Based between Berlin and Istanbul, queer-living DJ, producer and curator, İpek İpekçioğlu aka DJ Ipek has an established reputation across nightlife scenes worldwide.
She focuses on contemporary, everyday socio-political issues and transports those issues into her music. Ipek has a strong political agenda related to women, immigrant and queer issues and focuses on contemporary, everyday socio-political aspects and offers diversity workshops connected with her audio-visual works and she is a member of the network female:pressure and is board member of reboot fm as well has a patronage the action “Aktion Courage-Schule ohne Rassismus”.
She has curated several festivals as like Berlistanbul#25, New Sounds of Istanbul und Berlin @ Radialsystem, Transition, Almanci.
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 band ari to techno. Her EthnikFolkElektronikMix is free of conventionality, and it refuses to be limited by style, tempo or genres.
She has releases at Trikont , Reveller Records, Katermukke, Monika Enterprises.
FACTS:
1: There is a good in every evil – her şerde bir hayır vardır
2: You reap what you sow Ne ekersen onu biçersin
3: Each individual is more than he/she’s given culture, religion, class, gender, nation and body
QUESTIONS:
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
For me music connects and it has its own very powerful language. I love to share with people love, peace, hate , emotions via music.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
I started as a kid to take part at school choirs , singing and dancing in Turkey.
I started djaying during the end of the 90ies. Producing music mid 2000. During my studies, i never though about being a dj or a musician. As kismet (destiny ) wanted , I was asked to dj at the very 1st Queer-Oriental-party at the Berliner Club SO36. Such as , are you a lesbian , are you Turkish, pls come and dj at our 1st queer-oriental-party. It was a great experience. Since then I am making the club scene insecure with my very eklektik sound, mixing almost everything with almost everything from the world ;) I produce electronic music , with analog musicians and anatolian-deep-house music and music of diverse genres with very political elements.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
Sezen Aksu Git /‘88/Söylüyor
Keith Jarret Cologne concert
Nitin Sawhney Beyond Skin
Compilation Beyond Istanbul 1 2006
Mercan Dede – 800
4. What do you associate with Berlin? I grew up mostly in Berlin.
Freedom, possibilities, diversity, trees, parks and music ,my home
5. What’s your favorite place in your town?
Neukölln
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Playing table tennis or doing professional watersports
7. What was the last record/music you bought?
I buy now more digital music on online platforms. But real physical record was Vinyl, 7″, 45 RPM from the Turkish singer Sevil Öztatli Seks Seks Seks released in 1070ies
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Sezen Aksu, Nitin Sawhney.
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 much …
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.
Ipek Ipekcioglu will appear at #disPlaced – #rePlaced: Cultural Transition of Istanbul and Berlin at Radialsystem event @ radialsystem
soundcloud.com/djipek/ipek-ipekcioglu-feat-lina-sur-rise-fall
