“Lemons are quite a unique fruit. They look innocent and soft on the outside, but inside they have an intensely bitter, pungent juice. Their yellow color is also vivid and bold, yet somehow soft and playful. The songs of The Lemons are much the same,” I have never forgotten how Writer and Poet L.Ulziitugs once described the band.
Apparently, they almost named the band “Misheel” when they first started out. But either way, the name would not have made much difference, would it? From performing at small pubs to taking the stage at Playtime, the sour “Lemons” have continued to create music in the indie rock and post-punk genres. Here, we introduce our readers to the band.
From “Khairtai”, with the lyrics:
“Is it true that you don’t love me?
Did you fool me just because you cared, is that true?
Did you say there is no need to hope and wait?
Did I go on without understanding, is that true?”
to “Khusel”, which says:
“The love I gave you
Will always wait for lips to kiss,”
each of their songs is inextricably linked to a memory that someone can never quite reach.
The band will soon celebrate its 22nd anniversary with the concert. The first 10 songs performed at the concert will be played together with an orchestra. We spoke with Vocalist Ts.Odbayar (Odnoo), Guitarists A.Enkhtulga (Tulgaa) and N.Chinchuluun, Bassist D.Anar, and Drummer M.Unurbayar (Uujgii).
Your first album leaned more heavily toward indie rock, while the next moved more toward electronic rock. In other words, it seems that you explore a different sound with each album. You released your song “17:59” just a few days ago. I assume this will serve as the intro to your new album and perhaps represent its overall sound and character.
Odnoo: We are currently working on our new album, “Stargazer”. We will probably release it sometime this year. B.Boldbaatar from “Baga Toiruu” has helped us a lot with the music video.
Tulgaa: We named the song after the time when J.Gurragchaa, the Hero of the Mongolian People’s Republic, went into space. Our new album has seven songs in total. You could describe its sound as a mixture of shoegaze and dream pop.
We had never released a piece consisting entirely of instrumental music before. “17:59” was originally a song with vocals. People may have found it interesting that, while waiting to hear when we would finally sing it, the song simply ended.
The word “Stargazer” means someone who gazes at the stars. Our albums take a long time to come out, and the lyrics are one of the reasons for that.
One of the distinctive characteristics of live bands is that they write their own lyrics and compose their own music.
Odnoo: Tulgaa and I work together on the lyrics. In the past, we have made songs using lyrics by Amgaa of “Nisvanis”, Writer L.Ulziitugs, Quiza, and Poet Narangerel.
Tulgaa: We have already finished the music for several of the new album’s songs. Once we write lyrics for the remaining ones, they will be ready.
Odnoo: We will definitely be able to release it within this year. There are many different ways to write a song. One characteristic of our band is that we usually compose the music first and then write lyrics to fit it. Sometimes we do it the other way around, too.
Do you have a goal of creating songs that will still be sung 60 years from now? In general, does the value of a work of art lie in its ability to endure for many years?
Odnoo: What matters to us is reaching the few people who genuinely listen to our music, even if there are not many of them. When we write songs, we never plan for them to be performed for many years or deliberately try to make them hits.
Is that really true?
Odnoo: Yes. Most bands release a large number of songs and then select the best ones for their albums. We do the opposite.
Tulgaa: In other words, we make albums. I heard someone criticize us, saying, “These guys haven’t created anything for all these years, and now they’re going to hold a 22nd-anniversary concert.” But rock bands do not necessarily release a song or an album every year.
There might not always be enough opportunities to do so. After all, you are not manufacturing consumer products.
Tulgaa: So far, we have released four albums to our listeners. That means we have put out roughly one album every five years. That is about the same as the average among rock bands around the world. There are bands whose one or two albums remain hits to this day, even though the bands themselves broke up soon afterward. Take the legendary Nirvana, for example, they released only three albums.
Many bands that “were born” around the same time as you have already said “goodbye”. What about The Lemons?
Odnoo: We are actually saying, “Hello”, by holding a concert (laughs). The band’s original lineup is still intact. Our Guitarist Chinchuluun joined us later, and it has already been about 10 years since then.
