(Altın Gün is a Dutch Amsterdam-based project founded in 2016, mixing Turkish folk, psychedelia, funk and rock.
The band is formed by Jasper Verhulst (bass), Ben Rider (guitar), Merve Dasdemir (vocals), Erdinc Yildiz Ecevit (vocals, saz, keys), Gino Groeneveld (Percussion) and Daniel Smienk (drums).
Altin Gün ("Golden Day") plays Turkish folk songs which were passed on from generation to generation on
the one hand and a dirty blend of funk rhythms, wah-wah guitars and
analogue organs on the other. Older generations of Turkish musicians have also experimented with
opening doors between previously unconnected sonic worlds. During the
seventies, artists such as Baris Manço, Selda
Bağcan and Erkin Koray practiced a way of songwriting and composing
similar to Altin Gün’s. They took the music played during the festive
occasions and serious formalities of their childhood, folk songs backed
by a traditional Turkish string instrument called the saz. To this, they
added the techniques and vibes of their times and the result then went
on to become a distinct Turkish sound during 1972-1977 which even today
still sounds rich, danceable and heavily mind bending.
Manço, Bağcan and Koray have all
influenced Altin Gün, but their foremost inspiration is Neşet Ertaş, a
Turkish folk musician whose musical legacy is invaluable. Comparisons
are almost impossible to make but imagine someone with the same impact
and status as Bob Dylan or George Gerschwin and you’re getting close.
Many of the songs he wrote have become standards in Turkey, national
treasures which are cherished up until the present day. Altin Gün retain
the lyrical and thematic structure of Ertaş’s songs, though they often
alter their time signatures and add fuzzy bass sounds, sweltering organ
sounds and raw saz riffs. Ertaş wrote the majority of the songs on the
album even if these are hardly recognisable after all the work Altin Gün
have done on them.
In 2019 they were nominated for a Grammy for their album Gece in the category "Best World Music Album").
