by Petyr Campos
Performing at The Chapel SF was Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, internationally recognized for their unique and infectious sound that combines Anatolian folk with psychedelia, pop and soul influences. They have released two albums and one EP since their start in 2014
The band is fronted by Hamburg-born singer and bağlama player Derya Yıldırım. Despite being multilingual, Yıldırım exclusively sings in Turkish: “It’s really important to me because that’s the language I can really express myself in, it’s my emotional language” she explains. The rest of the band is comprised of Graham Mushnik (organ, synthesizers) and Antonin Voyant (guitar, bass, and flute) and Capetonian drummer Helen Wells.
Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek’s is touring and promoting their latest album Yarın Yoksa. The band refer to themselves as “outernational” over international as they say it suggests a sound that’s more inclusive or “beyond borders.
I had never heard of Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek prior to Wednesday’s show. I’m now a fan. It’s quite an experience see a show where you don’t understand the lyrics because there in a foreign language. However, I could feel the universal emotions and passion of the words Derya sang in Turkish. Their were quite a few Turkish speakers in the audience conversing with Derya in Turkish through out the show. She happily replied back in Turkish, translating what she had said to the audience. The show was fulll of symbiotic energy between the artist and audience as they feed off each other for 90 minutes of pure joy.
Born out of rhythm & percussion, Damma Damma is a cinematic, psychedelic jazz inspired rock band. Based in California with members hailing from Pennsylvania, Lousiana and Northern California, the band is comprised of drummer Adam Weaver, Robin Livingston on keyboards, Jacob Landry on guitar and Camilla Saufley on bass. The band delivers dynamic, energized live music.
Damma Damma put on quite a jam session with their high energy and set the stage perfectly for the headliner.
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