The three members of Tengger pose together in Kochi, Japan. Courtesy of Tengger

Tengger, a "traveling musical family" with roots in Korea and Japan, has been announced as a winner of the SXSW Gruelke Prize.

The band, composed of Korean singer and songwriter ITTA, Japanese synth player MARQIDO and their 11-year-old son RAAI, was honored with the prize for Developing Non-U.S. Act.

ITTA expressed surprise and appreciation at winning the prize. "We didn't expect this, but simply happy for deserving the prize!" she told The Korea Times.

The three members of Tengger pose together at SXSW in Austin, Texas, March 12. Courtesy of Tengger

Tengger's music is described in the prize announcement as "Krautrock-inspired psychedelic New-Age drone magic."

The trio has been interested for years in performing at SXSW, which is a renowned conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media and music festivals and conferences held annually in Austin, Texas. They first received an invite in 2007, back when the group was just a duo going by the name 10, but couldn't make it that time due to visa issues. The next invite arrived in 2020, but the pandemic disrupted that. They joined SXSW 2021 online.

Finally, they made it to SXSW in person this year, performing on March 12 at Ballroom D.

"We didn't know how huge this festival, and of course about the prize also," ITTA said. "We only could concentrated on our performances and the way of touching audiences there. Maybe you can imagine, touring with a child member is not easy."

An online review posted on the music website Panic Manual shared a vivid description of Tengger's performance.

The three members of Tengger pose together at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Courtesy of Tengger

"I don't really know how to describe it except that it was very calming, playful, and peaceful. There was a lot of performative art in their set too, as during one track, the band members went into the crowd, shaking rattlers over each audience member, as if to relieve them of their trouble," Ricky, the reviewer, said.

"I can't get over the fact that during the pandemic, the couple were separated by countries and their son, who must have only been 7 or 8 at the time, was so upset he wrote a song and then a few years later he's performing it at SXSW."

The SXSW Grulke Prize award, now in its 10th year, was developed in honor of SXSW Creative Director Brent Grulke, who died on Aug. 13, 2012.

"We will try harder to share the love with our music with all," ITTA pledged.

Visit tengger.net for more information, or tengger.bandcamp.com to listen.