With his recent Skylab radio program 'Anatolian Delights', and a dedicated following that flocks to his monthly “Baba’s House” and 'Baba Spritz' event, Baba Noir has become established in Melbourne as an expert and cherished ambassador of the rich musical history of his homeland.
Read the interview in full below, included is a guest mix by Baba for our new 'Global Dance' mix series over on OWOS SoundCloud now.
BABA NOIR, INTERVIEW By Elle Young
"In order to perform an art, you must first establish a good philosophical foundation. It took me a long time to lay this philosophical foundation because I was so confused for many many years.”
Can you explain to us when you first realised that you wanted to pursue DJing?
I probably can’t say that I was part of the music community in Istanbul but I was always in it, as a listener, record, cd and tapes collector. I always wanted to be a DJ since the early 2000s but a few reasons stopped me from being. First of all, my financial situation wasn't suitable for me to set up my own DJ studio. Also, I was listening to different kinds of music and I didn't know what kind of DJ I wanted to be. Another reason, in order to perform an art, you must first establish a good philosophical foundation. It took me a long time to lay this philosophical foundation because I was so confused for many many years.
Your introduction to music came through your father's Turkish 7 inch collection. What do you love most about working with this format when you're playing?
It always reminds me of our Philips record player that my dad had brought from Germany in the 70s. It was a special one because it also had a cassette deck and radio all combined with a postmodern / art deco design. It also had a record changer stick (omg what a mechanical technology). Me and my brother used to stack those 7 inches on this crazy stick which is called record changer and we used to just spin spin and sing.
Playing more electronic based festivals such as Inner Varnika made you consider how traditional Turkish sounds could relate to a festival/club dancefloor. Where did this realization take you?
“The tracks I choose for dance music, I first choose tracks that have non-oriental Psychedelic melodies belonging to a certain cultural region. My second criterion is that the track must meet some standards, for example jazz, funk, rock, disco, house and even techno.”
First of all, I want to make something clear. I don't play oriental music, I strictly don’t. I also don't like the comments that come to my music saying "oriental tunes are playing". I am not a Middle Eastern wedding DJ. The type of music I am inspired by is "Turkish Psychedelic". Turkish Psychedelic is a unique global music genre. Turkish Psychedelic music belongs neither to the West nor to the Middle East. It is a unique global music genre that belongs entirely to Anatolia. Based on this, the tracks I choose for dance music, I first choose tracks that have non-oriental Psychedelic melodies belonging to a certain cultural region. My second criterion is that the track must meet some standards, for example jazz, funk, rock, disco, house and even techno. So my job is more difficult than all dj's because myoptions are very limited.
Baris K is one of my idolized Djs. By presenting his legendary Eurasia mixes to the world, he made the unknown 'Turkish Psychedelic' and 'Turkish Disco' music re-discovered by millions of people. With his Eurasia mixes, he brought this music to the modern dance scene for the first time ever. These mixes were a great innovation in my opinion, and dozens of artists and record labels in Europe and Middle East followed this movement to build their collective, record labels and new DJ artist profiles. We are just one of the few DJs who follow the trend Baris K created. (I played two of Baris K's unreleased edits that he shared with me at Inner Varnika in my OWOS 'Global Dance' mix). Listen to the mix over on our SoundCloud.
What can you tell us about your discovery of the connection between European and Anatolian sounds?
This is a really difficult question to answer. The short answer is Istanbul. Culture in Turkey is much richer and more diverse than in Australia. Not just music, but almost everything. As you know, Anatolia and Mesopotamia are a geography where very important civilizations lived in the history of humanity. The effects of these civilizations on today's art still continue. There is also Istanbul, our European city. Istanbul is a city influenced by Asia and the Middle East on the east side, and Europe and the modern world on the west side. Therefore, the influence of western music has existed since Ottoman times. Especially in Istanbul, there is a large audience of both modern and folk music listeners. This is where those cultures, arts and music meets, the Istanbul magic.
You moved from Istanbul to Australia in 2011 - how did that affect your DJing approach?
I love Melbourne very very much because things are very accessible and reachable. I mean anything. I could see that the Melbourne city and suburbs are designed for that. When you compare with life in Istanbul, a basic example like a return trip between home and work literally takes up to 3 hours sometimes in Istanbul. It's a high population city which has more people than the entire Australia. Moving Melbourne healed my brain and soul a lot from chaotic Istanbul so I could spend more time on my development with music and other things. So the most loveable thing about Melbourne is I can spend some time on my personal development.
Can you link us to a favourite track of yours that never fails to fill the dance floor?
Mogollar – Cigrik (FOC Edits) never fails. It’s a great build up track.