Suitcase releases right music for wrong time
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Çetin Çem Yılmaz
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 11, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - A popular Istanbul band Suitcase releases its debut album after 12 years of gigs at the city’s many bars, enduring numerous lineup changes and attampts to make a record. Bandleader Deniz Özberk hopes the music on ’Bildiğin Herşeyi Unut’ can help listeners lift their spirit amid the crisis
Suitcase is probably Istanbul’s best-kept secret in live music. Ask any rock fan in the city and they will tell you that the band is one of the most popular around. But if you put the same question to music-lovers in other cities, the silence would be deafening.
With the release of its debut album, 12 years after the band’s formation, Suitcase hopes to finally break out of Istanbul.
Those 12 years have been "tiresome," according to vocalist Deniz Özberk, the only member who has been with the band since the beginning. "We never took a break, even for one month, we always kept playing," Özberk told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. "I never took time off. People came and went, but I was the constant member since 1997."
"Bildiğin Herşeyi Unut" (Forget Everything You Know), the band’s first album, comes after hundreds of gigs at Istanbul’s many bars, numerous lineup changes and countless attempts to make a record.
With band members quitting after they got married or becoming estranged after performing their military service, it took years for Suitcase to put together a definitive squad. But the band’s ever-changing lineup is only a part of the reason why the first record took so many years to make.
After studying economics in England, the birthplace of Özberk’s favorite bands, from the Beatles to Suede, he returned to Turkey and started work in a bank.
The vocalist admits that his day job sapped much of his energy, saying it was not until he quit in 2002 that he could fully concentrate on writing songs. Then came the endless negotiations with record labels.
"When you meet with a record company, you see that their expectations are so high," Özberk said. "They come with a deal like, ’We’ll charge you 40 percent of the cost of printing and distribution and take a further 20 percent for the management,’ and then you are like, ’I want to get something out of my music.’"
No money for Suitcase
Another time, financial matters interfered in a different way. "We recorded the songs, and were almost done mixing [the album], then the label decided to withdraw from the project," Özberk said. "They said, ’This year we will make the record of [Turkish pop-star] Gökhan Özen, so we have no money left for Suitcase.’"
Despite all the delays leading up to last month’s release on a new label, Özberk has no regrets.
Right songs, right label
"I see the glass as half full," he said. "This is the right lineup for us. We made the record with the right songs and released it on the right label."
It may not, however, be the right time. With the economy in terrible shape and the music industry fairing even worse, it’s hardly the best conditions for a band’s new release, especially compared to five years ago, when Turkish groups were releasing records one after the other."Yes, it is late, but whatever," Özberk said.
"There were many bands out there four or five years ago, but where are they now? Yes, there is a serious crisis, but, I don’t know, maybe in times like these people listen to more music, because they can’t get out too much."
Indeed, Suitcase’s music is uplifting. Simple, catchy and upbeat, it may not make people forget that they are living in crisis-hit times, but it can make them feel happy, like on so many nights in Istanbul clubs watching Suitcase onstage.
With the release of its debut album, 12 years after the band’s formation, Suitcase hopes to finally break out of Istanbul.
Those 12 years have been "tiresome," according to vocalist Deniz Özberk, the only member who has been with the band since the beginning. "We never took a break, even for one month, we always kept playing," Özberk told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. "I never took time off. People came and went, but I was the constant member since 1997."
"Bildiğin Herşeyi Unut" (Forget Everything You Know), the band’s first album, comes after hundreds of gigs at Istanbul’s many bars, numerous lineup changes and countless attempts to make a record.
With band members quitting after they got married or becoming estranged after performing their military service, it took years for Suitcase to put together a definitive squad. But the band’s ever-changing lineup is only a part of the reason why the first record took so many years to make.
After studying economics in England, the birthplace of Özberk’s favorite bands, from the Beatles to Suede, he returned to Turkey and started work in a bank.
The vocalist admits that his day job sapped much of his energy, saying it was not until he quit in 2002 that he could fully concentrate on writing songs. Then came the endless negotiations with record labels.
"When you meet with a record company, you see that their expectations are so high," Özberk said. "They come with a deal like, ’We’ll charge you 40 percent of the cost of printing and distribution and take a further 20 percent for the management,’ and then you are like, ’I want to get something out of my music.’"
No money for Suitcase
Another time, financial matters interfered in a different way. "We recorded the songs, and were almost done mixing [the album], then the label decided to withdraw from the project," Özberk said. "They said, ’This year we will make the record of [Turkish pop-star] Gökhan Özen, so we have no money left for Suitcase.’"
Despite all the delays leading up to last month’s release on a new label, Özberk has no regrets.
Right songs, right label
"I see the glass as half full," he said. "This is the right lineup for us. We made the record with the right songs and released it on the right label."
It may not, however, be the right time. With the economy in terrible shape and the music industry fairing even worse, it’s hardly the best conditions for a band’s new release, especially compared to five years ago, when Turkish groups were releasing records one after the other."Yes, it is late, but whatever," Özberk said.
"There were many bands out there four or five years ago, but where are they now? Yes, there is a serious crisis, but, I don’t know, maybe in times like these people listen to more music, because they can’t get out too much."
Indeed, Suitcase’s music is uplifting. Simple, catchy and upbeat, it may not make people forget that they are living in crisis-hit times, but it can make them feel happy, like on so many nights in Istanbul clubs watching Suitcase onstage.