Songs written on major life events or that give insight into a musician’s career tell stories that connect listeners with artists. Thus, with Salon IKSV constantly adding new names to their 2019 program, we gathered nine different stories on nine different performers who will be gracing their stage in the weeks ahead. Join us in discovering these tales and exploring their music along with their backgrounds.
Tickets to Salon concerts can be purchased via Biletix or the IKSV box office (open Monday through Saturday, from 10:00 to 18:00, and without service costs). Detailed information on upcoming performances are available via the official website.
Khruangbin: Indie Pop Nourished with Stories
Named after the Thai word aeroplane, Khruangbin is an indie pop trio from Texas. The band records their songs in a little barn and names their songs and albums after their life experiences. They were influenced by a common conversation between the bassist of the band, Laura Lee, and her grandfather while naming their last album and its opening track. Laura Lee’s grandfather always asked, “How much do you love me?’’ (“¿Cómo me quieres?”) And only accepted the answer, “with the whole world” (“Con todo el mundo’’). Also, the band’s website gives a ‘flight trip’ experience by proposing songs based on the listener’s preferences. They left everyone in awe when they appeared on the Salon IKSV stage in 2016 and 2018, and they will be at Salon IKSV again on 8, 9 and 10 February to captivate even more music lovers.
The Kites: Two Neighbors on Stage
The Kites, formed by Ozan Erverdi (Oz Quenn) and Tan Deliorman (Tanjwar ‘Big Luv’ Davis), will be at Salon IKSV with the introduction of Audioban, on 15 February, introducing their new album Sunset Vibes. Ozan and Tan grew up in the same building and a story starting from neighborliness continued into the studio. After realizing that there was no one playing the music that they like to listen to, they ended up at the studio and one day, they really enjoyed the end product in the studio and decided to post it on Youtube. This is how their jam sessions on Youtube started, which later turned into a professional band. After this, The Kites became a collective music project where the duo started inviting their friends whom they enjoyed playing with to the stage. Their concert at the 25th Istanbul Jazz Festival last year was their first live show.
Elz and the Cult: Turkish Goth-Pop
The Turkey-based goth-pop band Elz and the Cult will be at Salon IKSV for the launch of their new album Psychodrama on 16 February. The founder, singer and the songwriter of the band Elz, as he talks about how the group was formed, mentions that in the period where he worked solo, he did not want to sing his own songs, be public or want to be on stage. As a result, they had to start looking for another singer and, through Soundcloud, they met New York musician Valley for their song Acid Symphony. After the song was written, Valley and the band emailed back and forth, editing the song and when the final version was formed, they put together the record by sending each other demos. Thus, the whole song was crafted via the internet.
Elz and the Cult also stand out with their music videos, especially because of the interest of Elz in the visuality of music.
Ben Fero: New Generation Trap
Ben Fero who started rapping professionally in 2018 at 27 years of age has promised to leave a mark on the Turkish rap world with the three songs he has released. He will be at Salon IKSV for the first Istanbul concert of his first album Orman Kanunları on 27 February. His first professional record Mahallemiz Esmer was released in the summer of 2018 and since this was his first song to get in touch with listeners, he aimed to introduce himself and his origins. He grew up listening to rap and playing basketball in Güzelbahçe, İzmir, when not many people lived there. On the track, he reflects on himself and his music. His music videos are very much discussed as well.
Agar Agar: France’s Electro-Pop Duo
French electro-pop duo Agar Agar is getting ready to make you feel electric on 28 February and 1 March at Salon. Coming back to Turkey to introduce their latest album The Dog and The Future which came out in 2018, they were inspired by the game ‘The Sims’ as they were working on this album. When they were composing, they were playing The Sims for almost 5 hours a day and they started writing lyrics when they realized a character in The Sims was living in the game. This how the lyrics for the song Shiver came about, “When he understands the limits of the world he lives in, he can play with them.” They also were inspired by eggs and dogs while designing the album cover.
Asgeir: Nordic Winds from Iceland
Born in 1992, Icelandic singer-songwriter Asgeir will present his indie and electronic music at Salon IKSV on March 2nd. Growing up in a small village with around 60 people in it, he didn’t have many friends his age so he put his effort to music instead. Throwing javelin during his schooling, he wanted to become a sportsman and even held the record of a 67 meter Icelandic javelin throw for a while. After getting injured, his javelin throwing coach encouraged him to send a demo to a local producer. His latest album Afterglow features lyrics all written by his 73 year-old father, who gets inspired by the little village they live in. Finally, it’s a fact that 1 out of every 10 houses in Iceland has the album of Asgeir!
Wooden Shijps: How a Fire Changed an Album
Psychedelic rock band from the U.S.A., Wooden Shijps, stops at Salon IKSV on March 16th with the RV they rented from Berlin. Frontman Ripley Johnson was sitting on his porch and trying to write a ‘summer track’ for their last album V., but the enormous forest fires outside of Portland during the summer of 2017 intruded on his song writing process. The fire that took weeks to smother provided Ripley with apocalyptic feelings. He described it as if the skies were burning and ashes were snowing, translating these influential feelings to his tracks. The songs of V. were penned during a period in America where political situations and natural disasters were prominent and the album focuses on the power of peace, beauty and resistance, with these points also determined on the album cover design.
Marissa Nadler: Opening Up to the World
American singer-songwriter and fine artist Marissa Nadler will be at Salon IKSV on the 18th of April to present her latest album For My Crimes. The song that named the album is the result of a writing assignment given by Marissa’s husband, a writer. He wanted Marissa to write something from the perspective of someone who is on a death row. In doing so, Marissa explores notions of and writes about her own guilt. The results left her uncertain of putting the track on the album due to its personal nature. She even considered going back to California to put together another song but then realized that becoming a great artist takes courage. So she kept it and let her art speak for itself.
Jonathan Bree: Masks and Metaphors
New Zealand’s Jonathan Bree creates mystery by putting on a ‘white mask’ during all his performances. His latest album Sleepwalking is full of metaphors and mysterious messages. For instance, in the song F**k it, Bree gives the message that ‘we are nothing but sophisticated monkeys’ by presenting how great the temptation is when two reconciled lovers end up cheating. Captivated in ‘F**k it, f**k her, f**k him’ during the chorus while the fast and loud beat represents a heartbeat that beats with the adrenaline and guilt of cheating. Jonathan Bree will be at Salon IKSV on the 10th of May to present all of his mysterious metaphors.
For more information, be sure and keep up with the official page for Salon IKSV.
This article was co-authored by Meltem Erkmen. Living in Istanbul, she is in her last year studying Cultural Studies and is interested in art history.
Featured image courtesy of Salon IKSV.
