The Away Days
The Away Days is a Turkish dream pop band formed in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2012 by Can Özen (vocals, guitar) and Sezer Koç (guitar, bas guitar), but the current line-up consists of Can Ozen and Orkun Atik.
The band's musical style has been described as "dream pop" and "shoegazing." Clash magazine editor Robin Murray wrote that "the band's material matches the citrus-sharp songcraft of School of Seven Bells with the whirlwind drumming of early Ride," while also noting that "there's even a bit of Swervedriver's rock edge in there." Mischa Pearlman of The Guardian wrote: "Turkish shoegaze might not be a major phenomenon, but given the breadth of their [The Away Days'] talent, it soon could be." Zachary Lipez of Vice described the band's style as "a solid mix of 2006 Brooklyn, forever Flying Nun, and The La’s if they were mentored by the Reid brothers." The band's lyrics are sung entirely in English.
On the band's name, lead vocalist Oğuz Can Özen stated: " We called the band The Away Days, not because we feel we don’t belong to Istanbul or Turkey, but because we don’t feel like belonging anywhere. And maybe Istanbul didn’t have a great deal of influence to our music, but it has been a great home for us." On the influences, Özen further stated: "We [Özen and Koç] both listened to Selda and The Strokes when we were kids. But now, as we begin our twenties, we're trying to find some rare music influences through far east and India." He also listed Joy Division, The Stooges and The Smiths as personal influences.
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The Away Days, Can Özen, Sezer Koç ve Orkun Atik tarafından İstanbul’da kuruldu.
Grubun SXSW ve The Great Escape gibi festivallerin sahnelerindeki atmosferik performansları onlara Avrupa çapında sold out konserlerle uluslararası bir hayran kitlesi kazandırdı ve dünya çapında Jungle, Belle & Sebastian, Massive Attack ve Portishead gibi isimlerin sahnelerini ısıtmak için davetler aldı. Uluslararası medyanın büyük ilgisini gördüler. Grup son olarak İstanbul’da Zorlu PSM, Babylon ve Salon IKSV’nin de aralarında bulundu"u sold out konserler verdi.
Grup, hit şarkıları “Layers” ile Spotify’da 10 milyondan fazla dinlenmeye ulaşan ilk albümlerini, ardından
“Sadness Will Last Forever” ve “How Many Times” single’larını yayınladı. The Independent, The Guardian, NME, Noisey, NPR ve Clash gibi dünya basınından büyük övgüler topladı.
Grup kuruluşundan bu yana, indie rock’tan shoegaze’e, türk esintilerinden dream pop’a uzanan bir tarz geliştirdi. Şuanda ikinci albümleri için çalışmaktalar.