Hey guys.. Today I give you British-born singer-songwriter Sean Bw Parker… He was nice enough to answer my questions!
Lady: Hello Sean, well first off, how did the idea to move to Turkey come by? Was it a planned decision or were you passing by and chose to stay?
Sean Parker: When I was finishing my Masters in fine art at the University College of Creative Arts in Surrey in 2003/4, I met a couple of Turkish people whom I really liked. They came back to Istanbul, and I came to visit them for a holiday. I fell in love with the city and decided I wanted to live and work here for a while.
Lady: Who is involved in the band, and how did you guys meet up?
Sean Parker: Jenny Miller (violin), Veronika Szabo (backing vocals), Nazlı Şensoy (backing vocals), Fatih Candaş (bass) and Uygar Aydın (drums). I had known all on the Taksim scene for a couple of years, and after leaving Sean Parker Band, asked them to get together to try something different.
Lady: How would you define your music? Your genre?
Sean Parker: Art rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, as you wish. Anything colourful, engaging, lean, free of cliché and full of intrigue.
Lady: Who is composing the songs? Writing the lyrics?
Sean Parker: Me
Lady: How did the initial musical and thematic elements evolve?
Sean Parker: Through boredom with conventional rock, desire to open the windows to new sounds, and baileys, beer and white wine spritzers.
Lady: Are you happy with the product or in your case with the process?
Sean Parker: Never happy with anything, that would be a full stop. Punctuality.
Lady: How has the overall reception been?
Sean Parker: Interest in the backing vocalists, combined with a general positive bewilderment. The comments on YouTube about the album say it better than I could.
Lady: Is the band going to get more involved in performing live ?
Sean Parker: Mojo, Beyoğlu, 28th November; Shaft, Kadıköy, 6th December; Indiestanbul at Karga, Kadıköy, 22nd December. International (UK) radio play is more interesting to us than international tours at the moment, because I’m busy right now with releasing a book, ‘Salt In The Milk – Eight Years In Istanbul’, published by Affectum Libris in January/February. We are planning the next album right now.
Lady: What do you see for your future?
Sean Parker: More Tayyıp Erdoğan and David Cameron, more expensive alcohol, cigarettes and rents, a free Syria.
Lady: Could you tell us about your lyrics? How do the ideas come about, and how do they influence the writing process?
Sean Parker: Salt in the milk – beer and wine do more writing than I do. I have guitar riffs and arrangements floating around, then collect a bunch of lyrical ideas together that make some kind of poetical sense, put them together, cut off the fat and hope for the best. The fun part is when I take them to the band or into the studio…that’s when metamorphosis begins.
Lady: Nice! So which is more exciting? Being on the road or studio?
Sean Parker: Whenever anyone advises me to give up smoking, I say as soon as they give up their car. I like music anywhere I can do or get it.
Lady: So what bands do you draw your inspiration from?
Sean Parker: David Bowie, The Flaming Lips, The Cure, Arcade Fire, PJ Harvey, Tindersticks, Captain Beefheart, Gevende, Replikas, Nekropsi, Captain Beefheart, John Cage, Talking Heads, Erkin Koray, Björk, Roxy Music, Pixies, The Velvet Underground, Alt J, Wilco, Steve Reich, Television, The Fall, The Roots, Brian Eno, La Monte Young, John Cale, Nick Cave
Lady: What’s more important to you? Catering to the audience or music for its own sake?
Sean Parker: Music. The audience hopefully realizes that, and are there for the same reason. We play a couple of Talking Heads and Beatles covers for fun and relief.
Lady: When you look back your music career, what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?
Sean Parker: Playing Taksim square, the Gazipaşa mavi deniz rock festical, paying with Ed Harcourt at Babylon solo, the compilation album ‘Scorpio Rising: SBW Parker 2002-2012’, released a couple of months ago, playing with John Robb’s The Membranes at Indigo, getting drunk with Teoman and Hayko Çepkin…
Lady: I understand your career is in Istanbul now. You don’t have any plans to return, do you?
Sean Parker: No specific plans – in the global digital age, borders etc don’t so much define where you can live and what you do anyway, I have found.
Lady: Thank you Sean. Anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Sean Parker: Be as happy in your own as you are in others’ company. Thank you Lady Obscure.
The album is available here: www.cdbaby.com/sbwparker
Lady: My pleasure Sean, thanks for your time!
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