Ahmet Aslan Drama Ensemble
Gig Seeker Pro

Ahmet Aslan Drama Ensemble

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band World Folk

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


This band has no press

Discography

Ni Adiri (2000)
Va u Waxt (Wind und Zeit) 2003
Veyve Milaketu (Dance of the Angels) 2007
We Di Vabo (2009)
Ejder Kapani, (Soundtrack) (2010)

Photos

Bio

The only time when I was truly myself was during my childhood. Then, when I was 5 years old, my parents registered me at the local office of administration. Probably at that moment I also lost my original self. The only thing I liked at school, when I was that age, was painting.

I believed I could paint away what I had lost. Although the paintings neverÊreflected my true self I still became the best in my age group in Turkey. That happiness also didn't last song: I watched my father use the paintings for firewood so he could enjoy his cup of tea and smoke his cigarettes. (Painting was not considered a serious vocation).

During my time at the Lyceum I learned to play the Tambur. Through the instrument I longed to express my true self. I went from Diyarbekir to the conservatorium of Istanbul, always improving my skill, but failing to find a personal connection/affinity.

In Germany I even lost contact with the Tambur. Then I met the guitar and he helped me rekindle my relationship with the tambur (instrument of my ancestry).

Now we are an union of Three. With the music we made I felt I had reached a point before the Dawn of Time. Is what I was tought the truth? Does history really start at zero? Is zero even in the right place? (Or have we reached the limits of our understanding?)

***

Today, the thing that connects the people is Alevitism. But, this is surely not enough to understand everything about the local culture and its structure. Behind religious rituals and cultural traditions, there lies another philosophy: the spirit, arising long before Islam, contains a philosophy that extends up to the age of Zoroaster. Sunlight, Sources, Rocks and a rhythmic singing style are just some of the central spiritual reference points of this mountainous nation.

Ahmet Aslan's accent and the typical sound he produces between the nose and throat, accompanied by a rhythmic breathing technique, are typical features of singing styles from the Dersim region. It is a style of commentary and music that generally belongs only to the generation of elderly men and women of the region. They are the last witnesses of a language and music tradition that is very old and in danger of extinction. However, musician Ahmet Aslan captures the spirit of these past generations in his songs and adapts their musical heritage together with his own contemporary style. This way, his music, which pays hommage to and symbolises the old language and culture, is brought up to date. Today, only very few artists can reflect the tradition of this authentic music. That’s why it’s not hard to say that Ahmet Aslan's songs are very rare.

Ahmet Aslan’s first album ‘Va u Waxt’ (Wind and Time) from 2003 was on the MIR Music label. Almost all the lyrics and compositions on the album are by him.

Since 1998, when he graduated from Music School in Istanbul, Ahmet Aslan has been living in Germany. Now fully acquainted with Western music his appetite for seminars like "Johan Sebastian Bach's Four-Voice Music" and "Harmony Learning" is neverending. Whilst in Germany, he’s worked together with experienced Jazz musicians like Klaus Bittner, Bernd Renn and Michael Schwab. In 2007, his second album, ‘Dance of the Angels’ was released by Kalan Music.

Ahmet Aslan is currently studying for his Bachelor degree at the School of World Music and Arts (CODARTS) in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.