Smalltalk

Kim Ki O , which is Turkish for "Who is that anyway?" consists of Ekin and Berna from Istanbul. They were one of the few bands I really liked last year. They helped me set up my show in Istanbul on Valentines Day and I am bringing them along for a few shows on the European tour.

A few weeks ago I got a live recording of one of their shows and while listening I decided to write down some questions.

Meet Kim Ki O

Listen to "Dogru"

Listen to "Kapali Kapali Kapali"

I’m listening to the live recording you sent me while writing this. Wow, the crowd really loves you. Tell me about that night.

Ekin: It was such a crazy night. We played as a part of this festival called Phonem and we opened for the New Yorker band Au Revoir Simone. Berna came from Holland to play the show and it had been a while since we last played, therefore everybody was there. It was the night of firsts for us. It was the first time we played in a big venue, to a big crowd. It was the first time we played with a really good sound system and therefore it was the first time we ‘kind of’ sounded loud. And it was the first time we played somewhere that had a backstage; instead of climbing to the stage, we came out from the back stage and that felt revolutionary! It was also the first time that we were hit by flowers from the audience. That was really sweet. That night was like a dream, I still feel like crying when I think about it.

Berna: What is left for me to say… Revolutionary is the word. Well, just one thing though, we had missed playing a lot back then, and therefore we were strongly motivated I believe.

I discovered you through the Radio Dept who played a show with you in Istanbul. You seem to share a somewhat similar musical vision, the melodies and instrumentation is very emotional but I can’t decide what mood it's in. It’s monotone but it has a lightness. I guess my inability to understand the lyrics play a part in this too. But what mood is Kim Ki O in?

Ekin: Oh, we didn’t actually play a show with the Radio Dept here. Me and my friends that we’ve been working together putting out a magazine had organized the Radio Dept show here. And when I gave them our cd, they really liked what they heard and we were thrilled to hear that! Kim Ki O’s mood is actually very dependent on the monotonous loops and it is as you say deeply emotional and also highly personal. Instrumentation is at least as important as the lyrics in how the mood automatically builds itself and this mood is most of the time quite depressing. We have realized that we are not good at writing happy songs. We can write kind of funny and humorous songs every once in a while like “Dogru” or “Punk”, but most of the time the mood is depressing, complicated, angry inside and self-destructive.

Berna: I should add that the way we make the songs is also important since that is how we happen to play them live as well. I think we are in a way a bit impulsive and if it feels somewhat intimate/sincere – and I hope it does – that would be the reason. It just happens that way, usually even we are not aware of what’s going on until we are done with a song. There are almost no plannings ahead.

And what are your songs about ? What does Kapali mean ? In that song - Kapali, Kapali, Kapali I get the feeling you’re bored or sick of something. It’s like Kapali, Kapali… always this Kapali.

Berna: Generally speaking, our songs mostly involve some kind of critical manner, sometimes even complaints. Complaints about one’s self. Even when we want to point out a general trouble like we do in the song “Atesi Kesinnn”, we end up criticizing ourselves somehow. But especially “Kapali, Kapali, Kapali” is about a heartbreak, a heartache beyond disappointment. And exactly; it is something to be sick of at that point.

Ekin: It’s impressive how you can get the perfect right feeling out of our songs and how it’s not only the language that matters. Kapali has several meanings like “to be closed”, “to be off”, “to be sealed” or when it comes to weather it means “to be cloudy”. In the song, the heart is referred as being kapali – in a secret kind of way –, meaning it is sealed and cannot take in anything anymore. It is about the unavoidable feeling you get when someone breaks your heart and you think the best thing to do is to punish yourself by closing all the access to your inner self which is no good of course. But you can’t help it. And what you’re bored and sick of in the end is not the person who broke your heart, but your self-destructive self.

When I listen to a song like Dogru, I hear something that I interpret as Turkish. There’s something in those bells and the harmonies. Do you agree or am I way off ?

