"A Cat that Loves to Dance"

Kara Delik is this international trio you certainly heard of that has concered the Berlin music scene in the blink of an eye. The band, consisting of Barış Öner (Istanbul Ghetto Club, [saz]), Andi Sommer (Henry Fonda, Yacht Communism, [bass, synths]) Eilis Frawley (Anika, Laura Lee & The Jettes, [drums]), combines complex rhythms with exciting soundscapes and effects. The three skilfully enrich the whole thing with their personal mixture of post-punk and Anatolian sounds. They recently celebrated a great success with their album "All The Singularities (I – IV)" and will soon be on tour—time for an interview on Sounds Vegan!

Anne: Hello! Thank you for taking the time for this interview! How has your day been so far? What are your plans for today?

Andi: Hi! It's been a bit of a lazy Sunday for me, but now I'm talking to you from the laundromat to do my washing (laughs).

Eilis: I'm slower than Andi. It's Monday at midday; I'm fresh out of German school, where I learnt some form of the past tense that I'll probably neither use nor remember.

Barış: I had food poisoning on the weekend (it was most likely the meat). Maybe it was a sign for me to go vegan, finally?

Anne: That sounds like a good idea to me! And I guess the animals would be delighted, too (laughs).

You are three friends who founded a band together in 2020—based on your love for odd bars and Krautrock. That sounds like a dream come true. What has changed for you since the beginning?

Andi: Our friendship and our shared passions are definitely still there. However, I think we weren't fully aware of how busy we would end up being with this project. I guess it started as more of an experiment or a way of passing all the downtime during COVID when many of the other things we are involved in were on hold.

Eilis: We send an ungodly amount of messages to each other. Being in a very active band means you need to make about 10,000 decisions every single day. That still feels pretty nuts.

Anne: How has the Berlin music scene received your music so far?

"Many friends from different genres coming together"

Andi: It's been quite overwhelming, to be honest. In our first year playing shows, we played a couple of "Berlin Tours"; over the course of one weekend, we played multiple shows in different venues in Berlin. And while we thought that was just another of our stupid ideas, all these shows turned out very nice, which was quite a surprise. Especially in the early days, it was pretty fascinating how many of our friends from quite different scenes and backgrounds still would all find something they liked (and come again, haha).

Eilis: I love that people keep coming back, and our little community is growing. There's not one typical Kara Delik fan, which feels refreshing. For example, the lady who works in my favourite bookshop comes to shows; I love that.

Barış: As a global trend, and even in Berlin, people love to classify things first to feel safe. I realise that people still can't classify our music or the scene we are supposed to belong to, and this helps us to be less conservative and open to new music/people/cultures.

Anne: You've released quite a lot of music in the short time you've been around as a band: Four EPs in 2023 that you combined to form your first album "All The Singularities (I – IV)" at the end of the year, plus your debut EP "Tamam" from 2022. Props to that! Do you want to tell me which of your pieces you like best and why?

Andi: Thank you! I think we all have our hidden gems somewhere on them—I also couldn't really decide on any specific release, as my favourite tracks are spread relatively evenly among all of them. "Strange Attractor" is one of my favourites to play live, but some tracks from the Demo, like "Phew", also don't really get old. But luckily, there are little bits and pieces in every song that I like returning to.

Eilis: My favourite would be 'Singularities II'. All those songs are so much fun to play live; they all have their own character, and it hits nicely as an EP. 'Dogs' is such a weird song with a very odd (or lack of) structure, and I love the twists and turns. I'm proudest of 'Phew' because I had no idea what I was doing—and yet, it still stands strong.

"The turquoise vinyl reminds me of the Aegean Sea"

Barış: They are all our babies. I'm joking. My favourite is the Singularities III because we chose turquoise for the vinyl, and that colour reminds me of the Aegean Sea.

Anne: For me, "Hayvan" is one of my favourite pieces on "All The Singularities". What is the song about?

Andi: When talking to Reuben, who did the amazing Animations for the video, we told him it's about a Black Cat that lights Cop Cars on fire, but I guess Barış has more to say about that.

