Mercan Dede believes that when you put digital, electronic sounds together with hand-made, human ones, you can create universal language, capable of uniting old and young, ancient and modern, East and West. It's a bold claim, but the Turkish-born and Montreal-based musician/producer/DJ has the career and the music to back it up. When he takes the stage with his group Secret Tribe, he hovers at the side behind his turntables and electronics, occasionally picking up a traditional wooden flute Read Full BioMercan Dede believes that when you put digital, electronic sounds together with hand-made, human ones, you can create universal language, capable of uniting old and young, ancient and modern, East and West. It's a bold claim, but the Turkish-born and Montreal-based musician/producer/DJ has the career and the music to back it up. When he takes the stage with his group Secret Tribe, he hovers at the side behind his turntables and electronics, occasionally picking up a traditional wooden flute, or ney to float in sweet, breathy melodies, while masters of the kanun (zither), clarinet, darbuka (hand drum) and whatever other instruments he's decided to include that night, ornament his grooves and spin magical, trance melodies to match the whirling of the group's spectacular dervish dancer, Mira Burke. Not to mention the many great international artists appear as guest musicians both in his albums and his concerts.
This contrast between electronica and classical or folkloric arts cuts to the core of the Sufi philosophy that guides this one-of-a-kind artist. 'Those things are not really separate,' says Dede. 'The essence of Sufism is counterpoint. Everything exists with its opposite. On one side, I am doing electronic music. The other side of that is this really acoustic, traditional music.' Dede doesn't just bring in any traditional sounds and sights as adornment to his techno beats. He is ever on the lookout for new collaborators, and they might come from any tradition, any country, any generation. For Secret Tribe's U.S. debut in January, 2004, he flew in three, teenage prodigies of Turkish classical music from Istanbul and two of the pieces they played were improvised during the concert. 'When I choose a musician,' says Dede, 'I need to be connected with them in terms of personality, heart-wise we say in Turkey. We should have a similar energy and feeling about life. The second thing is they need to be done with the technical part of music. Once they've done that, you don't need to worry. They can play anything not from mind but from soul.'
Mercan Dede and Secret Tribe's splendid 2002 release Nar realizes this elegant marriage of old and new stunningly. Along with the groups' spellbinding performances, it is helping them build a worldwide following. When the group plays in Turkey, they can draw as many as 20,000 people. But for Dede'whose name comes from a minor character in a contemporary Turkish novel'it has been a long, highly unconventional road to success. Raised poor in a Turkish village in the 1970s, Dede recalls the moment when listening to the radio as a six-year-old, he fell in love with the sound of the ney. But even when he moved to Istanbul to study journalism, he could not afford an instrument, so he made his first one from a length of plastic plumbing pipe. Although he eventually found a ney teacher, Dede did not pursue music as a career. He was more deeply involved with photography, and by chance, an official at the Saskatoon Public Library in Canada saw some of his work and invited him to come and do an exhibition.
Dede wound up studying multimedia in Saskatoon, and he worked in a bar to earn rent money. That was where he first encountered the art of deejaying. One day the bar's deejay couldn't make it, and Dede stepped in. The techno revolution was just beginning, and Dede was getting in on the ground floor. By the mid-80s, he was traveling to do 'technotribalhouse' deejay gigs under the name Arkin Allen. He debuted as Mercan Dede in 1995 with he released his first album, Sufi Dreams, recorded for Golden Horn Records in San Francisco. The album was a minimalist techno ambiant project featuring the ney flute, and it earned impressive reviews. A few years later, Dede moved to Montreal where he first studied, then taught, at Concordia University, moving ever more forcefully into the burgeoning techno scene. Recordings he made under the name Mercan Dede got noticed in Istanbul, and a festival invited him to perform, expecting an older gentleman, as Dede means 'grandfather' in Turkish. When people saw a young band mixing techno and tradition, they were exhilarated, and Dede has stuck with this adapted name ever since.
