Music of memories: How Turkish composer Busra Kayikci is going Places

Busra Kayikci draws inspiration from a broad spectrum — from the make-believe world of cinema to the bounties of nature.

In her unique realm of music — she is a 33-year-old Turkish pianist and composer — Kayikci venerates the olive tree as a venerable sage, an old man sharing his wisdom with the world.

Remarkably, even arrogance finds a distinct niche within her artistic compositions, serving as an enigmatic muse that guides her creative hand.

"Whenever I experience something intensely, melody follows," Kayikci tells TRT World.

"Tout est prétexte à mon chant (everything is a pretext for my songs)," she quotes French poet Paul Valery's famous lines, signifying that every facet of existence, regardless of its magnitude or insignificance, serves as a palette for her melodious excursions.

Like a volcano, she accumulates emotions and experiences that erupt on her musical canvas.

And Kayikci has just cut her first album with Warner Classics, the global label that showcases the world's best talents in the world of classical music.

On November 24, she released her highly anticipated second album and debut phonograph record Places —featuring various stories that lift the gloom in a world torn asunder by violence and hatred.

Such a long journey

It all started for Kayikci at a very young age when she started to dabble with whatever piqued her interest – the piano, the ballet and even watercolour painting — all seamlessly blending her talents into a holistic form of creative expression.

Her academic journey in interior design has added a distinctive lens to her artistic perspective, enabling her to view art through the prism of environmental design. Notably, a finicky Kayikci designs her own album covers.

Following the success of her live performances in Türkiye, her international career gained momentum in 2022-23. She is now actively performing abroad and preparing to include the tracks from her new album in her concert repertoire.

Kayikci was recently honoured with the Necip Fazil Music Award, given by Türkiye's Star Newspaper, for her outstanding contribution to music through innovation, cross-disciplinary partnerships, and her accomplishments on the global stage.

Inspired by post-war avant-garde American composer and music theorist John Cage and the British composer, pianist and filmmaker Michael Nyman, Busra Kayikci is a trailblazer in Turkiye, seamlessly merging shared principles of music and design through the fusion of diverse materials.

"In (the new album) Places, I felt like I had moved beyond the sketch phase regarding technique, composition and recording. It's as if those sketches had transformed into a third dimension, imbued with a stronger sense of place. In its thematic way, each song tells a story of a particular space," she says.

For Kayikci, compositions can represent emotional landscapes. For example, a sorrowful memory can be likened to a refuge. Many songs express a yearning for a specific place or moment.

Many of these songs were born during the confinement of the pandemic, with some reaching completion in different locales. The album offers a unique experience, where the text of the lyrics accompanies the song, allowing listeners to create vivid cinematic scenes in their minds.

Designing soundscapes

Her academic training in design deepened her appreciation and intuition of minimalism because she soon began incorporating elements of music into her design ideas.

By the time she decided to pursue a career as a composer, she was already convinced that although the materials involved in design were very different from those in music composition, both pursuits applied the same principles and conceptual paths.

From a designer whose objective was to aesthetically arrange objects or ideas in novel patterns for practical usage, she had transformed into a musician, engaged in the aesthetic arrangement of sounds in novel patterns — to be sung or played on instruments.

As she skillfully combined music and design to create compositions that broke traditional boundaries, it all made perfect sense to her. Blending harmony and rhythm, her arrangements are designed with minimalistic notes. At the same time, her grasp of colour psychology imbues her works with emotional depth, transforming them into compelling visual and emotional artworks.

Some of the tracks from her latest album testify to her musical genius and deep attachment to the world around her.

Olive Tree, for instance, carries profound memories, much like a wise elder, and attributes this feeling to their age and wisdom. She grew up amidst olive trees in her childhood, emphasising that these trees brought her tranquillity.

"In the mornings, I watch the olive trees from the balcony in Asos until the sun warms everything up. They change colours as the sun's rays hit their leaves, from blue to silver and silver to green. When I watch the trees, it's as if they also look back at me."

Another track, Quba — which draws inspiration from the Arabic word Qubba or dome — metaphorically alludes to peaceful gatherings and unity.

Kayikci began writing the piece as a source of hope when she was deeply affected by the chaos and conflicts of the world. She explains that the piece aims to address universal issues, such as the chaos in the world and people's biases against each other, while expressing her hope for a peaceful gathering under a dome.

Tribute to Egyptian is a reference to the Middle Eastern influences in the original track, Radiohead's Pyramids. Her curiosity about the song's title 'Pyramids' as a geometric shape led her to research its origin, uncovering that it was initially named 'Egyptian Song' before being changed to 'Pyramids'.

Deep Seated Arrogance delves into hidden arrogance concealed by success and the contrast between children's innocence and the materialistic world, incorporating sounds from her daughter's toys.

Musical milestones

Kayikci burst onto the scene in November 2019 after independently releasing her debut single 'Dogum (Birth)', which marked the inception of her artistic journey.

Soon, she unveiled her first album, 'Eskizler (Sketches)', also released by Warner, which featured nine solo piano pieces, five of which were reinterpretations of previously released pieces. She revisited her past works and gave audiences a glimpse into her search for perfection.

"I named the album Sketches as it reminds me of the rough drafts we make when starting a new interior design project. These pieces have that essence, that flavour," she says.

She ventured into uncharted waters in 2020. With the Una Corda, an instrument crafted by pianist David Klavins in Hungary, she recorded 'Tuna', a digital single that resonated with the depths of our souls. She also collaborated with an Istanbul-based fashion brand to give birth to 'Kuledibi No. 1'.

Through her collaboration with the New York Theatre Ballet later in the year, Kayikci's music found new dimensions as it gracefully accompanied contemporary dance performances.

Collaboration with Vincent Delerm

Kayikci's interest in the music of artists from the French chanson tradition, such as Charles Aznavour, Dany Brillant, and Edith Piaf, as well as her fascination with Vincent Delerm's film music, dates back to her early youth.

Kayikci emphasises the significance of film music for her creative process, saying, "Cinema is a highly significant realm for me. It dramatically inspires my writing because when I watch a film, I take on an emotion I don't possess at that moment. I aim to articulate the emotions that movies elicit within me because we can't always experience personal drama. However, when you watch a film, you immerse yourself in it. It provides a ready-made story and compels you to write."

She was profoundly affected by Vincent Delerm's film music in Monsieur Sim. She expressed her admiration by playing Delerm's piece on the piano and tagging him on her social media account. The collaboration with Delerm began when he saw her performance and expressed his desire to work together.

Kayikci sent the solo version of Follower to Delerm to write the song's lyrics. The only material they had was each other's social media accounts. They drew inspiration from each other's social media posts, which inspired the song's title.

Kayikci explains the story behind Vincent's lyrics.

"The entire text that Delerm wrote was based on looking at pictures in my social media gallery, full of questions like, 'Where do you get your headscarf? Does your room's window face this way?' I don't know any of these things.' In the end, he says that this is just an ordinary story. This is the story of everyone getting to know people through social media. Afterwards, my friend and I shot a music video that suited this text. We released the project in this way. It took a year to complete everything."

Kayikci creates a texture for the song by combining various objects and using sound design. The texture adds a pattern to the background. These techniques also mark her evolution from her earlier work to where she is going.

Places!