WELCOME TO La Bodega QUARANTINE TALK, WHERE WE’VE HELD VARIOUS CONVERSATIONS WITH ARTIST’S & GROUPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD VIA ZOOM, EMAIL, SOCIAL MEDIA EVEN PLAIN OLD PHONE CONVERSATIONS.
WELCOME TO THE 24th EDITION OF La Bodega QUARANTINE TALK.
THE ARTIST WE HAVE TODAY IS KATRE
YOU CAN CHECK OUT OUR CONVERSATION DOWN BELOW
SO. What are your Names? where you’re from and what first got you interested in the
entertainment industry?
K. Hello and thanks for having us.
My name is Hasan, I am the guitar player of the instrumental rock band Katre.
Together with Şah Cihan (Synth),
Okaner (Drums), and
Özgür (Bass),
Katre has been around for seven years now.
The band is based in Berlin. Half of the band members live in Turkey and the other half in
Germany.
SO. Who and/or what inspires you to create?
K. Hasan: There are certain things I cannot understand. Do you know the song “Learning to
Live” by Dream Theater? There it says “I look at the world and see no understanding”. That
is, I guess, my motivation to create and how I protest against it.
SO. How would you describe your sound?
K. Hasan: Layered, heavy, sometimes optimistic, and sometimes pessimistic.
SO. What is your creative process like?
K. Hasan: Usually, I write the songs and the stories, play the guitars, and maybe add some midi
arrangements. Each band member extends and enriches the material by recording their
parts and giving constant feedback to the others. Besides being talented musicians, we are
talking about very good music listeners in Katre, so it is hard to convince them. We iterate
until everybody feels good with the result. Hence, when we are happy with the final
product, I know we did a good job 🙂
SO. What artist(s) would you like to collaborate with?
K. Hasan: My choice would be Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation.
SO. What is one message you would give to your supporters?
K. Hasan: First of all, thanks for supporting us, we appreciate it. If I may, I would like to add the
following: When listening to our songs, read the stories we created for each of them.
Empathize and feel with the protagonists. This will most probably give you a different
listening experience.
SO. What is the most talent/skill you have that most people don’t know about?
K. Hasan: Cool question 🙂 I do not know. I have some scientific publications. Haha, not quite
sure, does that count as a skill?
SO. What would you be doing right now, if you weren’t doing music?
K. Hasan: Probably reading a book or watching a movie
SO. Who are some artists/people you admire and why?
K. Hasan: Artist-wise Erkan Oğur, a great musician and personality from Turkey, is a huge
influence. He values silence in music. This inspired me a lot. By the way, he contributed to
the opening track of Encounters with his magical guitar solo. Also Daniel Gildenlöw. He is a
modern-day philosopher, a great musician, and has a sincere personality.
Apart from this, I admire Selahattin Demirtaş, because apart from his contributions to
democracy in Turkey, he has written incredible stories. Another important personality for
me is Ömer Madra, the editor-in-chief of an award-winning independent radio from Turkey,
Açık Radyo. I admire his perseverance and value his contributions towards creating
awareness on global warming and climate change, long before it came to the attention of
the mainstream media.
“You do not have to love one, but respect one”.
Hasan: when asked “What is the best advice you’ve been given”?
SO. If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
K. Hasan: The way how Spotify allocates the royalties (and treated artists). I would change it
such that only the artists I listen to receive the royalties – not any other popular band which
already has 3 million followers.
SO. What’s next for you, where would you like to see yourself in the next year?
K. Hasan: We are working on some visual materials and at the same time contacting promoters
for playing live. Due to the pandemic, it is hard to find appropriate slots. So I will not be
disappointed if we are not booked. But concerning the visual materials, I think we will have
one or two video clips in the next few months.
SO. What is your social media? How can people get in contact with you?
K. Hasan: I guess checking our web page www.katremusic.com is the best way to get in touch
as you can find social media information there as well. Thanks a lot for having us. We enjoyed
the questions. Wish you all the best!
#GetSOM Via @DJGojabean @KatreMusic @StraightOfficialMag #QuarantineTalk #LaBodega #StraightOfficialMagazine
