Planeur, formed by Onur Ataman and Serkan Modalı, released their debut studio album, Gelecek (Future), on Dec. 1 on the music label Avrupa Music.

Counting bands as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Dream Theater and Foo Fighters among their sources of inspiration, Planeur’s sound brings to mind a blend of Turkish bands such as Ünlü, Pentagram, Mavi Sakal (with Kaan Altan and Genç Osman in its lineup) and even Kargo (with Mehmet Şenol Şişli). Planeur offers music that might be billed as an aggressive example of hard rock, considering Turkish rock music standards.

An interesting fact for those who are hearing of the band for the first time: half of the duo, Ataman, is actually one of the finest jazz guitarists in Turkey.

Ataman and Modalı, who have known each other since their days together on the basketball team of the İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ), founded Planeur in İstanbul in August 2009. They did not have a name back then.

The two have been involved in music since their early days. Ataman was the first-ever Turkish student to enroll in the Netherlands’ Royal Conservatory of The Hague, while Modalı has played guitar since he was 13.

Ataman earned his bachelors and masters degrees in jazz guitar in the Netherlands. He also had to make a living there, so he worked in restaurants while studying. One day, during his time as a doctorate student, he felt homesick and hit the road to come back to İstanbul — only for a little break from his overwhelming routine.

Throughout all this time while Ataman was in Holland, his old friend Modalı never left Turkey. Modalı’s life, like Ataman’s, was not easy. He always pursued his own dreams, and instead of following the usual path of young musicians — trying to make a name for himself with a cover band — he founded bands to make original music. But his numerous attempts led to nothing but frustration.

One day, while the two old friends were hanging out together, Ataman, out of the blue, came up with the idea to “record some stuff.” Those words go down in Planeur’s history as the starting point of the band.

That day the two wrote and recorded two original songs, “Gelecek” and “Vız Vız,” both of which ended up on the debut album. Finding the songs satisfying, they decided to proceed with the same sound, and they started a band that day.

Turks celebrating Dutch Liberation Day

During a recent interview with the duo in İstanbul, Ataman, as though he could sense he would be asked why he did not pursue a career in jazz, explained his reason for playing rock music rather than the genre he studied: “Music is good when it continues to be admired in the future, and when it is made for the people. When one [musician] isolates himself and does nothing but brag about himself, this situation constitutes a funny picture … Courage is an important factor [in the choices we make]; for some it might mean shooting oneself in the foot, for me it is an issue of intelligence. Because there’s nothing to lose.”

His words almost stand as Planeur’s motto. They’re making good music and although this kind of music has few listeners in Turkey, they are a quality group.

The duo was joined in the album’s recording sessions by Dutch drummer Ed Warby, best known as the drummer for the death metal band Gorefest and the progressive rock act Ayreon. This connection brought with it a surprise for the band: They became the first-ever Turkish band to take to the stage during celebrations for the Netherlands’ Liberation Day.

“We neither had an album released, nor a website. The only thing they [the event’s organizers] knew about us was that we were two musicians going to and fro between Turkey and Holland [during album recording sessions] and that we were working with Ed Warby,” Ataman explained. “He is to Dutch people what Sezen Aksu is for Turkish music fans.”

Asked why they chose to record overseas, they replied: “What was required to produce this album was available in Holland.” But they’re quick to add that their album served to a certain extent as a “tool to break the prejudiced outlook on the Turks in the Netherlands.”

Good music requires accurate calculations and decisions. The list ranges from a correct choice of instruments to a correct choice of harmonies. Ataman recalls he spent three days choosing the correct microphone, but that was not all. “To obtain the best sound, we moved from one recording room to another for days [in the studio], I tried 12 different guitars and four different amplifiers,” he recalls.

The duo’s pickiness, inspired by legendary guitarist Andy Timmons, caused the recordings to last around a year, but they say this enabled them to ensure the quality of their music.

Writing lyrics to the songs was another painstaking process that delayed the release, because the band wanted the album to be constructed around a theme. Moreover, the band didn’t even have a name at the time.

Modalı recounts: “One day we were speaking of mankind’s inner journey, a stage when one feels like flying. … Just as we were talking about this, one of Onur’s friends called and he was telling Onur that he was in Eskişehir to attend glider plane courses. Right after that phone call, Onur came up with the idea to call the band Planeur.”

After that, there was one more task to be accomplished: making the first video for the album. The duo was dreaming of a video dominated by dark colors, with occasional beams of light bursting through the darkness. And one day they met famous stand up comedian Cem Yılmaz who, after hearing that they were looking for a director to shoot their first video, unknowingly introduced them to none other than Ömer Faruk Sorak, the director of their favorite video, Fatih Erdemci’s “Ben Ölmeden Önce” (Before I Die).

Directed by Gürcan Keltek of Sorak’s team, the video for the album’s title track is special for Ataman: “One day when we were looking for a place to shoot the video, the team said they found a place in [İstanbul’s] Florya quarter. When we arrived there, I immediately recognized the site. When I was a kid, my grandparents had a summerhouse in Küçükçekmece. We used to sail by boat, and I remember that every time I used to see this burnt-down old factory building. Life is totally full of strange coincidences; years later I shot my first video exactly at that old factory.”

(Source: www.hurriyetdailynews.com )