Tulgaa: While I was in the United States, Chinchuluun officially became a member of the band.
Odnoo: So, from now on, the five of us will be taking the stage together.
On the other hand, to have had enough can also mean to become tired of something. I am simply asking this out of curiosity. Aren’t you tired of performing “Suuliin Uyanga” by now?
Odnoo: It is hard to get tired of it when listeners still love and warmly receive it. For example, we have been performing “Khairtai” for almost 20 years now.
What is the secret to keeping a band “alive” and active for so many years?
Odnoo: As long as we share the same interests, we can keep moving forward. If the members have completely different views and interests, the band will eventually break up and disappear.
Tulgaa: When I look at Mongolian bands that have broken up, it often seems that people with very different sensibilities have ended up together.
Chinchuluun: Being friends with one another is also very important.
One of the things that makes The Lemons’ music sound beautiful and “sour” is its musical arrangement. In this regard, the contribution of the bassist cannot be overlooked.
Odnoo: Each member has their own role. As for me, I mainly focus on composing the melodies and writing the lyrics for our songs.
What do you understand by saying that a work of art has substance?
Tulgaa: I think it means that artists themselves should be genuinely true to what their work represents in real life. There are people who put on an act. They may not actually be like that themselves, but they pretend to be rock or hip-hop artists through their appearance and mannerisms. If you are simply yourself, your work will have substance. People can sense that over time.
Odnoo, is “It is snowing in the middle of the night” still your favorite song?
Odnoo: Actually, I have started to like a different song. There is one on the new album. We haven’t finished it yet. A few days ago, while we were at our summer place, we were talking about exactly this.
Tulgaa: That song is one of The Lemons’ earliest songs. I played the first two guitar chords and thought, “This could become a beautiful song.” I kept thinking about it until I met Odnoo. One day, while we were sitting on a roadside curb near my home, I told him that I wanted to make a song that fit those chords. A few days later, Odnoo suggested a poem by L.Ulziitugs.
Odnoo: I was sitting in my kitchen. It was raining outside. As I was reading “Exercise in Loneliness”, the music Tulgaa had played came into my mind, and the melody immediately fell into the chords.
So the poem itself seems to have sung its own melody. I heard that this song was actually written shortly after “Khairtai”, and that you had to make quite an effort to obtain permission from the poet to use it.
Tulgaa: Odnoo had actually written “Khairtai” much earlier. At the time, he hadn’t been able to have the song recorded properly. Even so, it became a hit on Ulaanbaatar Radio 102.5 and kept playing on the station. I wanted to “recruit” Odnoo to my side and form a different band.
At the time, the members of our first band, “Midnight”, were going around performing this song as if it were their own, so we had to take it back. There is a story like that involving “Midnight”.
There seem to be an almost uncountable number of new bands emerging these days.
Tulgaa: It has become a tradition for us to support new bands and give them a chance to perform before us at every concert. This time, we have selected 10 bands. They will perform our songs, adapting them to their own genres. One of those bands will also join us onstage at our upcoming concert.
Are today’s young bands different from those that emerged around the same time as you did?
Tulgaa: Young people have become more accepting and understanding of different genres of music. For example, I used to have very strong views about this.
Odnoo: In our day, live bands did not like one another and could hardly stand each other (laughs).
Chinchuluun: I think they have probably started paying much more attention to their sound.
I read that you have been described as having a strong appreciation for poetry and a unique artistic world of your own. What have you been reading lately?
Odnoo: I am not really an avid or serious reader. Our Tulgaa writes poetry, though. I mostly enjoy translated books. When I read poetry, I tend to look for something that could be turned into a song.
Tulgaa: I wouldn’t exactly call what I write poetry. I like the poems of D.Turmunkh and D.Galsansukh.
Odnoo: I think imagination is very important for artists. When it comes to writing a poem, though, sometimes all you need is a title.
Has anyone ever handed you a finished poem and asked, “Could you write a song to go with this?”
Odnoo: Yes, that has happened. But we don’t do that. If someone took that kind of presumptuous approach, it would probably lead to an argument. We can be quite stubborn, you know (laughs).
