Istanbul band out to ’hypnotize’ audiences

They say practice makes perfect, but that is not exactly true for the band "Luxus."

What makes the sound of the Istanbul- based "oriental blues" band unique, is not hours of studio time or practice, but the development of their music onstage. For a band that has played an average of twice a week over their three-year existence, this is quite normal.

The lively septet has performed in many of Istanbul’s live music venues throughout the years, a period which has helped them grow an audience and create music for their first record, "Acayip Şeyler," to be released later this month. "Instead of locking ourselves in the studio," says clarinetist Kamucan Yalçın, "we open up onstage."

Their experience connecting with audiences led the band to coin the phrase, "hypnotic entertainment" as a definition of their live performances. "At first we wondered whether we could hypnotize people with our music," said founding member, Alper Bakıner, lead singer and violinist of the band, adding, "Now we are sure of it."

Yalçın said sometimes they look at their audience and all they see are people listening with their eyes closed. But observing listeners is not something the band usually does, they themselves become lost in the music too.

"We are hypnotized as well," says Bakıner. "One night when we played at Babylon, I said ’Oh my God, I cannot stop myself’ into the microphone at the end of a song, I do not remember doing this, I only realized I had said it when I was listening to tapes of the performance." Capturing this notoriously dense energy on record, Bakıner says is "impossible. We tried our best to keep it sincere, we kept little mistakes that can be heard by trained ears."

New versions of old songs
In terms of entertainment value, Luxus are known for making major changes to songs they cover in their shows. One example was the band’s performance of a cheerful version of Turkish song, "Neden Saçların Beyazlamış Arkadaş," normally an extremely sad song sung by crooner Tanju Okan, Turkey’s Leonard Cohen. "We do not dare play a song if we do not have a unique idea of how to add to it," says Bakıner. Yalçın agrees, describing the bands process as Luxus-izing songs.

To date, songs by various artists have been interpreted by Luxus. With the addition of songs from "Acayip Şeyler," they will not be running out of hypnotizing material anytime soon.