It must have been the Sea, Sun, Sangria and what have you, but I once went to Mallorca on holiday and bought a watch. I say it must have been the aforementioned because I knew it wasn’t a real Tag Hauer one, on account of it being sold to me by a tall, dark, but by no means handsome bloke who had been walking up and down the streets. And the fact it was £20. Even more than that though, I never wear watches, because I’m allergic to the metal on the back. It broke fairly soon afterwards. That’s the trouble with these things – they look the same, but they’re not. They’re just fakes.
Over in Instanbul four young hipsters (I love that word, even though it makes me sound like Tony Blackburn) Oguzcan Ozen, Sezer Kic, Berk Tekelioglu and Burak Serter, met in college like most bands. They formed The Away Days, and despite there being, to say the least, not much of a recognizable Indie scene in Turkey, off they set. Looking towards the British and US indie scenes for inspiration, even the name describes their feeling of not being at home (their words not mine)
Despite the difficulties, in little over 12 months The Away Days found themselves performing live on Friday night TV to millions on Okan Bayulgen’s Disco Krali, Turkey’s most popular late night show, should you not know. If that were not enough, they’ve performed alongside indie royalty such as Pulp and the Kaiser Chiefs at the One Love Festival, Mark Ronson and Sam Sparro at an Adidas All Originals Party, Factory Floor at the Babylon Newcomers Festival. They’ve some influential friends too, being championed by many, including Ron Lewis of Sub Pop, and they been featured by Bella Union’s Simon Raymonde on Amazing Radio.
The Away Days are making the trip to SXSW festival in Texas this March, have a debut album in the works and a first EP ‘How Did It All start’ already available. The track Dressing Room is from the EP, and is available for free download here. Its a fantastic slice of infectious Indie-Pop, with sparkling insistent guitars and interweaving keyboard patterns, playing against the plaintive vocal line throughout.
The band are also already firming up their first UK dates for this May, but are already confirmed at the London Barfly on the 7th. When they do land on these shores they will be bringing almost the entire Turkish indie scene over with them.
Go get the track, it’s fantastic. And while you may be suspicious, I can assure you that unlike my watch, this band is neither a copy, or fake. The Away Days are very real indeed.
