In the final weeks of Salon IKSV’s 2018 season, Altın Gün paid a memorable visit to the popular venue in back-to-back performances. As tickets were quick to sell out, those who missed them were surely deeply saddened by the fact. The ones lucky enough to attend, however, are definitely looking forward to their next visit.
During the days when Jasper Verhulst was the bass guitarist of Jacco Gardner, they gave a concert in Istanbul and Jasper found himself quite inspired by Turkish music. As a very eager record collector, under the effects of the Istanbul concert, he found out that he’s got lots of Turkish folk music in his collection. He eventually found himself thinking ‘what do I really like to play?’ and the answer to himself was: playing Turkish funk music! He included Erdinç Yıldız Ecevit and Merve Daşdemir in his band after meeting them through his Facebook announcement and asked for his old band members from Jacco Gardner to join to this new band as well. Thus, the band was formed.
Jasper asked Merve if the name ‘Altın Gün’ sounded good for the band after translating it from ‘Gold Day’ on Google translate. Merve discovered that Jasper was aware of the Turkish tradition of ‘gold day’ and loved the idea at the same time. (The gold day tradition in Turkey is a gathering among mostly women to collect gold and save money while eating, talking, and basically spending time together.) After that, they kept the name Altın Gün and started spreading their version of Turkish music. The original tracks that they’ve rearranged have brought stories with them to audiences in Turkey, as those tracks have touched their lives and are part of their culture.
Altın Gün published their singles and their album On with one of Europe’s highlighted music labels Bongo Joe Records. While their first single Goca Dünya/Kır Şehirin Gülleri was published in 2017, their first and only album met with music lovers in March 2018.
Their live performance at KEXP studios got the attention of psychedelic, rock and funk music lovers, which took place right before their album was published. During that time they started playing their version of Turkish music at several cities around the world.
Altın Gün, whose programme has been quite busy lately, was the guest of Salon İKSV and gave two fantastic concerts on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 November following their concert in Tel Aviv. Shortly after, they went back on the road to give three concerts in Australia.
The band’s popularity is cemented by now, with tickets for their Istanbul performances having sold out in just three days. Usually, wherever they go, Altın Gün teaches audiences how to Turkish folk-dance, but this time they were met with an audience who could actually understand the lyrics, sing along and join them in the fold-dance. After the concert, Salon İKSV was full of happiness to meet with gems from the 70’s and 80’s, Barış Manço, Erkin Koray and Selda Bağcan – yet full of sadness that the concert was over.
We wish that distances get shorter and gatherings with Altın Gün at Salon İKSV continue in the coming years!