Dede formed his first group in 1997 and created more recordings, Journeys of a Dervish (Golden Horn, 1999) Seyahatname (Doublemoon, 2001), and Nar (Doublemoon, 2002 ) From the start, the group was more an idea than a set lineup. 'I always get different musicians,' says Dede, 'all the time. When I do a European tour, each country, I choose a guest musician from that country. This is the essence of the group.' The Canadian TV station Bravo filmed and aired Dede's concert with Turkish master kemence (Persian violin) player Ihsan Ozgen at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in the Fall of 1998. German television producers Saarlandischer Rundfunk were so moved by Dede's music that they traveled to Canada to feature him in their documentary about Sufi Music. While filming Dede at work in Montreal and Toronto in February of 1998, the producers requested that Dede create the soundtrack for this project. Same year Mercan Dede's album Seyahatname includes pieces composed for a dance theatre project, directed and choreographed by Beyhan Murphy for the Turkish State Modern Dance Troupe.
Both as Mercan Dede and his alter ego DJ Arkin Allen, he has performed at events as diverse as the Black & Blue 98 (a world-renowned Montreal circuit party attended by 15,000 people) and a concert of improvisations with on classical Turkish music at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. In July 2001, Mercan Dede performed at the highly acclaimed Montreal Jazz Festivals, sharing the General Motors Big Event stage with Burhan Öçal and Jamaaladeen Tacuma, in a concert called 'East Meets the West' before an audience of more than 170,000 people. On that same evening, right after his concert, he appeared at Spectrum, this time performing with his project Montreal Tribal Trio, again as part of the festival program. In 2002, the group electrified the WOMEX world music trade fair in Essen, Germany, and also the International Transmusicales Festival in Rennes.
Dede has also performed with such musical personalities as Kani Karaca, I'hsan Özgen, Misirli Ahmet, Ilhan Ersahin, Peter Murphy, Natacha Atlas, Azam Ali Musafir, I'lhan Ers¸ahin, Jamaledeen Tacuma, Hugh Marsh, Omar Sosa, Mich Gerber, Fazil Say, Susheela Raman, Trans Global Underground, Dhafer Youssef, Coldcut, Dhol Foundation, Emma Shaplin, Ludavico Eunadi, Trilok Gurtu. Mercan Dede and Secret Tribe's summer tour 2003 included Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Arezzo Wave (I'taly), Skopje Festival (Macedonia), Moers Festival (Germany),World Roots Festival (The Netherlands), Jaen-Etnosur (Spain), Rhythm Sticks Festival (UK) and many others. The group's 2004 U.S. debut took place at Joe's Pub in New York in January, 2004, as part of the city's groundbreaking world music marathon at Global Fest. Mercan Dede was invited to play at GlobalFest' (APAP Conference) in New York in January 2004, where 16 different bands from 5 continents played. He performed and completed his USA tour with 3 young gypsy musicians from turkey in their early teens.
Mercan Dede's concert was reviewed by various press and music critics including Global Rhythm Magazine who made a cover story on him and his music calling his performance at Joes Pub; " one of the best world music performance of recent years" .
The following year, turkey & germany based Production Company "Medya' made a documentary film about his life and music which aired the same year and received great reviews.
Mercan Dede also provided music for Pina Bausch's recent work, "Istanbul, Nefes' performed in the city it was named for in the spring of 2003. He calls meeting Pina Bausch one of the most amazing moment in his career. He is commissioned by the Turkish Ministry of Culture as the music director of the Güldestan Project. The project is destined to represent Turkish Culture and Arts all around the Globe.
Over the next three years ( 2005,2006,2007) he travelled the world spanning over 1,5 million km and performed almost every corner of the world. He also released "Water" (2005) and Breath (2006) albums which both topped the BBC world music charts making him the first turkish artist whose albums received the #1 of the world music charts. Over the last 4 years he was also nominated in different categories of world music as the best world music artist of the year by BBC.
In 2007, as a dedication to Sufi master Rumi, he recorded and released his last album "800" as a celebration of his masters 800th birthday. Following it's release, he chose to follow a different path in his life leaving both his beloved record label Doublemoon and management Pozitif, allowing him to continue his journey on his own. Recently he is living quietly and preparing new projects in Montreal. Although he declined to show his recent paintings and visual art works, feeling he is not yet ready, he is however giving signals to including visual arts in his future projects.
