UPDATE, 12 March 2020: This event has been postponed due to the Coronavirus
Istanbul based musician/producer Tolga Böyük set the wheels in motion for Islandman, a fictional character composing musical stories about a non-existent place…
On stage, Islandman is an electro-acoustic trio serving up a tasty mix of mellow electronica and dance beats with spacey live guitars and shamanic rhythms.
Böyük is joined by Eralp Güven and Erdem Başer for an hypnotic performance of Turkish Psychedelia and African roots music, bound together in an electronic universe.
Their first single Agit (‘Requiem’), in 2015, was released on Danish label Music for Dreams, giving the band vital international exposure. It was followed two years later with an EP, Rest in Space, on the same label, which became a number 1 hit in their genre downloads.
The band went on to play at numerous Turkish and international festivals since, including Cappadox, Sunbeat, Apple Flower, Boom, Istanbul Jazz Festival and Monteux Jazz Festival.
Last year, Islandman released a new album Kaybola, which sets off on a fresh cross-cultural journey. Shamanic rhythms are introduced to nomadic guitars in this trancey long play that’s inspired by the hidden, fictional tribe of Kaybola.
Dimitro, the band’s new single from the album, is a re-working of a traditional Bulgarian wedding song. First discovered by Böyük when he was digging in crates in an Istanbul record store, the track is re-laid over an 808 drum machine and bass, with raw, chant-like vocals that compliment perfectly the track’s slow, ritualistic flow.
Islandman made their UK debut at Cafe Oto last year. They return to the capital for a gig at the Jazz Café on March 13, which will mark the start of a mini European tour that continues at Club GRETCHEN in Berlin on March 16, followed by Vienna’s Das Werk on March 18.
The band are also confirmed on the line-up for this year’s We Out Here Festival, taking place at Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, in August.
Concert details
Title: Islandman
Dates Friday 13 March
Times: 7–10.30pm
Venue: Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, Camden, London NW1 7PG
Admission: Standing £12.50 (+ 2.00 fees); Restaurant £15 to £20. Buy online here.
