root salad f20 Gaye Su Akyol


Philosopy and anthropology inform this young Turkish artist, discovers Elisavet Sotiriadou.


Upon reading the lyrics, it is as if my intu- ition was right, because listening to Gaye talk there is a philosophical element about her. She tells me she was plan- ning to study philoso- phy, only decided “read- ing and thinking about philosophy was some- thing you could do with- out getting a degree at university” without being smug about it. Philosophy is her place to go when she needs downtime or consola- tion, her favourites being Nietzsche,


Spinoza and Fromm. “In my lyrics there are too many philosophical ideas and questions, you will see when you read [them] it is the best way to communicate with yourself and the world.”


Speaking with Gaye Su Akyol over Skype, without even seeing anything more than a black and white picture, is no obstacle at all. The conversation flows as if


singing and William Blake’s futuristic poet- ry by the Turkish genius of Gaye Su Akyol. The musician and singer-songwriter based in Istanbul tells me she loves the snow, before I even give her the London weather report. While Hologram Imparatorlugu is her first international release (from Glitter- beat, same label as her friends Baba Zula), it is in fact her second album.


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The sound, production and arrange- ments are immaculate, along with the power and depth of her voice, which trans- ports you through each song in a vivid, cine- matic way. In fact, her voice can handle just about anything. Dünya Kaleska is sung so gently with a fragile, yet determined voice, contrasting the heavy trance-like rhythm of the bass and drums until they culminate into a melody before they part again, as two individual strong features in the same song. Her lyrics have been translated, she says, and sends me a copy in English.


s snowflakes are trying to find a spot dry enough to settle on in the cold January rain, I am being reminded of Nick Cave’s confident


we were in my living room, or in her home in Istanbul, sipping our drink of water. “One day we will meet,” she says but she advises me not to visit Istanbul just yet.


In a country where people get jailed for what they think, what they believe or who they are, one must be careful. Simultane- ously, Turkey is a real mosaic of different languages and cultures. Gaye explains that her music and art explores this: “I want to find my own language, my own music, my own way of telling my art and my feelings.” Among the Anatolian strings, there are twangy guitars hand in hand with melodies of the Middle East, with some Western country interludes. She persuasively ties sev- eral branches of musical traditions with modern and old, in a seductive and appeal- ing way. Gaye’s songs brilliantly combine Western with Anatolian sounds.


She studied anthropology in order to understand culture and that then came to influence her music. “No cultures are better than others… cultures cannot be com- pared,” she says. What happens “when you regret your own culture”, thinking one is


better or worse than the other is when “things are getting complicated, that’s what I learnt from anthropology”. She digs both into the traditions of her country and her subconscious to let her music and lyrics evolve and it’s a time-consuming process that she allows. “I really like to feel what these cultures are all about. That is why I graduated from social anthropology and in my music we all see the reflection of these cultures, because I like to put the similari- ties, metaphors and symbols in.”


he rhythm of each song is of such great importance that she practi- cally plays the drums on the record to get it right. As a woman, she has encountered many people who ques- tioned her ability to do the production and arrangements on her album’s recordings. Gaye told me she had to fight for her right for musical expression and artistry. I joke with her, saying she’s Turkey’s female George Michael because like him she did the composition of her songs, the produc- tion and arrangements. She laughs and says that she liked him a lot too. As a composer she knows the sound she wants and she has the whole song figured out in her head as she creates it. Unless she does it, no-one will get it as it should be. On the album she has written all the music and text, apart from the opening track Hologram where the music is by her boyfriend Ali Güçlü Sim¸¸ sek, and on Mona Lisa where her father Muzaffer Akyol, who is also a painter, has written the lyrics. For the rest of the album, Gaye Su Akyol stands proudly on her feet.


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At a time when the country is at a crossroads and culture in a dangerous place, it is wonderful to see great music coming out of Turkey and someone bring- ing optimism with her music. She talks about dream- making in one way or anoth- er. Potentially there are different versions of reality or dreams, Gaye says. “Are we liv- ing in a dream world or not: probably we are but we cannot prove that, and that’s the biggest mystery and that’s something we have to cope with. It’s better without knowing, it is better to live in a question world. If we knew everything we wouldn’t have any questions to ask. I believe we live in a hologramic dream world, so we ask what is reality.” Alluding to that first track Hologram, where she sings “you are a hologram and will disappear when I hold your hand,” she says “Consistent dream is reality, we can change the world with our consistent dreams.”


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Photo: Korhan Karaoysal


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