Yat-Kha started in 1991 in the hyper-industrial Siberian steel-belt city of Boris Yeltsin's then home-town of Sverdlovsk. Albert KUVEZIN - taking a holiday from the attentions of the KGB and ideology department of the Tuvan Communist Party - found himself in the middle of a perestroika/ glasnost-induced spring-thaw punk rock explosion. Home-made bands across the Siberian hinterland, with their acerbic lyrics and free-thinking attitudes, transformed the grim Soviet music scene. Albert's contribution was a cassette "PRIZNAK GRYEDUSHI BYEDI", the only cassette copy of which he has lost.

On return to Tuva, Albert got involved with many other young Tuvans interested in Rock, throat-singing and Tuvan music and went on to found "Kungurtug" (the rockier version of what is now "Huun-Huur-Tu") which featured Alexander Bapa BAPA and his brother Sayan BAPA plus top khoomei singers Kaiga-ool KHOVALYG and Aldyn-ool SEVEK. With some help from one experimental Swedish festival in 1992, this group played a few gigs until, feeling a bit trapped inside what became an more "folkloric" style, Albert decided to hide in Moscow for a few years and see what might happen.

When he performed at the Alma-Aty festival "Voices of Asia", one particular judge - Brian Eno - was so astonished that he invented a special prize for Albert's unique double-bass voice and its mixture of thunderous growling and high harmonics. Albert then made a CD - "ANTROPOFAGIA"- an experimental electro-Tuvan CD with Russian keyboardist Andrei Sokolovsky which came out on General Records (Moscow) which first came out as a cassette "KHAN PARTY".

But at the same time Albert was getting more and more involved in exploring the borders between Tuvan traditional music, instruments and western rock electricity with Tuvans. After a performance at the Berlin BID in 1992, various small festivals were quick to recognize that Yat-Kha was a bit different. The "Potsdammer Abkommen", "Sfinks" and other progressive festivals brought Albert over to Europe but it was not until "WOMAD@Helsinki" (line-up: Jah Wobble, Transglobal Underground, Natacha Atlas, Shriekback and Wimme) organised bty GMC Helsinki that a recording was madethis was the 1995 CD "Yenisei-Punk" which was recorded with 2 microphones and a 1" tape machine in GMC's "global mobile" studio with help from Kari Hakala and Martijn Fernig. This CD had Alexei SAAIA on morinhuur and (normal) voice. Much to everyone's surprise this CD went into the world music charts Europe and won various prizes - RFI "Grand Jury" for "Decouvertes" and #1 MIDEM lo-fi video (dir. Gerd Conradt). This CD was re-mastered and re-released by GMC in 1999 with 2 extra tracks featuring Kan-ool MONGUSH on morinhuur and voice. But tough times meant the band scraped along as their "impure" style of music confused many. As Albert was being evicted from his Moscow flat their UK producer/manager/engineer/driver/temporary bassist (Lu EDMONDS - who now plays with Billy Bragg &The Blokes, The Mekons, Shriekback and has done time with The Damned, PiL and 3m3 amongst others) landed the band a surprise record deal.

Yat-Kha signed in 1998 to Wicklow Records - brainchild of The Chieftains pipe-player Paddy MOLONEY - and the CD "DALAI BELDIRI" came out, and after a long time apart, Albert was joined again by Aldyn-ool SEVEK on khoomei vocals. Percussionist Zhenya TKACHOV after live touring for 2 years also recorded (ethnically Russian, Zhenya is from the "Staro Vera" Old Believers, a persecuted, anti-authoritarian Russian Orthodox Christian sect which has lived in Tuva for generations). Alexei SAAIA again joined the band for touring and they went to the USA and Europe 3 times in 1999, played WOMAD Reading (where they were tipped by The Guardian as the "surprise hit" of the festival). They also got the attention of such bands as Asian Dub Foundation and Transglobal Underground (who remixed a track for a Wicklow compilation). Later in 1999 they played WOMEX in Berlin and toured with British folk-rock legends Oysterband. All this helped to generate more critical press acclaim, including the "Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik" 1999 q4 and again reaching top10 in the world music charts Europe for 2 months running. Tower Records top10 "weird" CDs of 1999 also had Yat-Kha in there.

Yat-Kha's year 2000 started in March with a tour of the theaters in the USA as special guests of The Chieftains. A new CD - "ALDYN DASHKA" (the golden cup) - was also finished although it is not quite clear when this will be released. At the time of writing, a 3-month tour of Europe is underway, hopefully followed by USA/ Canada and another 6 weeks in Europe. The band has grown this year, adding bass-player Mahmoud SKRIPALTSCHCHIKOV and a young 19-year old female singer Sailyk OMMUN as well as 2 young throat-singers Radik TIULIUSH and Aias-ool DANZYRYN. The project that is Yat-Kha continues to develop...