The day I arrived in Istanbul there was a historic storm. They closed the bridge connecting the European side of the city to the Asian side, and all the ferries were closed too. I heard that a few people died, and many more were injured. I met someone that told me that a piece of a roof was blown off and landed on a car directly in front of them, smashing it. I stayed inside hiding until I went for a rehearsal.

The people responsible for bringing me here, Hemi and Seray, were the ones shooting this video. They run an exciting new night in Istanbul called Gigology and Hemi also runs an indie series called B Yüzü, and without him there’s no way I’d have been able to make this incredible trip to Turkey.

I played at Club Babylon, one of the biggest clubs in Istanbul, but in their lounge. The turnout was huge and the vibe was great – I played a new song which I’m going to release soon and people really seemed to like it. I think I’m going to call it “Where Do You Belong?” I also got to dedicate “You’re Going to Age” to a fan for their birthday. I love to remind people about their impending deaths while they’re having a good time. I also have been trying to speak some Turkish on stage – but most people can understand what I’m saying in English anyways.

The day after the show, I sat on the roof of my hostel and hung out there enjoying the incredible view of the city. I worked on songs up there, and it was very productive. Now I’ve figured out what I’m going to do for my next release. It will be a five song EP and I’m going to announce more details about that soon.

I only just found out that I should not be drinking tap water here. I’ve already drunk so much of it, people are a bit shocked that I’ve been doing that. It explains why shops won’t fill up your water bottle here. I’ve gotten really angry with people about that – now I understand. And today I ran into one of the only people I know in Istanbul on the street. So bizarre! It also made me feel a bit like a resident here. I’ve got a bit of a day off so I’m going to see if I can see a few of Istanbul’s beautiful places and make a cheesy Turkish pop song while I’m here. Special thanks to Gulsah, Murat, and Seray for letting me stay with them and being such awesome hosts.

I’ll leave you with this amazing treatise on video editing.

Okay Temiz – Denizalti Rüzgarlan

So I’d never played a Digits show outside of Canada or the UK before, but before I’d even played a show in Europe, I was going to play one in Asia! Ankara is the capital of Turkey, about a six hour bus ride east of Istanbul, a city which straddles the border of the two continents – people divide the city into the “Europe side” and the “Asia side”. So six hours east of it is most definitely Asia.

Ankara isn’t the prettiest or most interesting place. Like a lot of capital cities in the world all the government jobs and bureaucrats somehow suck the cultural life out of the place. Luckily there is still a really cool underground scene that is getting started there, thanks to ğ (an unpronounceable Turkish letter), the indie series that had me play.

This guy here goes by the name of Cem (pronounced Jem) Vegas. He was one of the organizers of the show, and I spent the whole time here with him and his friends, who were so awesome. The first thing we did when I arrived was wash my clothes, most of which had been pissed on by a charming cat in Istanbul. And I was so happy when Cem asked me if I knew a certain weird song about Canada, and even though I didn’t think he could possibly be talking about it, I sang the chorus of “In Canada” by bizarro American schoolteacher BJ Snowden, and miraculously he said “That’s it!” It blew my mind that he knew that song.

The show itself was spectacular, so much dancing, so much love in the room, and I ran out of songs to play. We partied into the night, with Cem, Özge, Buket and so many other nice people. Cem put a CD on by a strange lo-fi punk rocker from Ankara named Bunu Sen, whose music is so cool and weird, and he gave me the CD as a parting gift. Here’s a couple of my favourite songs by him – it’s too bad, he ended up having to join the army. I definitely want to come back here again, Ankara isn’t a boring place at all if you look in the right places.

I made a mix for Portals but thought I would share it with you all here. Lots of great Canadian content, including amazing tracks from Beta Frontiers, Chevalier Avant Garde, and Farragoes.

1. Roberto Cacciapaglia & Ann Steel — ”My Time”
2. Ohama — ”Where Do You Call Home?”
3. Mozart’s Sister — ”Single Status”
4. Ata Kak — ”Obaa Sima”
5. Dalom Kids — ”The Will”
6. Jean Michel Jarre — ”Zoolook (Remix)”
7. Sean Nicholas Savage — ”My Chances”
8. Vague-à-Bonde — ”Something”
9. Beta Frontiers — ”Hondo”
10. Randy — ”Coyote (Cojones Edit)”
11. Bad Passion — ”Get Results”
12. Chevalier Avant Garde — ”Young”
13. Jef Barbara — ”Wild Boys”
14. Clio — ”Faces”
15. Telex — ”Rock Around the Clock”
16. Digits — ”Shake Your Body Down” (unreleased)
17. Farragoes — “Sleep in Safety” (unreleased)

The first video I’ve ever had for one of my songs! Check out my other project Bad Passion!

Our Bad Passion video is coming out on Monday!