DERYA YILDIRIM & GRUP ŞİMŞEK

Derya Yıldırım sings "Hop Bico", an old Anatolian folk standard that her grandmother used to interpret in her own way. Derya, in turn, offers her own reinterpretation, driven by a psychedelic slowness and her enchanting voice. For her, playing a traditional song means bringing something new to it: "otherwise, you might as well just re-listen to the original record."

Born in Hamburg to Turkish parents, she grew up between her family's Anatolian heritage and the cultural diversity of the city. Trained from childhood in traditional music, she learned the bağlama, then the guitar, piano, and saxophone. Although a multi-instrumentalist, she remains deeply attached to the sound of the bağlama, which she describes as "very magical." With Yarın Yoksa (If There Is No Tomorrow), Grup Şimşek's upcoming album, Derya continues her mission to revitalize Anatolian folk music by infusing it with contemporary psychedelic energy.