What is your name and role within Triart?
This is Furkan(middle) here. Gorkem is on the right in this picture and Ensar is on my left. Besides 10+ years of friendship among us, Triart is more like a collaborative project that we try to bring out the best ourselves. That’s why we don’t usually share it/publish it until it feels right for all of us in the process, from marketing to music production. Although we all involve in each and every process, we split the workload by focusing in our own fields. Coming from a business background, I usually handle that side of the project where Ensar and Gorkem explore and bounce creative ideas in the studio. In addition, they also work on the projects separately and then bring it to the studio to wrap up together. In general, we take pieces of ideas from individual production sessions and build a new project.
Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there?
Until a few years ago, we were living in different countries. I used to live in the US, Gorkem was also with me before moving to Slovenia, and Ensar was in here in Turkey.
Living in different countries had both positive and negative aspects. Due to the time difference and school/workloads, we could have found much less time to collaborate. But at the same time it created a chance that we can get inspiration from the music culture of different countries. Especially witnessing the rise of EDM scene in the US,although we were into it that much, helped us to be guided by the good mentors from the industry, which eventually created a good network over the years.
In Turkey, we think that electronic music scene is growing and expanding. People have started to dig deeper into sub genres. Experiencing the change together with the audience is also exciting for us. So we know that when we produce something that is far from standardization, not trapped in the molds, there will be someone to listen.
How and when did you first start playing music?
For the first time as Triart, I and Görkem played in America. I was 18, Görkem was 17 by then. It’s one of those moments we’ll never forget. We played on a stage with a capacity of about 100-150. Since there were names like GTA and Bassjackers playing on the main stage, there were very few people in the smaller stage when we took over the set. We were very very nervous but it went really well.
How did Triart form?
Our friendship goes back to the early years of high school. It would not be a lie to say that our music tastes were very close to each other. Afterwards, when we were 16, we decided to go for a Interrail trip – you can travel all over Europe by train with a single ticket – Our last stop on the trip was Ibiza. When we went to there, we were blown away. You imagine what can happen when you go to White Isle at that age 🙂 We had only one night in there and luckily there was the opening party of Swedish House Mafia’s Masquarede Motel at Pacha that day. The party we could barely enter with Fake IDs inspired us so deeply that when we left the club around 8 am, we decided to go for it. People, vibe, music, passion, energy … Even today it still gives us goosebumps moments. It took few other years to form Triart, but this is definitely the start story.
What’s been happening recently?
It’s been a rollercoaster year already. After nearly two years of hiatus, we returned with new Triart single, where we felt more confident and free musically and artistically. We spent this two-year break exploring different musical approaches, developing our studio techniques, and drawing a road map of where we want to take Triart. We were more like a producer-DJ trio before, but the direction we want to take now is very different. We try to explore the journey between music and raw emotions through this collaborative project.
We are working on shifting to a live performance, dropping the standard DJ setup to create an immersive connection between us and the audience. We hope to turn Triart shows into a multidisciplinary performance with our own production and visuals.
You’ve recently released ‘Reboot’ which has taken your sound to a new direction, how would you describe your new sound compared to your previous sound?
In fact, we haven’t made much release before. However, if we compare it to the previous approach, we think the biggest difference is that now we are able to move more freely between sub genres of progressive music. Listeneres can still hear trance-y elements from our old sound though. Therefore, we wouldn’t say we’ve completely changed our sound. Although perhaps the approach is different musically, emotion and experimental attitude remain in place.
What or who influenced your new track ‘Reboot’?
We were just excited to finally come up with something that totally satisfied us. Reboot transforms what’s now old with our new approach, not only production wise but artistic wise as well. The biggest inspiration was to realize that we could challenge ourselves by giving more freedom to what we do and do it in a better way. Now, we have a space to disrupt our own style. This idea pushed us to produce Reboot.
Where and when did you record/produce?
We completed Reboot in our studio in Istanbul. Here we have the chance to spend time together with a lot of upcoming artists who are also under the same management. This helps us to accelerate the technical (mix-mastering) processes especially after the creative process, which only we are involved in.
What programs/instruments did you use?
The three of us have Studio One as a DAW. Projects that we work are synced on Dropbox, so even if we are in different places, we can work in different parts of the project individually. We mainly use Serum and Massive as VSTs. Recently, we have started to use Dune and Synthmaster as well.
What’s planned for Reboot?
We tested Reboot in many events before releasing it. The reaction was always incredible.
We don’t heavily promote it but we try to reach more people who we think may be interested in this kind of music. Therefore, creating content around the release and spreading it thru niche media outlets and targeted posts is the way.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
We are listening to a lot of Jon Hopkins at the moment.
What’s planned for the remainder of 2019?
We will have another release in late August and early September. It is a piece that continues the story of Reboot and is also valuable for us as it is our first collaboration. Before the end of 2019, our goal is to release an EP. Our forecast will be towards the end of November. In addition to releases, our top priority will be to switch to live setup by 2020. The second half of the year will be a deep dive into Triart project as a whole.
What do you like to do away from music?
Well, music makes up 90 percent of our daily lives. We all work under an entertainment-new media startup called Future Forward Media. Therefore, apart from Triart, we spend all of our days and nights here, creating media partnerships, brand endorsements, and doing business developments. Being involved in music business and doing this kind of work for brands, of course, has a positive effect on Triart. So we breathe in and out music and music business on a daily basis 🙂
Any secrets that you care to share?
It’s not a secret but we are still huge fan of Swedish House Mafia. Love the way they engage with their fans. Amazing stuff!
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Definitely Amsterdam! We just love it.
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