Barış: In fact, those lyrics were originally about a particular fascist state leader, and the black cat represented him.

"He doesn't walk around here; he sits on the balcony, looking down."

Then, my love of cats stopped me from saying that a cat symbolises a fascist, and the second half of the words changed. On the other hand, beware that people you love very much can be fascists from the heart or can turn into fascists overnight. But our cat in this song is too lazy to be fascist and only moves when it's about to dance.

Kara Delik – "Hayvan"

Anne: In some of your songs (also in "Hayvan"), you are setting beautiful accents by playing with Anatolian influences—I like that a lot (I also have a Saz here; I wish I could play it. For me, it is one of the most beautiful instruments in the world. I also should). What do you associate with this music, the singing and the language?

Andi: I've only had very brief encounters with this style of music before we started this project. But motivated by this band to dive deeper, I found the history and traditions of it quite fascinating. It is the way traditionals are being reinterpreted by many artists and all the different things to learn about rhythms and scales that quickly made me realise how limited my Western socialised listening habits are.

Barış: The 9/8 section after the intro is called Roman Havasi (traditional gipsy style). This rhythm belongs to Eastern Thrace and is actually used primarily at weddings and celebrations. It is also a very meditative and exciting dance, with waist movement as the centre of gravity. This kind of music doesn't use Saz; the clarinet would lead the rhythm, but that's okay; we're in Berlin, so we don't have to follow traditions that much, right?

Anne: Overall, you have points of contact with numerous genres that most people might not associate with each other, and you do an excellent job with that. From post-punk and new wave to the Anatolian sounds I just mentioned and Krautrock. Do you think it's time to leave genres behind for good? Personally, I think people are more likely to get involved with music if it's not presented to them with a specific "label" to which it supposedly belongs. Is that so?

Andi: Honestly, I like the idea of genres because the blueprint they provide can always be an interesting starting point to change it. But of course, the most exciting part is when you start changing those schemes, breaking the rules or combining them with things that are not "supposed" to be in there. But of course, putting just one label on anything is somehow impossible. If there are a lot of references, however, it might be a good thing to draw many people with different interests towards something new.

Anne: Who are your biggest influences?

"We are looking forward to touring Europe!"

Andi: Ai, that's very hard to say. King Gizzard was one of the first names we could agree on, while what we listen to privately varies quite strongly. However, I've recently been very much into this wave of Neo-Soul and Jazzy stuff coming from the UK, which definitely found its way into some of our Songs one way or the other.

Eilis: I love all the weird new stuff, the tiny bands from towns you've never heard of. The UK DIY scene is very attractive, especially regarding songwriting abilities. My heart will always hold a place for the Australian scene, Amyl and the Sniffers, Tropical Fuck Storm, Courtney Barnett, C.O.F.F.I.N.

Barış: Mustafa Kandirali (clarinet player), Derdiyoklar (Berlin duo from the 1980s with drums and Saz), Britney Spears, Mozart, and MF Doom, Tamburi Cemil Bey (multi-instrumentalist and composer from Ottoman times).

Anne: You are planning your first extensive European tour. You must be pretty excited! Which cities are you particularly looking forward to? I've seen there are some fantastic festivals on your list, too!

Andi: Yes, very excited! Our last show in Vienna was a big highlight, so I'm definitely looking forward to that one. But also, the shows in Italy and France are highlights, mainly because this is my first time in many of these cities.

Eilis: I can't wait to play in Milan. I heard there's an excellent bakery near the venue! I love playing in new places, and we are going to so many.

Barış: We're playing at the Ment Festival in Slovenia. It's the closest gig to my home. My family is originally from the Balkans, so I'm curious to see the reaction of my fellow Balkan citizens, especially when it's time to play rhythms that are common in that region in our setlist.

Anne: Thank you for the exciting interview! It was a pleasure to meet you! All the best for your plans!

Kara Delik line-up:

Barış Öner (Istanbul Ghetto Club) – Saz

Andi Sommer (Henry Fonda, Yacht Communism) – bass & synths

Eilis Frawley (Anika, Laura Lee & The Jettes) – drums

Kara Delik – "Strange Attractor"