Turkish psychedelic rock star Gaye Su Akyol is the trending name of the last decade. She takes the stage in several pubs or concert halls in Istanbul. With her completely different style in music, Gaye Su Akyol represents the 1970s Turkish psychedelic rock music. And moreover, she carries that music from that period to nowadays.
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On December 4th, on Wednesday, The New York Times (NY Times)* made an interview with Turkish chanteuse. This interview can actually be evaluated as the second success of Turkish psychedelic rock music. The first one was the Emmy Nomination of Turkish Anatolian rock band Altın Gün (Golden Day). The band had gained the nomination for the best world music album.
Alex Marshall tarafından kaleme alınan ve geçenlerde web sitesinden yayımlanan yazı bugün The New York Times International ana sayfada. Türkçe çevirisi yakında🚀/Recently published article by Marshall is on today‘s TNYT International cover page printed #istikrarlıhayalhakikattir pic.twitter.com/87CGzHzbpA
— Gaye Su Akyol (@GayeSuAkyol) December 11, 2019
Before moving forward for the details of this interview, let’s first explore of who is Gaye Su Akyol.
The Hope of Turkish Psychedelic Rock Music: Gaye Su Akyol
As we pointed out above, Gaye Su Akyol has been in the music world for a decade. While she was commonly popular in Istanbul’s underground music spaces, now she has more common fame. Furthermore, The Turkish chanteuse has a very broad fan base from men to women. Besides, her fan base also varies based on social classes, ages, and even generations. Well, this is actually not a surprise as she has appeared on the cover of magazines such as the Turkish edition of Elle.
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Gaye Su Akyol was born in Istanbul in 1985. Her mother was a civil servant and her father a painter. As a child, she was obsessed with many types of music, from Nirvana to classical. She said: “I was like a hungry beast trying to find my taste.”
Gaye Su Akyol has built a broad fan base in recent years.
She said, her parents used to play old Turkish psychedelic rock kinds of music at home. And she especially enjoyed songs by Baris Manco, a popular singer who ended up presenting children’s TV shows.
The Growing Profile of Gaye Su Akyol
Gaye Su Akyol’s profile is not only growing in Turkey but also in the world. British radio shows, such as Iggy Pop’s on BBC 6 Music, have played songs from her latest album. The name of her latest album is “Istikrarli Hayal Hakikattir” (“Consistent Fantasy Is Reality”), and on Nov. 30, Songlines, a London-based magazine about global music, named “the best artist” at its annual awards.
British radio shows, such as Iggy Pop’s on BBC 6 Music, have played songs from Gaye Su Akyol’s latest album.
Why Turkish Psychedelic Rock is So Important to Gaye Su Akyol?
Gaye Su Akyol recalled a recent discussion on social media in which people were asking if Turkey had ever invented anything. She said, “People were hopelessly trying to find something,” and her answer on this question was Turkish psychedelic music.
According to Gaye Su Akyol, this type of music has a philosophy and its own mathematic. The reason why this music still alive is because other culture can not copy it.
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Gaye Su Akyol, as a daughter of a painter, grown up with art. Her father was a very talented painter, therefore he had friendships with the most famous poets of his period. By this means, she began writing poems from her early childhood.
A Fairly Productive Figure
Gaye Su Akyol released her first album in 2014. And the name of the album is “Develerle Yasiyorum” (“I Live with Camels”). Later on, in 2016, she took the stage with her second album named “Hologram Imparatorlugu” (Hologram Empire). Finally, she greeted us with her new album in 2018. And this time, she again gave a name to her album with deep meaning: Istikrarli Hayal Hakikattir. The proper translation of this album’s capture is “Consistent Fantasy Is Reality”.
Gaye Su Akyol has fans from every age, social class and gender.
Gaye Su Akyol on Social Media
The Turkish musician is actively using social media accounts. So, by following her on social media, you can hear more about Gaye Su Akyol and contact her.
* You can click “NYTimes/Turkey’s Psychedelic Rock Star Speaks Her Mind, Ambiguously” in order to read the whole article.