In Conversation with Rubber Walrus and The Medical Phalanx of Space

On Thursday, 17 April, three bands will take to the stage at Roxy in Cihangir. Amongst them are two yabangee-populated groups, Rubber Walrus and The Medical Phalanx of Space – there are a total of six nationalities between them. We sat down with some of the musicians for a round of Q&A.

Gentlemen, tell me a bit about your bands – how did you guys get started?

Lewis (Rubber Walrus): A while back, I shared an apartment with Gijs and I was playing songs I wrote around the apartment, and after about a year of us saying, ‘we should really go into the studio and do something with these songs,’ we somehow managed to actually get around to it.

Arya (Rubber Walrus): I was initially brought in as a bassist. That was nearly a year ago. After months of auditioning members and going through countless line-up changes, we arrived at our current line-up about 3 months ago. Gijs brought in Goktug, whom he met at a weekly jam session we all used to go to, and I moved up to lead guitarist. We are actually still open to additional members on keys, or brass instruments, so the story hasn’t quite finished yet.

Gijs (Rubber Walrus): Actually, I met Goktug when he was my former flatmate’s student, and he turned out to know half the people Arya’s worked with too. This city is so small sometimes…

Alexx (The Medical Phalanx of Space): The Medical Phalanx of Space started from the ashes of a band called The Stories. I took lead vocals with Ian on bass and Xavi on drums. Ian ran away to Australia to find his fortune, so I brought a friend in on bass – Simon Johns of Stereolab and Imitation Electric Piano. I met him at a poker game where he spent the evening being an arsehole. The rest is history. Well, not history, but a thing that happened, and is still happening.

One thing that connects both bands, for me, is the strange band names. Care to explain?

Alexx: The Medical Phalanx of Space are a group of doctors who have become part of the cosmos and can cure people while they sleep. At least that’s what some people in South America believe. We thought it was a good name because we don’t have medical degrees and none of us have ever been to space. Also we aren’t a phalanx.

Lewis: Ours is inspired by a really demented scene in Ren and Stimpy where they are going door to door selling rubber nipples. When they try and sell them to Mr. Horse, he asks them if they have any rubber walrus protectors. He holds out this walrus and the walrus whispers, “call the poliiiice…” That scene is so far out there, especially as it’s a kids show. So that’s the story, but people get all kinds of Beatles, music nerd vibes from it so we roll with that as well.

How do you go about composing your music?

Lewis: The songs just happen in my head, then I work it out on my guitar, and then try and write lyrics that fit. Then we get together, everyone works out their own part and the song becomes a rock song, which is often pretty different from how I wrote it.

Arya: There’s also a good deal of dialogue involved. No single member has veto power over the rest.

Gijs: That’s what I like most about this band, compared to others I’ve played in, that everyone has ideas about all the other instruments as well, you know, not just their own. It’s a bit more challenging that way, but also way more rewarding.

Alexx: Our songs are mostly written by me, in a basic form. I sit alone in a hut on top of the mountain and search the very depth of my soul, scribbling for hours about being miserable on pieces of parchment and smashing a guitar with a hammer until chords come out. Then the band play the songs in the studio and everyone says they’re rubbish, so we add bits and take bits away until they actually sound okay. Then we play them a bit faster and a bit louder. Other songs are written from ideas that Simon and Xavi have bought in.

What’s it like as a new band trying to get gigs and playing live in Istanbul? Is it difficult as foreigners?

Arya: Istanbul’s live music business is quite a closed community. You have to know a guy to get your foot in most of the time. It’s quite rare to land a gig if you just show up with a demo in hand. You also need to be ready to play a lot of crappy shows in small venues on weekdays before you get to the bigger venues or the busier time slots. The biggest challenge for a band with original music is competing with all the cover bands. You know, their set lists are made up entirely of famous hits, so they draw a huge crowd and everyone gets drunk and sings along… so yeah, venues have a financial incentive to host cover bands, as opposed to up-and-coming bands. Your best bet is to somehow gather your own fan base gradually, because it’s almost never logical to expect the strangers who just happen to walk in on your shows to stay put once they realize they know none of your lyrics. Being a foreigner, I’ve come to realise, can actually be a big help. Venues love distinguishing themselves from the rest, by advertising all the foreign bands they have on the bill.

Do you have any advice for other yabangees looking to form bands?

Alexx: Don’t be shit. Don’t focus on being a yabangee. Go to see loads of Turkish bands. There are loads of cool Turkish bands doing cool stuff – you just have to find them. Also don’t form a band. Do spoken word instead, so you don’t have hassle getting equipment.

Lewis: Thanks Alexx, couldn’t have told us that five months ago, could you? No, for my part, I think we are still soliciting advice ourselves at this point. Arya’s been playing around here for longer…

Arya: I’d say, know where you are and adjust your expectations accordingly. There’s no ‘music scene’ as such here, nor are there ‘big breaks’ or ‘groupies’. There are no talent agents scouting venues for fresh talent, and there’s no reason why a venue should be impressed by your music, impressive as it may be. Venues don’t care how fresh or unique you sound. The guy who listens to your demo probably doesn’t even understand much about music. They look at how famous you are. Money talks in this city, so you get your big break once people start buying drinks at your shows. If you want to make money, throw in a bunch of famous covers, or (at the risk of sounding sexist when my intention is being realistic) get a female band member. If you want to ‘stay true’ to whatever artistic values you may have, expect a long and bumpy way to the top, that starts at a basement on a Tuesday evening when there’s also a derby going on. But even when you play a show to three drunk dudes who are barely listening, don’t look at it as a failed concert, but a free rehearsal with free beers.

All right, one last question: what music are you currently listening to yourselves?

Gijs: I’ve been listening to my entire collection on shuffle for the last two years or so, but when I take a break from that, Arctic Monkeys gets a lot of time in my earbuds these days. And Old Man Markley, and more punky stuff like Iron Chic and RVIVR.

Lewis: Me, I’d have to say ‘Beach House’ by Ty Dolla $ign. It’s some of the best hip hop I have heard in years, its like discovering 2001 all over again, where you get that ass rattling bass and crazy production married with, for the most part, really good vocals… and the song writing is great.

Arya: I usually listen to a few artists intensively for a long time. Right now those are Balthazar, Antemasque, Outkast, Toto, The Yellow Dogs and Gevende.

Gijs: We’ve got quite diverse tastes, we do. Goktug is still listening to Use Your Illusion I & II. He’s all about that classic rock – he rocks the facial hair to go with it too.

Alexx: Me, I’ve only been listening to Rubber Walrus ever since I heard their first demos. I can’t lie.