Today, we sat down the band KATRE to talk how they got started in music, advice for musicians and much more! Be sure to check out their music video below after the interview!
Interview:
How did you get your start in music?
H: First of all, thank you very much for having us. I am Hasan Koç, guitar player of the band Katre.
Ö: I am Özgür Şepşül, I play bass guitar. When I was 8 years old, my father took me to a music school. For me, it was like entering a new dimension. Since that day I’ve been passionate about making music.
H: I think I was around 15 when my cousin found out that my right hand was good because I could play syncopated rhythms. He insisted on me to start playing guitar. It was a classical guitar, but I was playing riffs from Metallica, Slayer, Sepultura, etc., my fingers were always bleeding. After a few years, my parents got me an electric guitar. All of a sudden it was way easier to play those songs 🙂
What type of music did you listen to while growing up?
Ö: At first I grew up with Arabic music, at times Arabesk, Turkish folk music but I always tried to revise the songs I heard in the direction of funk and pop. Then I got to know the jazz radio line and I always liked new genres.
H: Diverse genres of rock and metal. I guess more or less like everyone from my generation, I started with Nirvana, Guns’N Roses, Metallica, and Slayer. Parallel to that, I listened to Turkish rock bands, such as Bulutsuzluk Özlemi or Yaşar Kurt. During this time I met Şah Cihan, our synth player today and he introduced me to tons of bands, shared his whole archive with me. I was still a kid and basically still exploring many bands, getting my hand on any record which is dark, fast, and hard enough. At some point, I developed a strong interest in Progressive Metal and Extreme Metal. It has not changed much since then.
What are fun stories you can share while you’re in the studio recording music?
Ö: There are often funny moments in the studio. We had a visitor from Turkey for a recording, the musicians all smoked weed during the recording time, and in the end we were all high.
H: For Katre, as we are geographically distributed, we can’t afford to spend much time in the studio. But as we were recording the first album, I remember that our drum tech had to tame Okaner, because he was playing “too metal”. He told Okaner, “man, this is post-rock, you need to keep it calm when you are playing the drums” 🙂
What is your latest song or album you can share with us?
H: Our latest album is called “Behind the Resilience”. This is a concept album, please check out katremusic.com for the details.
Where can our fans find you on social media for any music updates?
H: We are present on contemporary social media platforms, i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Bandcamp, etc. Our songs are also available on digital platforms such as iTunes or Spotify. You can just name any price to download our releases. I think the best place to start would be our webpage, www.katremusic.com.
We both thank you very much for this nice conversation and we wish you all the best.
Music:
