Replikas

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

Replikas is a quite popular and appreciated modern rock band from Turkey, with an incredible artistic perception, oriented on progressive rock, alternative, world and improvisational music. Their musical start might have been p(f)unk-related and underground, but the band took a professional distance from weak & "independent" styles soon after, impressing first of all with their music and vision, a thing leveled, afterwards, by their albums, both succesfully and intriguingly. The band has so far released four albums.
I got in touch with them and Replikas answered my questions. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your
biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's bypass the biography details. But which bands were you influenced
by and why did you choose that name? 

It’s
hard to summarize all the bands and artists, which were influential
for us at the beginning, and we still keep on searching for new
sounds and ideas, but we can say bands like Sonic Youth, Can, Faust,
Einstürzende Neubauten, Joy Division, Jesus & Mary Chain, Erkin
Koray were quite important for us back in the early ‘90s.

The
name “Replikas” was born from the Gary Numan & Tubeway Army
album called “Replicas”. We liked the sound of the word, so its
meaning had nothing to do with our preference. We changed the letter
from c into k, in order to break its connections with any language.

Were
any of you involved in any other bands before you started Replikas ? 

Not
really. Some of us had earlier experiences but Replikas was the first
serious band for all of us. Nowadays, almost every member has their
own side projects as well.

How
is the rock and progressive rock scene in Turkey now ?

It
keeps expanding and evolving. 10 years ago, it was not so possible to
talk about a real “scene”, but now lots of bands are active.
Istanbul is the center, but there are also lots of activities going
on in other cities like Ankara, İzmir, Eskisehir.

Let's
go straight to the first album. Please tell us more about Köledoyuran from 2000.

Köledoyuran
was the result of two years of playing countless live shows. We may
say most songs are composed on the stage!

It
was heavily influenced by Anatolian music and Kraut-rock and was
recorded live almost in one week. At the end of this month, a
remastered version for its 10th Anniversary will be released. We and
our fans are so excited about it.

Please
tell us more about your second album Dadaruhi from 2002.

We
pushed our boundaries by experimenting with new recording techniques.

The
Anatolian influences were still there, but this time we were trying
to expand the limits of tradition.

Please
tell us more about your third album Avaz from 2005.

Avaz
was the first album which we worked with a producer. Wharton Tiers,
mostly known by his works with bands such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur
JR, Helmet, was kind enough to accept our invitation to join us in
Istanbul. We may say that Avaz is a more song oriented and guitar
based album then the others.

Please
tell us more about your fourth and most recent album Zerre from 2008.

Zerre
was the result of two years of studio practice. For the first time in
our history, we did not share our new songs in concerts until the
album released.

To
achieve a huge drum sound, we hired an ex-prison building in an
island called Gokceada and turned it into a studio.

Musical
wise, it may be considered as a product of our musical maturity.
Also, with the arrival of Burak Tamer (electronics) a totally new
approach to our sound perspective was gained.

Just
to give those of us who are unknown with your music a bit of a reference point or two: How would you describe your music ?

This
question has been always difficult for us to answer. Maybe it’s
beter to give some genres which have influence on our music like
Anatolian Folk Music, Anatolian Pop Music, Kraut-rock, No Wave, early
industrial music.

Since
every album (also we have to include the album FM, the compilation of
our movie soundtracks – released in 2006) differs in terms of
style, any description might be in sufficient.

So
it would be better if you check our music and decide:

How
is your gigs situation? Do you play many gigs outside Turkey ? 

Yes,
during the last six years, we had a
chance
to perform many gigs in Europe. It is important for us to get some
feedback of the audiences outside of Turkey, and we want to make more
tour (in Europe) in the future.

What
is your experience with the music industry and the new internet

music scene ?

Music industry is changing for sure. Although we still are
fans of physical formats such as vinyl, CD, etc. , it is impossible
to regret the benefits of file sharing.

During
the course of ten years, we worked with three different labels. From
the artistic point of view, we always have the total control of our
music, but in terms of financial matters, it is hard to say the same
thing. For the artist who creates independent music rather than
mainstream,
live performances are the only decent source of financial income.

And
for the new bands, Internet gives the possibility of sharing their
music, without needing the third party.

So,
it seems also possible for us in the future to release our works from
Internet.

What
is your latest update and the plans for the rest of this year and

next year ?

Recently
we are working on a tribute album for so called “Anatolian Pop”
scene from late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s. We hope to record the
album soon. Afterwards we want to concentrate on new Replikas songs.

To
wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this

interview ?

We
hope to see you in one of our gigs!

Thank you to Replikas for this interview

Their PA profile is here and their homepage here