PEOPLE
/ MY WORLD
Her debut release ‘13’ is an assured, yet intense album, dealing with assorted
issues, from child abuse to loneliness. Tight Turkish Folk-Rock arrangements
tread familiar ground. What carries the album are Canan’s poignant, self-penned
lyrics and powerful vocals, moving effortlessly from tender ballads to fiery
missives, making each of her 13 tracks compelling listening.
1. Where
are you originally from?
My family is from Sivas – a province in central Turkey. I came to the UK when I was
nearly two years old (in 1981). We moved back to Istanbul
where I spent part of my childhood, returning to London in 1987.
2. Tell us
about your family
I come from a working class
family. My grandparents migrated from their villages to Istanbul in the late 1960s. My parents
married there and came to London
in 1975 but they always missed ‘home’. They moved back a few times, but due to
the political and economical climate in Turkey,
they decided to raise my brother and me in the UK. I am married and have no
children at the moment. I live with two cats that I adore.
3. You sing, write & play
the guitar. Anything else?
Well, I can also play a bit of saz (a traditional Turkish stringed instrument)
and sing traditional songs. However, I keep this to myself and just perform at
home with close friends and family.
4. How did you get into
music?
When I was in primary school I loved music and
wanted to learn to play the piano. My parents were very supportive, but the
piano teacher we found returned to his country and that was the end of that. In
1993, while I was at secondary school my father bought me a saz and hired a private teacher. I took
lessons and started to perform in concerts organised by the Alevi Cultural
Centre and Cemevi (Alevi house of
worship). My journey started with traditional folk music, but developed as I
learned to play the guitar and write modern songs.
5. Tell us about your debut
album 13
It’s a mixture of Pop, Rock, Folk and Jazz. Each
song has its own style, which my music director Murat Corak helped to develop.
He encouraged the use of different instruments in the arrangements, which we
mainly recorded in Marsandiz (a major
studio) in Turkey.
I write my own songs and most on the album were
written ten years ago during a very difficult period in my life, when I would question
everything around me and in the world. 13
is a very special song because it relates to child sexual abuse. I want to
raise awareness as it is a growing problem in our male-dominated society. Kanatsız Gökyüzünde (Anne) is one of the very first
songs I wrote. Society has huge expectations of children as they grow up, so you
can end up severely depressed. Even if you express your views freely, you can
end up feeling really lonely, so the child hankers for its mother, the only
person it has a strong bond with.
6. ‘13’ is regarded as unlucky,
so how did it come to be your album’s name?
It was very difficult to decide on
the album name. 13 is the most
important song as it covers a major global issue. Society may class ‘13’ as
unlucky and there is sadness in the song, but the chorus tries to give hope
too. Child abuse happens everywhere in the world. The
majority of the victims are girls and different societies deal with the issue
in different ways. This album is my way of saying ‘STOP’!
7. Who are your musical
influences and idols?
 |
Blind
poet & bağlama virtuoso Aşık Veysel - one of Canan's idols
|
I grew up listening to Cem Karaca and
loved his songs. They resembled real life stories about the lives of ordinary
people. Traditional songs by the ozans
(poets) of Turkey,
such as Aşık Veysel, Mahsuni Şerif and Pir Sultan Abdal, also influenced me.
Their lyrics embraced the problems facing societies and they paid a price for
doing this.
8. Do you listen to British
artists?
Although I’m in the UK, I feel
closer to the culture of my roots. I don’t watch television and don’t really
know about the current UK
music scene. I listened to a lot of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Beatles,
and Elvis Priestley, and I still enjoy their music the most.
9. You work for an
accountancy firm – what does your boss make of your budding music career?
I’ve been a senior administrator at
Accounting Direct Plus for the past six years. My boss Enver Kannur is very
supportive. He has listened to my performances and came to my album launch.
 |
| Canan in Istanbul for her album's photoshoot |
10. You write for a socialist
satirical magazine in Turkey
called RED. Why does this ideology
appeal to you?
I have researched and written extensively
about the struggle and the division of people; the 1% that live in their rich bubble
and the 99% that struggle to eat, take shelter and survive. This inequality is
foreseen and must be spoken about far more to raise awareness about the oppressed.
We live in a capitalist city and although I try to avoid many of the situations
that it pulls us into, there are a lot of things that I still can’t escape
from. Writing for RED was an amazing
experience for me to learn more about the sorrows of the poor, inspiring me as a
singer/songwriter who tells the bitter pains of societies.
