Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

In the organizer's words:

Bio Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek
Derya Yıldırım sings a song that she knows from her grandmother - an Anatolian folk classic:
"Hop Bico", which means "Hop around, Bico". Derya's grandmother interpreted the song in her
Derya's version is similar - and yet completely different. This is no coincidence, but a
Derya is convinced that if you play an old folk song, you have to add something of your own to it.
to it, "otherwise you might as well put on the old record".
As a musical archive of collective experiences, the new album Yarın Yoksa
original compositions and features three traditional Anatolian folk songs. Derya Yıldırım gives her voice to the cultural
voice to the cultural heritage of her family, a folk song heritage that was already there yesterday and that
will be around for a long time to come. She carefully and respectfully transfers the songs into the present, coloring them psychedelically
them psychedelically and underpins them with hypnotic vocals. In this way, something new is added to the
something new that contains the experiences of generations, including those of today's society.
society.
Born and raised in Hamburg, Derya began her musical journey at a young age at home
years at home, where she played traditional Anatolian folk songs with her family. Her father
encouraged her to learn different instruments - starting with the bağlama, a seven-stringed
seven-stringed Turkish lute. Derya also played the piano, ud, guitar and saxophone from an early age
saxophone and became a versatile multi-instrumentalist. But she has remained particularly attached to the bağlama
"There's just something very magical about it, it's my companion, it tells my story and carries my voice".
tells my story and carries my voice".
Derya condenses all these influences into her own musical language, which draws inspiration from the
Anatolian soundscape and is both contemporary and universal. During a theater project
she met the French musicians Graham Mushnik (keyboards) and Antonin Voyant (guitar,
flute) from Catapulte Records and founded the band Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek with them.
In 2021, they are joined by drummer Helen Wells, who comes from the DIY and psychedelic scene in Cape Town,
South Africa.
Despite their diverse influences, the band avoids the term "world music" and prefers to describe their
sound as "outernational" - a self-confident expression for a more inclusive sound beyond borders.
of borders. "You need a groove and a melody, and everything around it is free." - This
guiding principle determines the band's songwriting and interpretation of traditional folk standards.
"I believe that the melodies shouldn't be changed, because we are responsible for
preserving the music in the right way. Our versions respect the roots.
They are the same lyrics and the same melodies, but they may have a completely different
soul."
The new album Yarın Yoksa by Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek captures this soul and gives its poetry and resistance
poetry and its resistance - both central themes in the Anatolian musical tradition: "Some of these
music tradition: "Some of these poems were written hundreds of years ago, but they are still
still relevant. This music is important because it is still the voice of the people, the minority and the oppressed.
minority and the oppressed". After producing several albums themselves, they released
signed to New York label Big Crown Records in 2024 and worked on Yarın Yoksa with Grammy-winning producer
Grammy-winning producer Leon Michels (El Michels Affair) for Yarın Yoksa. The
recordings are a balance between preservation and innovation and they convey a sense
of what would be if there was no tomorrow - "Yarın Yoksa". If we knew better what really
matters.