Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

Gathered around singer and bağlama player Derya Yıldırım, born in Germany to Turkish parents, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek takes the form of a European quartet that includes drummer Helen Wells, based in Berlin and with experience in South Africa, as well as French musicians Graham Mushnik and Antonin Voyant. The project emerged through transnational exchanges between Berlin, France and an independent European network attentive to dialogues between traditions and contemporary music. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek draws on Anatolian and Turkish folk repertoires but shifts them toward an aesthetic that blends psychedelia, soul, rock and pop without severing the bağlama’s melodic grounding. Derya Yıldırım’s voice, often placed at the centre, sits within flexible, organic arrangements in which the group favours contrasts of rhythm, texture and tension. Over the course of their career, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek has also collaborated with producer Leon Michels, continuing a practice that links Anatolian heritage, contemporary writing and a collective band approach.