In one of his interviews he said that: As it has been a long time that I have given a concert because of Corona, I feel the excitement to meet my fans again.
Al-Monitor: Your music is considered unique in the Turkish music scene. The influence of Turkish folk music is easily recognizable. Where does your style originate from?
Cepkin: I studied classical and church music for nine years, then Turkish music and finally classical piano. When they all mixed, this was the result.
Al-Monitor: You have often made clear that you don't want to be classified by your ancestry. How do you manage to avoid that?
Cepkin: I'm human. Only human. I grew up in Istanbul, in the 1980s.
Al-Monitor: Did you feel "different" because of your ancestry?
Cepkin: Back then, it didn't really matter, because nobody would ask who you were, why your name was weird [not sounding Turkish], but now everyone asks "What are you? What are you doing? Who do you believe in? Who do you support?" I want to throw up … Identity concepts are always good excuses to create chaos. You create chaos, you create a good reason for that chaos. People get so tense that you can do whatever you want. And then you do your politics. It is basic math, it is not something incomprehensible.
Al-Monitor: Many of your songs are about love, but they are not love songs. You sing about the frustration of being in love.
Cepkin: I want to say something about emotions, spirituality; the spiritual world versus the material world.
In my last album, I made fun of love songs. Instead of asking "Where are you my love?" I talked to psychiatrists. I asked if lovers' behaviors can be seen as mental disorders. They all can. They are all part of human nature, jealousy, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, one-night stands. They are all part of this thing called love. When you are in love you do stupid things and it's very likely that you behave as if you have one of these disorders.
Al-Monitor: Turkey has experienced a fast economic growth, but social unrest has also grown. Why do you think love stories so often end tragically in Turkey?
Cepkin: Turkey has become like little America. It's all about the economy, and when you struggle to get money you cannot even talk about love. Homes are not built for love. We think of a loan to buy a house, furniture. Moving in is not as romantic as in the movies "Oh baby, you put paint on my nose, hahahah!" No, the reality is "Why do you waste the paint?!"
Al-Monitor: You recently announced that you are leaving Istanbul, to settle in a small town. Has your love for the location of your home also become a disorder?
Cepkin: I don't like crowded places. When I come home, I want my home to be quiet. Istanbul has become a chaotic city, it's like a construction site, and I cannot live in that chaos. I'm drained. But when I move to Selcuk I will finally be able to host my friends from Istanbul. We cannot meet in our city, because it takes hours only to cross the bridge!
Al-Monitor: Before you were famous, you were already giving "concerts" in football stadiums, at Besiktas [Istanbul's football team] matches.
Cepkin: Yes, for three years I played drums with Carsi [a Besiktas supporters' club]. I'm a Besiktas fanatic, I'm a member of Carsi. Carsi is a source of pride for Turkey.
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