A wild Turkish road trip with BaBa ZuLa and Boiler Room
BaBa ZuLa have been bewitching Istanbul’s underground music scene for the last two decades. Entrancing audiences with their eccentric poetry and kaleidoscopic soundscapes, the psychedelic four-piece have managed to spearhead their own kind of revolution; dragging the traditional Turkish saz into the 21st century, and shattering stereotypes that surround middle-eastern music.
This incredible legacy has made them the subject of a new Boiler Room documentary, Istanbul Psychedelia: BaBa ZuLa. The seven-minute short, premiering exclusively above, is an exploration of BaBa ZuLa’s geographical roots, with the group taking viewers on a road trip around their Turkish hometown.
“In the western world many people including music critics think we are Arabs,” frontman Murat Ertel tells Huck. “We don’t talk Arabic and our culture is very different. Turkish music and culture is deep and wide. In the past, Turkish people were shamans and then were forced into Islam. Still in Turkish culture, you have strong shamanic influences as can be exemplified in the saz; the main instrument of Turkish folk music.”
As well as revealing their own unique view of Istanbul, the film gives an insight into BaBa ZuLa’s humour, warmth and radical creative vision.
“Despite having visited Turkey before, getting to know it through the eyes of BaBa ZuLa has added a new layer to my knowledge,” explains director Martina Piazza. “The band’s history is deeply rooted in the geography of Istanbul, a city at the crossroad of different cultures, religions, ethnicities and languages; in this time the situation is very tense. Artists and intellectuals are not free to express their views and live in a state of fear.”
“BaBa ZuLa’s message is certainly one of resistance and constant evolution, a pretty apt reminder for people all over the world.”
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
Lava La Rue is defying industry slop
Do You Know Everything? — The musician is one of London’s most exciting DIY creatives. For our 20th anniversary issue, they explain their process of making music, zines and art completely in their own way.
Photos of friends, lovers and afters in Berlin’s party scene
Dreams and How to Keep Them – Vincent Wechselberger’s new monograph documents a decade of hedonism in the German capital, and the people he met along the way.
Inside the grunge golden age with Hole’s former bassist
My ’90s Rock Photographs — Melissa Auf der Maur’s new photobook is a sprawling visual memoir of her time at the heart of the US scene, from Tinker to The Smashing Pumpkins.
How the Home Counties took over UK rap
Landmark new exhibition is celebrating 50 years of female punk
God Save the Queens — The Museum of Youth Culture is bringing together rare photography, archive material and a one-night-only supergroup featuring members of X-Ray Spex, The Slits and The Raincoats.
Cristale: “Living in London taught me to be grateful”
What Made Me – In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s Brixton-born rapper Cristale.
