Altin Gün

The part Dutch, part Turkish group Altin Gün are dedicated to honoring and updating the psychedelic sounds of Turkey in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Mixing traditional Turkish folk songs and instruments with fuzz guitars and synths, the sounds heard on albums like 2019’s Gece are reverent to the Anatolian psychedelic sound while fitting in perfectly with the neo-psych movement of the band’s own era. 2021′s synth-heavy pair of albums Yol and Âlem stretched the group’s template a little, but they snapped back into place joyfully on 2023′s Aşk.
The idea of Altin Gün came about when bassist Jasper Verhulst, guitarist Ben Rider, and drummer Nick Mauskovic (all members of Jacco Gardner’s live group) were on a tour stop in Turkey. Verhulst spent his time off record shopping, bought some albums by artists like Barış Manço, Selda, and Erkin Koray — the main movers of the Turkish psychedelic scene — and immediately fell in love with the sound. Back home in Amsterdam, Verhulst recruited the other two musicians with the idea that they would play covers of Turkish folk songs and give them a modern psychedelic update just like the bands and artists did in the 1970s. One of the main sources the group drew inspiration from was singer and saz genius Neşet Ertaş. They realized quickly that they needed more musicians, specifically some Turkish people who would understand the lyrics and give their sound some authenticity. The band found singer/keyboardist Merve Dasdemir and the multi-talented Erdinç Ecevit (electric saz, vocals, keys) through social media and also added local percussionist Gino Groeneveld to round out the lineup. Altin Gün workshopped their evolving sound — with Verhulst and Ecevit choosing the songs they planned to update with deep funk beats, synthesizers, and echoing psychedelic guitars — and soon began playing live shows in their home country.
Altin Gün found a receptive audience made up of both Dutch fans and those from the sizable Turkish population living in Holland. The group released their first single in 2017 for the Bongo Joe label, then in 2018 issued their debut album, On. They had been playing loads of shows by then — everything from summer festivals to cramped clubs — and caught a break when the influential Seattle radio station KEXP heard the band and decided to feature a session from them on their popular web streaming site. The four-song set reached hundreds of thousands of viewers and instantly boosted their profile. Later that same year, Altin Gün played a set at King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s Gizzfest, where they caught the attention of that band’s label, ATO Records.
ATO signed the band to a deal, and with new drummer Daniel Smienk on board, Altin Gün began work on their second album. Working again with Jasper Geluk, who had recorded On, the group delivered another powerful modern take on the classic Turkish psychedelic sound, sourced as before from traditional folk songs with the only exception being the sole original composition, “Şoför Bey.” The finished album, titled Gece, was released by ATO in April 2019, and the band set off on another world tour soon after. In 2020, Gece was nominated in the Best World Music Album category of the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Though the band didn’t win, Altin Gün’s profile was boosted to the point where they netted prime slots at the 2020 Coachella and Bonnaroo festivals. Unfortunately, both were canceled due to the global pandemic. As with most bands around the world, plans for recording more music shifted as well. The members of the group collaborated via email, trading demos and adding new parts as they went. Added to the mix this time were more synths, Omnichord, and drum machines, which gave the songs a slicker, synth pop-influenced sound to go along with the rollicking psychedelic pop. The resulting album, Yol, was mixed by Asa Moto and issued by ATO in February 2021. Later that year, the group released a companion album, Âlem, that featured a similar sound.
When Altin Gün were able to start playing live again in late 2021, they headed out on a short European tour and then swung over to North America in 2022. They were also able to record together in the studio again, which led to 2023′s album Aşk having a sound that captured their live set more closely. The record was the first to feature new guitarist Thijs Elzinga, who took the place of Rider, along with percussionist Chris Bruining. ~ Tim Sendra