Istanbul’s Lalalar remind you of your favorite 80’s cult show theme, and simultaneously sound like a delightful dumpster dive of spaghetti western-psychedelics, Anatolian funk, sampling and Fresh psychedelia from Istanbul! With their retro-cinematic bass lines, dirty electronic beats, rebroken vocals, flirting guitars and attentively dug samples from the legacies of Anatolia, Lalalar evoke a future nostalgia. Founded by three well-known musicians from the Turkish music scene, respected both for their solo and collective work, Lalalar is no doubt one of the must-hear European discoveries of the moment. The title of their scorching debut single ‘Isyanlar’ translates to rebellions, and that’s more or less the gist of how this bunch operates on stage.

Zelal is a Kurdish music teacher and was born in Izmir. Raised in Diyarbakır, she studied both in İstanbul and Hildesheim, and recently migrated to Germany to teach music in Darmstadt. Heavily influenced by the Bağlama (long-necked lute) of her talented uncle, she took to play the piano and flute in her teenage years. Zelal smoothly combines eastern and western music for an eclectic and explosive dancefloor experience: think of melodramatic tunes from traditional Anatolian folk songs, playful clarinets echoing the narrow streets from İstanbul to Athens, and deep basslines from low temp techno sets.

Like many of us, Ximetra, counts at least two places as home. Of Kurdish origin and from the region of Dersim, Ximetra was born and raised in Basel where she is a social worker. Passionate about traveling and curious about diverse cultures, she authentically unites ethnic melodies and rhythms from the east with contemporary electronic music. Feeling the eastern morning sun, her listeners dance to the finest and most explosive Anatolian, Mesopotamian, and Arabic tunes.