Under 9 different names, he has released more than 100 singles world wide. Mercan Dede, Arkin Allen, Blueman and Poundmaker aside, he still keeps 5 other names secret even from his own management and family; believing that nothing should stand between sound and the ear, include the artist himself.
Mercan Dede is keen on bring his extraordinary music and stagecraft to the entire world feeling that its inclusive spirit carries a profound message of understanding and reconciliation. 'I don't like the separation,' says Dede. 'The Sufi poet Rumi has a very good saying: 'If you are everywhere, you are nowhere. If you are somewhere, you are everywhere.' My somewhere is my heart. I try to figure it out. The rest'the hype, the trends'they are not important. We are here for nothing else but Love, the rest is nothing but bunch of gossip" If music does not make us a better person even in a small way, who cares if you are the best musician in the world. I prefer to be someone who follows his heart no matter where it goes. Succes is not something to which I aspire but rather I accept as simply a wonderful gift of life from the Creator as a recogniton of my naive and simple belief that with music we can help ourselves and others in a most humble way.
Whether as Mercan Dede with his Secret Tribe or dj Arkin Allen with his tribal trio; he is one of the most unique artist uniting many people from different backgrounds regardless of their age, cultural background or personal differences never failing to impress his audiences with the explosive energy he creates on stage. He is rightly recognized as one of the most creative, unique yet modest artists in the world music scene today.
This contrast between electronica and classical or folkloric arts cuts to the core of the Sufi philosophy that guides this one-of-a-kind artist. 'Those things are not really separate,' says Dede. 'The essence of Sufism is counterpoint. Everything exists with its opposite. On one side, I am doing electronic music. The other side of that is this really acoustic, traditional music.' Dede doesn't just bring in any traditional sounds and sights as adornment to his techno beats. He is ever on the lookout for new collaborators, and they might come from any tradition, any country, any generation. For Secret Tribe's U.S. debut in January, 2004, he flew in three, teenage prodigies of Turkish classical music from Istanbul and two of the pieces they played were improvised during the concert. 'When I choose a musician,' says Dede, 'I need to be connected with them in terms of personality, heart-wise we say in Turkey. We should have a similar energy and feeling about life. The second thing is they need to be done with the technical part of music. Once they've done that, you don't need to worry. They can play anything not from mind but from soul.'
Mercan Dede and Secret Tribe's splendid 2002 release Nar realizes this elegant marriage of old and new stunningly. Along with the groups' spellbinding performances, it is helping them build a worldwide following. When the group plays in Turkey, they can draw as many as 20,000 people. But for Dede'whose name comes from a minor character in a contemporary Turkish novel'it has been a long, highly unconventional road to success. Raised poor in a Turkish village in the 1970s, Dede recalls the moment when listening to the radio as a six-year-old, he fell in love with the sound of the ney. But even when he moved to Istanbul to study journalism, he could not afford an instrument, so he made his first one from a length of plastic plumbing pipe. Although he eventually found a ney teacher, Dede did not pursue music as a career. He was more deeply involved with photography, and by chance, an official at the Saskatoon Public Library in Canada saw some of his work and invited him to come and do an exhibition.
Dede wound up studying multimedia in Saskatoon, and he worked in a bar to earn rent money. That was where he first encountered the art of deejaying. One day the bar's deejay couldn't make it, and Dede stepped in. The techno revolution was just beginning, and Dede was getting in on the ground floor. By the mid-80s, he was traveling to do 'technotribalhouse' deejay gigs under the name Arkin Allen. He debuted as Mercan Dede in 1995 with he released his first album, Sufi Dreams, recorded for Golden Horn Records in San Francisco. The album was a minimalist techno ambiant project featuring the ney flute, and it earned impressive reviews. A few years later, Dede moved to Montreal where he first studied, then taught, at Concordia University, moving ever more forcefully into the burgeoning techno scene. Recordings he made under the name Mercan Dede got noticed in Istanbul, and a festival invited him to perform, expecting an older gentleman, as Dede means 'grandfather' in Turkish. When people saw a young band mixing techno and tradition, they were exhilarated, and Dede has stuck with this adapted name ever since.
