine Records, Italy 2026 – Lilla Evening Reimagined, with Helfer and Age Is a Box, Ponderosa Music & Art, Italy

Compilation 1994 – The Rough Guide to World Music, World Music Network 1999 – Una Voce da Tuva, Voci in Viagio, Amiata Records, Italy 2007 – Nomad, compilation of best works by Namtchylak, dedicated to 50 anniversary, Leo Records, London, UK 2018 – The Songs, 11CD collection by Namtchylak, dedicated to 60 anniversary, Starsing Music, China