Ekin: I will have to agree that there’s something really wrong with the harmonies there, but it is hard to say that it is Turkish. It’s definitely far from western harmonies though, so I don’t think you are completely way off. But that song sounds so weird that it even feels like out of nowhere for the Turkish.

Berna: Yes, actually there are so many things wrong with the song. Also the lyrics… I don’t think they are even translatable.

What is the music scene in Istanbul like ? Is there one ? Do you feel like you belong to one?

Ekin: The current scene is quite exciting compared to 6-7 years ago when everything was extremely harder to achieve. Today more bands writing their songs and performing them instead of playing only covers. But there are still nearly no independent labels to put these bands’ songs out. Compared to the reality of Turkey, people who are interested with this underground movement feel like a closed community who carry on with their activities through MySpace. I don’t actually feel like belonging to a scene here though, as to me our music and the undesired methods we use to do things is extremely personal. Lacking the drum set and computer programming out of the beats, hiding down the vocals and the lo-fi sensibility when it’s all about producers and hi-fi equipments around makes me feel kind of lonely. It is sometimes even embarrassing to play our songs live to an audience. But at the same time it’s the most amazing thing to build the empathic relationship with other people who are into what we’re doing. That’s magic!

Berna: Honestly, even if the scene is small and people generally are not used to lo-fi music, I am impressed and pretty happy about the fact that we are being appreciated here. I think we are very lucky in that sense.

Lately I’ve been quite obsessed with scents and smells. What’s your favourite scent and what does Istanbul smell like ? I learned in school that Istanbul is the only city in the world that is situated on two continents. Is there a difference in scent between the European and the Asian side ?

Berna: I think Istanbul smells like something in the middle of Bombay and Madrid. I don’t know why, but I have always had this in my mind. It is hard to explain why. And my favorite scent is definately there in the libraries... The old books... Eventhough I am not the best reader of all times...

Ekin: I’m allergic to artificial scents, therefore I can’t put on any perfume, or I can’t stand anywhere where there’s perfume and plus I really like how different natural scents everybody has. My all times favourite scent though is the smell of soil right after it has rained. Unfortunately you don’t get that quite often in Istanbul. Istanbul has several scents like the sea, the coal in winter, the garbage in summer or the cigarette wherever you are in indoors. I live on the Asian side and I think the most specific smell of the Asian side is the smell of the “froggy river” – it’s called that – near my neighbourhood. There is this small river in the middle of the city which was required to be cleaned years ago, but it is still really dirty. So whenever there is wind coming from southwest, it smells really bad and a lot of mosquitos too! But it’s actually a beautiful neighborhood.

Ok, I’m at the end of the live-cd now and your voice all of a sudden sounds like a really pissed of demon. What’s going on ? I was also thinking of how your vocals are mixed really low underneath the music on your recordings, are the words not meant to be heard ? Or are they meant only for the ones who truly listen ?

Ekin: Oh, it’s the song “I Don’t Relate” where I use the Darth Vader-like vocoder programming from the synth with a second mic on some parts of the vocals. It’s meant to include someone evil as the third band member to the song. There’s a dialogue going between two people in the song…

Berna: I have always thought the Darth Vader was a voice in my head (!)

Ekin: No Berna, it’s not in your head, it’s so real. It’s the reality! Actually Berna and I are like the same person in the dialogue going on in the song. And this evil sounding voice comes and says things like “You don’t relate, you are not the one” to this person in a truly heartbreaking way.

Berna: Well, it indeed involves a dialogue. And when the vocoder says “you are not the one”, I say “please say it again”. That is the climax of the entire lyrics for me. I like the way it hurts inside, so I like repeating that part several times. And I have to confess I like the fact that only the ones who truly listen do understand the lyrics, especially considering the warm feeling you get when you have the urge to really find out about something. I think it draws one into the music in a way, into anything, and the hidden is good, because the effort is good.

Ekin: Exactly… The vocals in our music do not get on top of the instrumentation. We don’t want it to be that way. Plus you will hear them if you really want to. And maybe, you don’t even have to know the language!

Some songs were edited out due to glitches in the recording but all the beauty is in there.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------