Dede formed his first group in 1997 and created more recordings, Journeys of a Dervish (Golden Horn, 1999) Seyahatname (Doublemoon, 2001), and Nar (Doublemoon, 2002 ) From the start, the group was more an idea than a set lineup. 'I always get different musicians,' says Dede, 'all the time. When I do a European tour, each country, I choose a guest musician from that country. This is the essence of the group.' The Canadian TV station Bravo filmed and aired Dede's concert with Turkish master kemence (Persian violin) player Ihsan Ozgen at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in the Fall of 1998. German television producers Saarlandischer Rundfunk were so moved by Dede's music that they traveled to Canada to feature him in their documentary about Sufi Music. While filming Dede at work in Montreal and Toronto in February of 1998, the producers requested that Dede create the soundtrack for this project. Same year Mercan Dede's album Seyahatname includes pieces composed for a dance theatre project, directed and choreographed by Beyhan Murphy for the Turkish State Modern Dance Troupe.
Both as Mercan Dede and his alter ego DJ Arkin Allen, he has performed at events as diverse as the Black & Blue 98 (a world-renowned Montreal circuit party attended by 15,000 people) and a concert of improvisations with on classical Turkish music at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. In July 2001, Mercan Dede performed at the highly acclaimed Montreal Jazz Festivals, sharing the General Motors Big Event stage with Burhan Öçal and Jamaaladeen Tacuma, in a concert called 'East Meets the West' before an audience of more than 170,000 people. On that same evening, right after his concert, he appeared at Spectrum, this time performing with his project Montreal Tribal Trio, again as part of the festival program. In 2002, the group electrified the WOMEX world music trade fair in Essen, Germany, and also the International Transmusicales Festival in Rennes.
Dede has also performed with such musical personalities as Kani Karaca, I'hsan Özgen, Misirli Ahmet, Ilhan Ersahin, Peter Murphy, Natacha Atlas, Azam Ali Musafir, I'lhan Ers¸ahin, Jamaledeen Tacuma, Hugh Marsh, Omar Sosa, Mich Gerber, Fazil Say, Susheela Raman, Trans Global Underground, Dhafer Youssef, Coldcut, Dhol Foundation, Emma Shaplin, Ludavico Eunadi, Trilok Gurtu. Mercan Dede and Secret Tribe's summer tour 2003 included Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Arezzo Wave (I'taly), Skopje Festival (Macedonia), Moers Festival (Germany),World Roots Festival (The Netherlands), Jaen-Etnosur (Spain), Rhythm Sticks Festival (UK) and many others. The group's 2004 U.S. debut took place at Joe's Pub in New York in January, 2004, as part of the city's groundbreaking world music marathon at Global Fest. Mercan Dede was invited to play at GlobalFest' (APAP Conference) in New York in January 2004, where 16 different bands from 5 continents played. He performed and completed his USA tour with 3 young gypsy musicians from turkey in their early teens.
Mercan Dede's concert was reviewed by various press and music critics including Global Rhythm Magazine who made a cover story on him and his music calling his performance at Joes Pub; " one of the best world music performance of recent years" .
The following year, turkey & germany based Production Company "Medya' made a documentary film about his life and music which aired the same year and received great reviews.
Mercan Dede also provided music for Pina Bausch's recent work, "Istanbul, Nefes' performed in the city it was named for in the spring of 2003. He calls meeting Pina Bausch one of the most amazing moment in his career. He is commissioned by the Turkish Ministry of Culture as the music director of the Güldestan Project. The project is destined to represent Turkish Culture and Arts all around the Globe.
Over the next three years ( 2005,2006,2007) he travelled the world spanning over 1,5 million km and performed almost every corner of the world. He also released "Water" (2005) and Breath (2006) albums which both topped the BBC world music charts making him the first turkish artist whose albums received the #1 of the world music charts. Over the last 4 years he was also nominated in different categories of world music as the best world music artist of the year by BBC.
