Many years ago – seven to be exact – Yabangee sat down for an interview with a young band that was making serious waves in the Turkish music scene with their genuinely unique indie-rock, dream pop stylings. In the years since, The Away Days have seen some line-up changes, a monumental full-length release, delightful singles, global critical acclaim, international performances (including SXSW and The Great Escape), must-see music videos, and more. Through it all, the band has managed to stay grounded and continues to produce their own distinct sound that has earned them a fandom worldwide, and especially here in the city that saw them start off.
With their much-anticipated upcoming performance at Babylon on Friday 18 March, we thought it wise to have a chat with our friends about all the success and craziness that have occupied the last few years. Can Özen and Orkun Atik were kind enough to take the time to fill us in on all that’s transpired.
It’s wild to us that we last interviewed you seven years ago! This is going to feel like a broad question, but what have been some of the biggest or most memorable moments for you guys since our last chat – personally or as a band? Also we should ask, do you guys still play FIFA?
Can: 7 years… It feels like ages ago but I also remember it like yesterday. For me, after releasing our 2017 album and doing a lot of touring, I spent a quiet time directing tv commercials and music videos in Turkey. It was something I enjoyed doing a lot and it helped me evolve as an artist.
We recently played a sold out show in Istanbul and it was a beautiful and memorable night. We are stoked to witness the positive reaction towards our music growing steadily over the last several years. Unfortunately, we haven’t been playing FIFA for a long while now, it is maybe just another fun thing that the pandemic took away from us.
As you mention, you released your full-length ‘Dreamed at Dawn’ in 2017. I know you were performing quite a bit around that time as well and, at least from our perspective, keeping extremely busy throughout the time that followed. Looking back on that period, or really any time before the pandemic, how do you perceive that era as a band and are there any lessons you’ve taken out of it?
Orkun: I would say two lessons stand out for us. For most artists around the world, there is no such thing as one night success. It takes time and patience, and puts you in sync with the universe and whatever is to come. Secondly, imperfect is and can be perfect. Looking back, we love the raw sound and feel of The Away Days demos. We want to time bind our work and lean more towards our demos in our future releases. We are at a stage where we want to create and share our life’s work and have zero expectations in return for it.
What have The Away Days been up to during the chaos of the past couple of years?
We have released two singles since the pandemic started: ‘The Sadness Will Last Forever’ – in the very early days of pandemic – and ‘How Many Times’ – a song we love to dance to. We are currently working on our new album and we are extremely excited about it. We plan to play a few new songs in our upcoming Babylon show in Istanbul on March 18. It is actually hard for us to comprehend how the pandemic impacted us, however, when we compare pictures of our friends and families from now and a few years ago, it feels like many people aged eight to ten years in the last two years. Nothing but wishing for a roaring 20s where people get back to enjoying their lives and each other in peace.
One theme that came up in our 2015 interview, and still comes up pretty frequently, is that people often don’t realize you’re Turkish. Musically as well, your sound is so distinct in the Turkish musical landscape. Have your perceptions on your unique position in this scene changed at all? What are your thoughts on the current state of the music industry in Turkey and how this relates to you?
Orkun: I think that the music and talent is global and opportunity is not. We are creating what we are feeling and we don’t hold a perception of our position in any scene. We meet people every other day who don’t know that we are Turkish.
Speaking of the current state of the music industry in Turkey… if you look at it closely, we think that the artistic talent bar has increased dramatically, but again the opportunity or reach is still a challenge for those. On the flip side, some can argue that Turkey has been isolating itself culturally and internationally for a while and a similar trend is in the works for the wider Turkish music scene.
In terms of recent music or that which you plan on writing, are there any releases in the past few years that have really resonated with you or influenced your work?
We love any and all recent music from Thom Yorke. Mormor, Anderson .Paak, and La Femme are few others. However, in our new releases, we are very deliberate to come up with a unique sound of ours as much as we can.
Would you say that your current sound or energy as a band is similar to your earlier work, or are you pushing off in new directions? Even your full-length’s release felt in many ways divergent from the singles and EPs that had preceded it. How might you define your current feeling in terms of the music being produced?
We definitely continue to evolve our sound. Our new album is in the works and we lean less towards electric guitars and more on synths, bass and strange authentic melodies.
This is part compliment, part question I suppose. You’ve always been so approachable as individuals, despite having achieved all this success. When we asked you to play a benefit gig for refugees many years ago, you stepped right up to volunteer and headline. When we asked for that initial interview, you were so open to meeting with us. Even now, getting in touch with you, we’re just warmly chatting with the guys without any real sense of formality or having to go through agents. It’s very uncommon in our experience. How involved are you in the more professional side of the industry as a band and what’s your general outlook on it?
Can: We are very involved in all aspects of our work. In fact, we had to learn and do them all by ourselves from our early days in 2013. It is extremely hard to make a living for most artists these days. To put it bluntly, we are artists first and we are required to be marketers, PR’s, entrepreneurs, etc. secondly.
And finally, we’re delighted to hear you have upcoming performances in store, including a show at Babylon on March 18. I know it’s bold to predict things considering the current state of the world, but do you have a vision for what your 2022 might be like? Anything we should particularly be on the lookout for?
Before we jump into the answer, we would like to thank you for these quite thoughtful questions!
If you feel like going out and dancing on a Friday night, please come to our show on March 18 at Babylon Istanbul. We are very excited about this big Istanbul show because we will play as a complete band with keyboards and bass guitar. We will have surprise guests and we will play a few new songs from our upcoming album as well. As for the remainder of 2022, we plan to release two more new singles in the Spring and release our new album around the Summer. Besides that, I think we are nothing but humble enough to expect the unexpected that this year will bring us.
Keep up with everything from The Away Days by following them on Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Spotify. Be sure to check them out at Babylon on Friday 18 March.
