‘Titi’ Robin: My hybrid music reflects my life

Nicknamed “Titi,” Robin is a self-taught artist who has constructed his own world, blending Arab and Gypsy music instinctively. Coming from a very rich Gypsy community, he has always performed with artists from minorities all around the world. Ahead of tonight’s concert, organized by the French Culture Center in İstanbul, the innovative artist speaks about his musical inspirations and how Turkish artists and poetry have influenced his life and work.

When did you begin playing music? What first drew you toward Eastern musical traditions?

I began to play music when I realized that I had very powerful and complex emotions inside myself. Simple words used in daily language were not able to express these emotions. I had to find another way of telling them. That was a necessity and music stepped into the breech. This discovery gave me great enthusiasm. At that time music was, and thanks to God still is, a way for me to meet my need of expressing myself; it is sharing yourself through art and it is quite pleasurable.

My music is Mediterranean music. The lyrics I am using belong to the grand heritage of the Mediterranean region. This civilization experienced its triumph a long time ago, but today the world has changed in a way that North and East and East and West are in conflict. On these coasts in the old times there was cultural, philosophical and poetic continuity and masters were learning and transferring a lot of things just by traveling [through] these coastal countries.

I feel something for sure; a river from northern India flowed into the Mediterranean, crossing Central Asia. Gypsies transported the Sufi and mystical Hindu heritages without knowing it and thus today we observe that in some flamenco songs there are mystical metaphors from Central Asia in the same style. We can also see the continuity in the ways that the vocals are used in a song and this gave me inspiration. I grew up among French, Gypsy and Eastern communities and I had to find a harmony among these cultures in my music just as in my life. If my music is a hybrid today the reason for that is it reflects my life. It is not a musical decision. It includes what I experience in life. I have a personal and authentic musical style. I created an artistic universe for myself that corresponds with the things I wanted to express.

You have performed with many different artists throughout your career. Who has had the most lasting influence on your work?

Without a doubt, the person who influenced me most both in personality and artistic ways is Rajastan’s kalbeliya dancer Gulabi Sapera. We worked together at the beginning of the ‘90s; we toured the world and constructed a rich dialog between my music and her dance. She also sang on many of my albums.

Aside from other artists, where do you draw inspiration from?

My inspiration comes directly from life. As a person who plays an instrument I believe that I can tell a story. I have a concrete relationship with music. I can express the things I say in a very sharp way. These are the things I have experienced, my dreams, my happiness, my disappointments. They are directly related to the violence of life; the search of beauty in a face or in a loving gesture. I am telling the story of a man and sharing it with my audience.

Like you said, the world has changed rather dramatically in terms of relations between “East and West” since you began your journey as an artist, particularly since the beginning of the 21st century. How have these changes affected you as an artist?

This concerns me as well because I sense that this dichotomy is a lie which enables the writing of world history all over again in a way that is beneficial to the powerful ones. As a person like me who shares the heritage of various cultures that are in harmony with each other, I feel wounded by this dangerous dichotomy. I want the people to understand that we can be rich with our differences and we should not believe in these misguided confrontations.

How would you describe your creative process when writing new music?

I am autodidact. I did not study music at a school, I studied by myself. I learned all by myself. I don’t know how to read the partitions and because of this whenever my heart wants my fingers to play I compose with my instrument. I am a professional musician, but before everything else, I am like a bird who sings when it is necessary for himself. Sometimes it happens in a flowing way, the melody and the rhythm comes as it is supposed to be, but sometimes I have to wrestle, like a painful birth. There is not a rule.

Are you currently working on any new recorded material? Do you have a new collaboration on the horizon?

I have a project for next year which includes a recording with Turkish musicians and with a local company in Turkey. I will also contact people in İstanbul. It is a very important project for me.

What are your impressions of Turkey?

Turkey has a very enhanced culture and it includes much diversity. It is a very important connection between Central Asia and the West. I would like to perform more and be with the Turkish audience more. I would like to have encounters with them because I am sure that we have a lot of things to share.

Do you have any favorite Turkish artists?

Turkish music and poetry are very rich. It is very natural that I am impressed by them a lot. There are many important names such as Aşık Veysel, Süleyman Erguner, and Yusuf Bilgin. Apart from these, from the new generation I like to listen to Özlem Özdil’s saz or Zara, who sings “Bülbül Kasidesi” perfectly. It is very hard to count all the artists that I appreciate because there are a lot. I hope you will excuse me for that. In the past I have played with some of my friends such as [percussionist] Okay Temiz. The poetry of Pir Sultan Abdal, Yunus Emre, Mevlana and many others has always been a very rich inspirational source for me. Author Yaşar Kemal’s books, translated by Münever Andaç and Güzin Dino, have been my companions for the last 30 years. I can say that he is the person who impressed me the most; he influenced my stance in life very deeply.

What can the audience expect at your concert? How will you choose which pieces to perform from your repertoire?

I will perform from my various albums with my companions who have been performing with me all around the world for many years; Francis Varis on accordion and Ze Luis Nascimento on percussion. As always, we will improvise according to the atmosphere. We are all soloists, and we are in communication with each other.