Diverse musical manifestations
At the awards ceremony, Sangpuy, dressed in the traditional garb of the Pinuyumayan, went down on one knee as his mother placed a floral crown upon his head as a mark of honor. He invited the other nominees for Best Aboriginal Singer to come up and join him, and then, a sign proclaiming “Protect Our East Coast!” in hand, he spoke out on behalf of the ecology of his native region. For Sangpuy, the award was not the result of his personal success in the competition; it was an honor bestowed on the land itself.
On Dalan (Pinuyumayan for “Road”), half the songs are contemporary interpretations of ancient tunes. Sangpuy was keen to preserve his tribal culture through this record, enabling his fellow Pinuyumayan to hear their mother tongue anytime, anywhere.
Thanks to his passion for his home region, Sangpuy became acquainted with other singers who share similar ideas, including Sheng-xiang & Band, Fire EX., and Hsieh Ming-yu. Interacting with them helped Sangpuy recognize the potential for integrating more instruments into his music, as he did for his second album, on which he added the sound of the yueqin (“moon lute”) as an accompanying instrument, bringing a fresh sound to indigenous folk music.
Sangpuy collects unique musical instrument sounds, hoping to use them in future compositions. On the day of our interview, he takes out his mobile phone, and clearly excited, opens YouTube to share a video of the latest instrument he has fallen for, the duduk, an ancient Armenian double-reed woodwind. “Sounds neat, eh?” he exclaims dreamily.
“I like to search for primeval sounds, ones that are almost never heard nowadays.” Sangpuy admits that he rarely listens to popular music now. He admires singers like Andrea Bocelli, the blind Italian soloist, and even the songs of an anonymous Japanese granny can attract his attention—because via their vocals, both manifest a dynamic, unredacted sense of life.
Shown here playing the twin-pipe nose flute, Sangpuy also likes traditional instruments such as the European lute and the duduk, an ancient Armenian double-reed woodwind.