The Underground Pop Guide To Istanbul

How would you describe Istanbul to someone who's never been?

Istanbul is a noisy, chaotic, busy, and crowded city. Besides that is has a very strong cultural background which has been destroyed very quickly, so if haven’t seen the city yet, should see it before it totally loses its own character.

Who are the best local musicians/bands/artists?

There are many great artists here; we really like kim ki o, Age Reform, Art Dictator, She Past Away and Palmiyeler!

What's the best venue to watch live music?

Probably Salon İKSV they promote great foreign acts as well as locals. Also if you wanna discover new local acts Peyote is the address then.

What's the best club?

No doubt about it: MiniMüzikhol! It's a very small club but promotes great electronic acts as well as live music!

Where's the best place to buy records?

Deform Music. They are located in Taksim area. They have second hand and new releases. We have discovered great stuff in there. In Kadıköy we can recommend Zihni Music for many different genres as well as original Turkish stuff, and for new releases there's very small but cosy shop called Outro with a great range of selections!

Where are the best places to eat?

If you are into food, Istanbul is your place. There’s fresh seafood, meat, and a tonne of vegetarian dishes - and of course meze, the local kind of tapas. We guess street food is interesting for when you are walking around the city - having something convenient around is fine - but if you want to go to a restaurant there’s one called Ciya in Kadıköy which is a great place to taste food from South East Turkey, Antakya.

Best places to drink?

We usually hang out in Arkaoda and Bina in Kadıköy. Nice music and great places to see friends. Arkaoda is also where we played our first ever show.

What are the best sights to see and places to visit?

If you come here for the first time, take a seabus from the airport to Kadıköy, you will see the entire city in its stretch: the old city, the European side, the Asian side, the Bosporus, and maybe some dolphins. Hop off in Kadiköy and have a walk. Go and see the old city and the museums - Sultanahmet is the historical side of Istanbul. We can not advise Taksim/Beuoglu anymore since now it looks like a big construction area... and after Gezi protests its character of being the cultural center has been forced to change. So now it is mostly Beşiktaş and Kadıköy...

How do you get around the city? Why?

You do not take a car uness you are crazy! It’s faster walking and taking public transportations in all kind of ways. There's buses, Turkish Taxis (Taksis…), shared minibuses, and of course numerous ferries. We walk and take the ferry to the opposite side. We live in the areas which we can easily do anything we want so we walk mostly.

Where is the best place to relax? To take a walk?

Relaxing in Istanbul is a hard thing since there is always a deep noise. But when the weather is nice chilling in the Kadıköy coast or have a night walk around the city can be relaxing. Yes, take a walk in Kadıköy seaside, Moda coast.

What's the worst thing about Istanbul?

A lot of people consider traffic to be the worst aspect of Istanbul.

What's the best thing about Istanbul?

If you are living in Turkey as an artist this is the only city that you can reach out to the people with your art.