“The title means ‘one’. Actually my producer Emre came up with this idea, because I couldn’t find a proper name to the song. Since it is the first song that I shared with people, we thought that this name could be a good start”, Melike Şahin (or Melik Şah) tells us about “Bir”.
It is the first solo single from one of the most talented young musicians in Turkey, mostly known as a member of Baba Zula.
“It is a song about a woman who runs between the sky and the earth, got bored with restraints, in a hopeful search of release,” Melike explains. “She says each and every story has its ‘wolf’ in it. Maybe her shelters are not that tight, but she has the strength to fight with the wolfs.”
“I have been always into singing since my childhood. In my high school and college years I had a chance to be a part of lovely little bands and choirs. My professional career started with Baba Zula about two years ago. Since then I have been singing and touring with them around Turkey and Europe. I learned a lot about singing, recording sessions and live performance thanks to Baba Zula.”
“We released a new album on this December – and it is on your Turkey’s favorite albums of 2014 list. And the song that Murat Ertel and I wrote the lyrics for, ‘Gariplere Yer Yok‘, is one of my favorites:”
“Nowadays I am busy with making my own pieces with my other musician friends. “Bir”, for instance, was produced by Emre Malikler. You can give an ear to his marvelous works on Soundcloud. I have not decided about the genre yet, each song comes within a different framework. We’ll see. Probably in couple of years I will make an album.”
“The music scene in Turkey is so vivid nowadays. There is an increasing number of indie musicians, mostly singer-songwriters, who share their songs on Soundcloud. Each day I find new and delicious songs on my stream. Selim Saraçoğlu, Can Güngör, Kaan Boşnak, Kalben, Peygamber Vitesi, Nilipek are the first names that came to my mind.”
“The song you should listen is from Müzeyyen Senar, one of the best Turkish female singers. It’s called ‘Kimseye Etmem Şikayet’ and it is a very special piece for me. Each and every time I have rakı with my friends I sing this one. Senar has her unique style and very powerful voice. She passed away two days ago, so sad.”
Melike Şahin on Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.
Photo: Sevinç Çalhanoğlu
