ZEYNEP  AKGÜL

Ankara- Berfin Aktay began to play baglama (stringed musical instrument) when she was five years old. She appeared in a concert when she was six-seven years old. Berfin Aktay was born in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province but then she moved to Istanbul and now she is a student of Istanbul Technical University Music Conservatory. She wanted to make an album but she gave up because it was very expensive. Then, she began to record her own songs. “I cannot say I chose a music genre. I sing what I feel.  I'd rather symbolize my feelings than symbolize a genre,” said musician Berfin Aktay. We interviewed her about her music and life.

·         You were born in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province. But now you live in Istanbul. Why did you come to Istanbul? Could you talk about yourself?  

I was born in Nusaybin in 1992 and I lived there until 2012. It is a small district and it has many advantages for many things but not for artistic activities so I first moved to Diyarbakır. In 2012, I went to Diyarbakır to improve myself and my instrument talent and studied at Cegerxwîn Art Academy (affiliated to Kayapınar Municipality), which provided education on Kurdish music and Kurdish literature. During my three-year education there, I was a baglama instructor and vocalist of the Hasankeyf Orchestra. I started working as an assistant music arranger for Huner Amed Studio and my aim was to learn more. I decided to improve myself more. In 2017, I put aside my thoughts about the university that I boycotted for years and passed the university exam, and came to Istanbul to study Music Conservatory Department at Istanbul Technical University.

·         How did your musical life start?

Under the influence of my father, music has been in my life for as long as I can remember. When I was five years old, I started playing baglama. And I gave my first concert with my father when I was six-seven years old. Somehow, we planned events and joined the commemorations. We tried to do something even if we were not professional. But my first professional step was to go to Diyarbakır in 2012 and I put music at the center of my life.

“My admiration for traditional music is obvious”

·         We hear both traditional and universal-contemporary voices in your music, what do you want to say about your music?

I cannot say I chose a music genre. I sing what I feel.  I'd rather symbolize my feelings than symbolize a genre. My admiration for traditional music is obvious. But just making and reproducing traditional music reduces productivity. Technology is not the same as past, now technological advances allow us to follow the musical advances all around the world. For this reason, the feeling can change at any moment. I can say that I act according to my feelings.

“We know that we are not alone”

·         The role of music in society is always great. The songs of Dengbêj and today’s singers always consist of wars, uncompleted stories pains, and traumas. Therefore, although Kurdish music sometimes comes to stop, it never ends. What would you like to say about this?

We keep alive what we have experienced by singing and telling. Since we cannot close our eyes and ears, we cannot close our mouths either. We sometimes feel sad and sometimes feel happy and we need to share our feelings because we know that we are not alone. We know very well that there are people suffering like us. Culture and art turn into a structure that unites these feelings. A connection with those who tell our pain, happiness, resistance, and love is shaped and this connection becomes a strong side of society. Kurdish people are used to living together; a family that doesn’t act alone becomes relatives, hometown, and a nation that value their country.

·         Recently, Kurdish female musicians have formed a new genre by combining genres such as blues, jazz, pop-rock with Kurdish. You are one of them. What do you think about this?

As I told you before, I don’t have any genre but I sign what I feel.  For me, feelings don't have to be categorized. I am someone who wants to try everything I feel.

“If we continue to spend what we have without producing anything, we can end ourselves and our culture”

·         Different genres in Kurdish music (opera, jazz, or blues) generally focus on performing what is available, namely traditional Kurdish music, by using different instruments and genres. What do you think about this?

The dynamism in art can change due to external effects in time. But there is also an effort to keep the existing historical culture alive. For me, you can add news comments to the existing productions if you know what you are doing. But if you go round in circles, if we continue to spend what we have without producing anything, we can end ourselves and our culture. Our duty is to keep alive the heritage and songs left to us.

“I record my own songs because making an album is expensive”

·         Our last question; is there a project you are working on right now?

I couldn’t realize some of my projects due to the pandemic. I wanted to release an album. But I gave up making an album because it was very expensive and I started recording my own songs. This is a project I am now working on. Every week, I share one of my songs, compositions, and ideas on social media. I have worked on writing my book, “Kurdish Baglama Method” for a long time and I am working on it now. I have also formed a live messaging space on Youtube under the name of Berfin Radio to encourage my audience to write in Kurdish.