In 2007, as a dedication to Sufi master Rumi, he recorded and released his last album "800" as a celebration of his masters 800th birthday. Following it's release, he chose to follow a different path in his life leaving both his beloved record label Doublemoon and management Pozitif, allowing him to continue his journey on his own. Recently he is living quietly and preparing new projects in Montreal. Although he declined to show his recent paintings and visual art works, feeling he is not yet ready, he is however giving signals to including visual arts in his future projects.
Under 9 different names, he has released more than 100 singles world wide. Mercan Dede, Arkin Allen, Blueman and Poundmaker aside, he still keeps 5 other names secret even from his own management and family; believing that nothing should stand between sound and the ear, include the artist himself.
Mercan Dede is keen on bring his extraordinary music and stagecraft to the entire world feeling that its inclusive spirit carries a profound message of understanding and reconciliation. 'I don't like the separation,' says Dede. 'The Sufi poet Rumi has a very good saying: 'If you are everywhere, you are nowhere. If you are somewhere, you are everywhere.' My somewhere is my heart. I try to figure it out. The rest'the hype, the trends'they are not important. We are here for nothing else but Love, the rest is nothing but bunch of gossip" If music does not make us a better person even in a small way, who cares if you are the best musician in the world. I prefer to be someone who follows his heart no matter where it goes. Succes is not something to which I aspire but rather I accept as simply a wonderful gift of life from the Creator as a recogniton of my naive and simple belief that with music we can help ourselves and others in a most humble way.
Whether as Mercan Dede with his Secret Tribe or dj Arkin Allen with his tribal trio; he is one of the most unique artist uniting many people from different backgrounds regardless of their age, cultural background or personal differences never failing to impress his audiences with the explosive energy he creates on stage. He is rightly recognized as one of the most creative, unique yet modest artists in the world music scene today.
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Breath
Mercan Dede Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Breath' by these artists:
3.6 It's worse, worse than you think, If truth be told, I'll tel…
Anna Nalick 2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake Can…
B.A.U. Behold, take heed, witness wisdom being dropped MC's spille…
Boston's Lane Estamos juntos en este crimen yo miento y tu mientes también…
Breaking Benjamin I see nothing in your eyes And the more I see…
Breaking Benjamin/Musicfire.in I see nothing in your eyes And the more I see…
Breaking Benjamin最 I see nothing in your eyes, And the more I…
Cledus T. Judd I can smell the onions floating in the air Must be…
Convergence I'm tired of everything I'm lookin' for the peace I dream …
Creative Minds Did you want the house, the dog, the white picket…
Croquet Club It's feeling cool over my skin I feel every single breath…
D-Black & Kwaku T I was fifteen years old I found somebody new And how could…
Da French Connexion feat. A.D. In this world Raining fire Filled with bodies Thieves and…
daKooka You may have the money But you don't have a soul Oh,…
DEAN Melody melody I can sing I can think So I can breathe 이 노래…
dexcore 消えていくつもりが息をしてしまう 苦しいのは分かってるのに 生きる事はこんなに簡単なのに 消える事は思ったよりも難しくて…
Dudley Saunders oh I'm a-feared for my life I'm afraid it's gonna murder…
E.P.I.C. feat. Julie Thompson In the Shuffling madness of the locomotive breath Runs the a…
Erasure Never had a point of view 'Cause my mind was always…
Frou Frou I read you and God I'm good at it I'm…
JC | www.Marvin-Vibez.in I mending fence along the road Barely holding together Maple…
