GÖKBÖRI - ENTREVISTA

Good morning, how are you all in New York? , Thank you very much for agreeing to answer these questions. Glad you liked the blog.

¡Buenas tardes All good here despite the unusual weather October has brought upon us. It's in mid 20 C! Jesse Haff is also present answering some of your questions here.

1. Gökböri born in 2007 but until this year 2013 has not posted anything. Has been hard the writing process of this Balbal? How your work in the studio, all is contributed with ideas when composing or respect the standards of a leader?

EMRE: Well, 2007 is the year I found GÖKBÖRİ and started writing songs. Until Jesse joined the band (end of 2009), GÖKBÖRİ was a one-man project. We rehearsed and composed new material for almost 1,5 years and eventually recorded "Balbal". With our second album, on which we are working nowadays, the process is different in that all of us get actively involved in the arrangement process.

2. The three members of Gökböri you form or formed back in time part of other bands. What pushed you to create a band like Gökböri? What do you offer Gökböri with respect to the other groups to which you belong?

JESSE: My other band, DAYLIGHT DIES, is based in North Carolina. In 2008 I moved to New York City and planned to continue writing and touring as much as was possible, but not play with anyone else. But because I'm a drummer, guitarists are always wanting to jam. There's always a shortage of drummers. I was hesitant to jam with anyone, as my expectations for the kind of person and the kind of project I wanted to spend my time with was extremely high. This changed pretty much instantly when I met Emre and he described GOKBORI. Emre and I have both a shockingly similar personal and musical background in many ways, but GOKBORI was a universe apart from anything I'd done. Not only that -- it was totally different from what anyone was doing. That was appealing to me.

EMRE: Simply put: the urge to create good organic metal. My former band, PAGAN, has been inactive pretty much since we've released our album, "OZ : In Transcendence" in 2007 so I needed something new to work on; something that is a blend of various types of Metal we are inspired by.

3. In your music brings together many musical styles, but in my point of view this is the one that is mostly thrash and retro style. Which groups are your sources of inspiration when composing?

JESSE: I grew up in the early 90s listening to a lot of black metal. I was actually the owner of #blackmetal on IRC UnderNet in the 90s, which almost unbelievably Emre apparently used. However, I gravitated specifically to the entire Swedish metal scene in the 90s. Eucharist drummer Daniel Erlandsson, Unanimated drummer Peter Stjärnvind, or even original Dissection drummer Ole Öhman have been huge influences on me.

EMRE: Aside from creating music we would like to hear, we also pay homage to older gods, such as Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Bathory, Darkthrone, Venom, Aura Noir, etc.

4. Your lyrics have a topic related to Turkey. Are ye all of Turkish origin? Your miss your land and you are worried about all that is happening there today? What inspires you when you write the lyrics?

EMRE: It's me and our bass player Koray, who are Turkish. One note is that his addition to the band has nothing to do with him being from Turkey. He's just a good bass player and has been a great friend of us.

Lately I travel to Istanbul often enough I don't miss the things I normally do. If your second question refers to the Gezi protests, my answer would be "no, it doesn't worry me". I see it as awakening of a giant from a long sleep and now it's ready to kick some ass HA HA

My main source of inspiration for lyrics (for Balbal at least) is Turkish mythology, tales from the old, shamanism, etc.

5. What equipment do you use music in the studio?

EMRE: We have a couple of Marshall JCM 800s, a Mesa/Boogie 400+, and a Sonor kit (with a very nice Istanbul crash and a hi-hat). As for strings, there are too many to mention, thanks to Koray Önder HA HA But the custom BC RIch Warlock and a Rickenbacker bass are my favourites.

6. Are there possibilities that offer Gökböri concerts in the near future?

EMRE: We decided to focus on our second album before putting out any shows. Although there are no set dates, it is highly likely we will be playing shows after the new album is out. Time will tell.

7. Who has been commissioned to design the album cover? What is the relationship between the title and content of your music?

EMRE: Her name is Dilek Baykara and she is an extremely talented artist. Apart from us, she has done works for quite a few bands (GHOST, NATUR, SAINT VITUS, etc.). Readers should look into her artwork here: www.dilekbaykara.us

Balbal is an old Turkish word for sculptures cut from stone erected around one's tomb; each representing enemies killed by the deceased. There is no direct relationship between the title and the general concept of the album (except the opening track), as each song talks about different subjects with respect to each other.

8. I see you're already working on your second album, what can you tell us about him? Will Balbal line?

EMRE: So far we have completed 5 songs, which have more Heavy Metal elements compared to our debut. One song that kind of "sticks out" is a BATHORY inspired one (epic era), at least its first half. Since we make music the way it pleases us and do not bother with certain rules, formulas or shit like that, next album will be somewhat different as we constantly evolve as listeners and musicians.

9. Are you happy with the impact achieved with your first album?

JESSE: Essentially self-releasing a debut album in 2013 and breaking through the cacophony of everything else being released is extremely difficult. Naturally we've gotten attention in Turkey, but considering we aren't touring or paying for ads on the internet or in magazines, recognition of the album has been slow. The people who have heard the album seem to really love it, so I think over time word will spread organically. It will just take time.

10. Balbal has been self-publishing, Any stamp interested publication? Will this be so in the future? Do you consider self-publishing as the right way to deliver your music?

EMRE: We didn't want to work with a label as self-publishing gives the freedom we want to. Of course it has its drawbacks, such as the time we need to dedicate for promotion, etc. however, we have been able to manage well so far. For the second album, we will again release it through our own label, BUZ.

11. Thank you very much for your time, if you want to add something for people who like Gökböri this is the place, thanks. I hope the questions are to your liking.

Thank you very much for your support and taking the time to prepare this interview, Fran. Those who are interested in listening to "Balbal", it is available for streaming on our website: www.gokbori.com Album is available on CD and digital formats; vinyl coming out soon.