Gaye Su Akyol, Dana Colley, Marc Ribot and Via Mardot discuss who they would most like to collaborate with, how they deal with the politics of the industry, and which musician or band has been a game changer in their lives.
Gaye Su Akyol was born in Istanbul to an artistic family. Her father Muzaffer Akyol was a painter, and her mother loved Turkish classical music. She listened to a lot of Turkish jazz and psychedelia growing up, along with bands like Led Zeppelin and Nirvana, which influenced her own songwriting. Her latest album is called Anadolu Ejderi (Anatolian Dragon), and one of her biggest inspirations is her home town of Istanbul.
Dana Colley is a saxophonist from Massachusetts in the USA. He was the co-founder and baritone and tenor saxophone player in the band Morphine, and also a visual artist who studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Marc Ribot is an American guitarist whose work has touched many styles, including no wave, free jazz and Cuban music. He’s known as the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of people: Tom Waits, Robert Plant and Elvis Costello, to name a few of the stars he’s worked alongside.
Via Mardot is a composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist from Detroit. Her music has been heavily influenced by film music - classical, exotica, spaghetti westerns, noir - and she even plays the theremin!