JX and Cindy I've been thinking in between breaks from drinking About the…
Kathryn Williams He knows who I am He looks at me slowly Each morning…
Kill the Romance Go 'coz i can see your motherfucking face, ain't fine…
kill.pop Every breath you take and every move you make Every bond…
LA. T.U. We are in motion Ever-changing, ever-evolving Make a decis…
Laputa Kogoeteyuku kokoro atatameru suupu wo Katachi no nai utsuwa…
lights.appear.in.windows It's time to tell the truth to anyone who cares…
Loom There is a selling point for war and tragedy It keeps…
M.I.H. Kogoesou na kisetsu ni kimi wa Ai wo dou kou iu…
Majestic This wind is rising from hell The sand and rain can't…
Mario feat. Fabolous From day one you had my heart And I would do…
Marjorie de Muynck "Take a deep breath relax, don't push it on out."(x2) Someb…
Melissa Ethridge I Am so in Love And so open to Persusion East or…
Mr. Heavy & Ms. Low I held your last breath in my hand. I held your…
Neon Seeming stripped of all the faults that you possessed You p…
O.Z.O.N. とても眠れない夜 寂しさは続くの 君がこの星に存在する限り 震えるようにかみしめて 君のいない一秒を いつもより長く長く…
Palladium Wait, before you start to go Stop, you're moving much too…
Pearl Jam Oh tonight began with anything Shaft of a light, a warm…
Pearl Jam怀 Oh, tonight began with anything Shaft of a light, a warm…
Pere Ubu Dog day afternoon by the sea. I think about you. What am…
Perl Jam Oh tonight began with anything Shaft of a light, a warm…
Primitive Reason Breathe I need my cane Floor my panic, support my pain Stati…
Prodigy Breathe with me. Breathe the pressure Come play my game I'l…
S.H.I.Z.U.K.A. Jesus, Your love takes my breath away I can't get You…
S.M. THE BALLAD Kogoesou na kisetsu ni kimi wa Ai wo dou kou iu…
Scott Weiland You can take away all the Mondays And race away the…
Sean Paul ft Blu Cantrel [Sean Paul] Sean Paul and Blu Cantrell remix that gona mak…
Sheila Nicholls We talked about loss and the patterns of past And the…
Silently Shooting Traitors An explosion of sound 5 am and I toss and turn…
Sóley Above my own grave I hold my breath too long We…
Superbus Breathe It's a little bit funny You don't have a clue, boy Y…
Sweatshop Union Did you want the house, the dog, the white picket…
Swollen Members I'm alive I can feel the blood Rushin through my veins An…
Tanks And Tears As I pour this glass of wine I hope it helps…
The Blaze There's a river In your eyes When you quiver When you cry T…
The Grouch (feat. Ricky D, Poppy, Trae, U-Neek, Scooby, Paul Wall, Y) …
The Ivy Dreaming of a world I knew Where you and I were…
The Last Dance Nowhere I have come to find my breath in you reflecting An…
The Leaves Yeah, you can ride for free Come along with me You know…
The Prodigy Breathe with me Breathe the pressure Come, play my game,…
XIA 사랑한다고 떠나간다고 제멋대로 굴지 좀 말라고 애써 모두 다 외면한 채 제발 좀…
Yein When your silent look reaches Oh dear your warmth gently emb…
→ Breaking Benjamin I see nothing in your eyes And the more I see…
● breaking benjamin I see nothing in your eyes, And the more I…
에스엠 더 발라드 (S.M. The Ballad) Kogoesou na kisetsu ni kimi wa Ai wo dou kou iu…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Mercan Dede:
800 aşk geldi, damarlardaki kanım gibi oldu varlık boşalıp, her…
Atman sofu niçin sorarsın mezhebimizi biz Muhammed Ali diyenlerden…
Dem Ez shebnem-e-esgh khak-e-adam gel shod (The dew of love turn…
Every One's Palace Yüreğimiz han kapısı gibi yirmi dört saat açık Gönlümüz cenn…
Gulname Bijelo Dugme Miscellaneous Dede Bona Sjeti Se De Tako Ti Sve…
Hidden One... One Buddha is enough One... One Buddha is not enough …
Istanbul Üsküdara giderken aldı yağmur Altı da üstü de bir gemi İstan…
Nar-1 Ney açıldı cennetin bâbı nesîmi pür-safâ geldi. gülistân-ı cihâ…
Remember the Loveliness Remember the loveliness inside you. Remember the loveliness …
The lyrics can frequently be found in the comments below, by filtering for lyric videos or browsing the comments in the different videos below.