Based between Berlin and Istanbul, queer-living DJ, producer and curator, İpek İpekçioğlu has an established reputation across nightlife scenes worldwide. She has performed her music at the Glastonburry, Fusion, Sziget, At.tension, Berlin Festival and many more international electronic and world music festivals. Ipek has been creating a buzz amongst international crowds from New York City to the desert Sahara of Mali, developing an exclusive brand name with her unique & hybrid Soundmix and she regarded is one of the most popular DJ of the Berlin club scene and internationally as known as Queen of Eklektik BerlinIstan. In her musical spectrum, psychedelic turkish funk meets disco, balkanfolk to minimal, Anatolian folk to deep house, kurdish halay to electro, turkish tango to break beat, bhangra to moombahton, dabke to reaggaton, albanian folk to twerk, iranian bandari to techno.
FACTS:
1: You reap what you sow – Ne ekersen onu biçersin.
2: There is a good in every evil – Her şerde bir hayır vardır.
3: Each individual is more than his*hers given culture, religion, class, gender, nation and body.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
Music has a strong power to create emotions and to connect me with people. Music is my instrument to express my messages, my thoughts, my standing, my emotions. The diversity within middle eastern music and amalgamating it with electronic music makes me happy. Dancing makes me happy.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
As a kid I already took part at school choirs, singing and dancing in Turkey. One night I was asked to dj in the club SO36 in Berlin. “Are you turkish? Are you a lesbian? Please come and dj at our first queer‐oriental‐party.” It was a great experience. Since then I am making the club scene insecure with my very eclectic sound, mixing almost everything with almost everything from the world, mostly from the middle east. I produce electronic music with traditional instruments and anatolian‐deep‐house music.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
Sezen Aksu – Sezen Aksu ’88 (Git / ’88 / Söylüyor)
Selda Bagcan ‐ “40 Yılın 40 Şarkısı”
Nitin Sawhney – Beyond Skin
Various – Beyond Istanbul 2 2010
Kardeş Türküler – Doğu
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
Diverse community, parks, friends, art, music, home, freedom and silence.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
Berlin‐Kladow at my garden, caravan and lake.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Playing table tennis or doing professional watersports and teaching.
7. What was the last record/music you bought?
–
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Kardeş Türküler, Sezen Aksu.
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
Hard to say, because I consider many gigs as very special. Among them there were many many fantastic gigs.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
Unfortunately too important.
11. Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career/art?
I have 6 half siblings, 1 same mother father sibling. They love and support what I do. I am the only one who is involved with music unfortunately. My brother sometimes works as my VJ at festivals. He is amazing.
From Thursday, 11th to Saturday 13th April 2019 Ipek Ipekçioğlu aka DJ Ipek curates #disPlaced – #rePlaced 2 at Radialsystem Berlin.
Photo © Melis Özdil
