DJ reflects colors of the world: Gülbahar Kültür

Success is an interesting thing; at times it borders surrealism in today's world. In fact, perhaps there is nothing unusual about the fact that of the multitudes of people who incessantly listen to music, only a very few become DJs, just as of those who religiously watch films and can tell you the casts of all Truffaut films by heart, only a very few will become directors themselves. There is no guarantee that if you consume a great deal of particular branch of art you will become an artist in that medium one day. Mysteriously, however, there are some artists who do explain how they developed their art by referring to their excessive consumption of their chosen art form. That said, they cannot fool us, we know they are talented people which is why we confine ourselves to “appreciating” rather than trying to create art as well, especially when we notice that these talented artists can come up with their own articulation and interpretation of a form of art when they overdose on their exposure to it.

Gülbahar Kültür has been the diva of DJs for almost 20 years -- since her adolescence so to speak -- and yet she usually explains away her success by referring to how she listened to music so religiously that it was inevitable that she became a DJ, nevertheless, she cannot fool us; we know there is something about her musical appreciation that is unique and that both musicians and fans of music, even producers, count on her tastes when it comes to choosing what to listen to. When I say “count on her tastes,” I mean so literally, musicians kill to get selected for a compilation of hers and she is a prominent figure in the World Music scene among those who actually shape it.

Born in Turkey in 1965, Kültür has lived in Bremen, Germany, since she left Turkey in 1979. She has worked as a freelance journalist, a licensed interpreter and a DJ for many years. At the beginning of the 1990s she started making music at various parties for fun. In 1995 she became the regular DJ at several monthly dance parties, including “RaksNight,” “Rhythm of the World,” “Club Mediterrane,” “Lailet Rai” and “Mondo della Musica.”

Gülbahar Kültür has compiled more than 30 albums on various themes since 2002, most of which are double compact discs under the Clubstar/Soulstar/Lola's World Records label.

Her most recognized work, DJing, as you may have noticed, is only one of the 57 things she is capable of doing. She is also poet, and a bilingual one at that. She recently started an exciting project “musicifiying” her poems with various composers, primarily with Volkan Gücer. “Bi kerecik” (Just once), one of Kültür's most beloved poems, was the inspiration for a composition by Gücer. The pair has recently put together an exciting music video of this work, in it you can hear the poem read by Kültür herself. Kültür has been writing poems for the last 35 years and she has been thinking about this project for the last 10 years. She compiled a list of composers and musicians in her mind with whom she felt she could share her poems and turn them into song lyrics. The project with Gücer was the first collaboration in this regard. Gücer appreciated “Bi kerecik” immediately and the collaboration has started a new period in Kültür's writing, the writing of song lyrics. Since “Bi Kerecik,” several more composers have started working on her poems. An up-and-coming pop star is apparently due to release a song which uses the words of one of Kültür's poems. Kültür has not heard the song yet, but says she is excited about the whole process.

This year Kültür and her production team established a new record company called Suna Bar Records. Their first releases under this new label have been: “I love Balkan Music” and “I love Belly Dance Music.” She has just completed work on an exciting and brave compilation album called “I love Kurdish Music” which will be released through the new label. For the album she gathered Kurdish songs by Kurdish musicians all over the world in an attempt to reach not only Kurdish audiences, but everyone who has an ear for good, “refreshing and crisp” music, fresh from Kültür's song oven. Her aim is also to overcome people's prejudices about Kurdish music. Through the label she and her production team have also worked on Burak Demir's “Bam Session: Dreaming İstanbul.” Suna Bar Records will release three new titles in the fall: “Made in Russia,” “Swing Style Vol.2” and “Turkish Pop Hits Vol. 2.” If she can manage to fit it in this year, they will release also a compilation called “Flamenco Style” which she has been planning for two years.

She has produced so many compilations that she has difficulty remembering how many she has released, however, by the end of this year she will probably release her 40th album. The compilations can be found on the Web site www.lolasworldrecords.com.

As if all these projects were not enough, she is in the process of establishing a music publishing company. She has already started contacting musicians she knows and soon the company will be in action as Clubstar Publishing.

Now the question is how does Gülbahar Kültür find time to be a DJ, a poet, a publisher, a producer and a very funny person at the same time? Does she survive by using photosynthesis when she is not in a musical environment? No, contrary to what you might think, she is always energetic, funny and down to earth, which makes you think that you are actually talking to a replica of Kültür while the real one is working like a dog running between radio studios, publishing companies and more.