Try with all your might w/ Melike Şahin
Life is much more than a dream, it is full of challenging stages that require you to rebuild yourself every now and again. You need to keep going without being defeated by yourself, be brave and commit passionately.
“Everybody knows their inner giving up moments. I didn’t give up at those times, but stood up to challenges. Let the blows keep coming, I’ll endure because I am my own. This is the most comfortable place for me and I work really hard to build this house.” says Melike Şahin. She contemplates the storms she had to overcome in order to remain strong, and we dive deeper once again.
I think we need to rewind this story a bit; have you ever shared a common feeling with thousands of people at a Melike Şahin concert? Have you ever witnessed a huge audience becoming a large family merely with a note, a word? While transforming the emotions that are familiar to all of us into their most timeless forms, Melike opens up new windows in our mind and mentality. We catch up with this modern-day diva, who makes all of our hearts beat faster both with her stage presence and the timeless spirit of her songs, as she prepares the second album of her music career that transcends eras and geographies. We get rid of the details and dream a little more. Being brave is necessary to put yourself out there. To find yourself, as well.
What kind of home did you spend your childhood in?
Melike Şahin: Most of it was spent at my grandmother’s house in Topağacı. I was an only child until my brother was born. The only child among many adults. I created a variety of worlds to entertain myself in my loneliness. Looking at those times from the present, remembering my childhood puts a bittersweet smile on my face.
“Let the blows keep coming, I’ll endure because I am my own. This is the most comfortable place for me and I work really hard to build this house.”
Let’s go back to the moments when you realized you could sing and even produce; how did you find out about this?
Melike Şahin: I don’t remember how it happened, there were songs that impressed me a lot, I think I tried to sing them on my own. I mean, I don’t remember when I realized that I could sing. We used to listen to a lot of Turkish folk songs at home, they are the base. I would exalt at Sezen Aksu’s “Işık Doğudan Yükselir” album. I remember that I was really fond of singing, and loved being applauded. This didn’t change at all. I wrote a lullaby for my brother, that could be my first song.
The production issue was unlocked at Berlin. I was at college, went there with Erasmus. There I tried to write my own songs for the first time. Of course they weren’t good, later I thought they were green. But it was at least a start. Then I jumped into the sea.
How did you realize that music would be your profession; how did this journey begin, where are you heading?
Melike Şahin: I was chatting with my friend Duygu, the standard college student conversations about after graduation plans… I said, “I’ll either be on the stage and sing, or I’ll stay in the back and organize the concert.” I never forget this. At that time, I had not yet started singing with Baba Zula. I can’t understand how confident I could be with myself. Then the journey you know started. I’m bored with talking about that period. The part about where I’m heading is more exciting. First of all, I feel comfortable with my journey, this is my most important criterion. I didn’t drift away, I’m proceeding on the path I chose. If I get bored, I recreate the route. I’m very happy with all that happened. Now I have new goals, I will embark on new paths.
What does passion mean to you?
Melike Şahin: A drive that keeps you alive. My passion keeps me upstanding, especially in my work. For example, I am not an ambitious person, but I am passionate about my job, that’s a fact.
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?
Melike Şahin: I would say, “It’s a music that instantly mirrors deeply hidden feelings, I think you should tune in and listen to it right away.”
Which stages does a “Melike Şahin Song” pass before it reaches us? Can you tell us about your working process?
Melike Şahin: First I look for a theme, create the general feeling and motto of the song. Then I start writing. Generally I start writing from the chorus, it feels easier to me. Sometimes lyrics and music sparkle simultaneously in my mind. You’ll experience many examples of that state in the second album. It takes me too long to finish a song. It takes me months to be sure of the sentences I write and to be able to say “yeah, okay, that’s it”, probably because of the knowledge that I will bear them until I die.
Streaming platforms have altered many of our habits in terms of music consumption and dissemination; how did it affect your production?
Melike Şahin: Sometimes I feel a pressure inside like, “Oh, It’s been 6 months since I released my last song, let’s release something new.” Then I stop and calm myself down. I need a long time to feel confident about a song I wrote. I am especially meticulous about lyrics. I don’t do sloppy work. None of my releases fit the schedule that today’s music industry expects. I’m not an artist who can adapt to this. I have established a separate order for myself within this order, and I am fine here.
Nowadays, discovering new sounds is both very easy and very difficult. We are living in systems that dominate our every move. How do you carry out your own journey of discovery in this situation?
Melike Şahin: I’m not afraid of advancement. I love when the producers I work with bring new ideas to the table. The element I care most about when both writing and singing is emotion. What do I want to say, what kind of world do I want to take the person who listens to this song? These are the first questions I ask myself. My sound and production briefs are shaped accordingly. That’s why I think it’s impossible to define the music I make with a single genre. I have a world of sound that travels across eras and geographies and gleams with my interpretation.
What is inspiration? What is its role in your career? Do you believe in inspiration or do you conduct your work based on a mathematical system?
Melike Şahin: Generally, the things I have to put up with are my inspiration. I think being treated unfairly is the feeling that saddens me the most in life. Usually my need to write derives from my need to heal. I think that’s why my songs are so moving. But if I call myself a songwriter, which I do, I can’t sit and wait for the inspiration to strike. This is now my profession, and I need to dedicate a chunk of my brain to this 24/7. I need to read, watch, walk, travel, nourish myself in every sense. Especially now, on the eve of the album, I am reminded again how important it is to work systematically. Of course, there are dark periods when I catch not being able to write sickness due to constant touring.
What are the elements that make a song immortal and independent of time, place and people?
Melike Şahin: How much of yourself you put into it.
Is it more challenging to be yourself or to remain yourself?
Melike Şahin: It’s hard, my friend, it’s hard. Life is full of challenging stages, you are constantly expected to adapt to something. You are expected to renounce yourself, give up some parts of yourself in order to be accepted. I guess it’s not every brave man’s cup of tea to exhibit the courage to say, “I’m OK this way, I’ll proceed like this.” The masculine tone in the word “brave man” just set my teeth on edge right now. I would have gone into the subject of being a woman in this country and even in this world, but instead I just say “I paid the price.” You have to be brave to put yourself under the spotlight. And to find yourself. Now, threading on my 34th year, I see that I’m content with being myself and remaining myself. Everybody knows their inner giving up moments. I didn’t give up at those times, but stood up to challenges. Let the blows keep coming, I’ll endure because I am my own. This is the most comfortable place for me and I work really hard to build this house.
How important is it for you to “be yourself”?
Melike Şahin: Extremely. It is my favorite subject to work on in this finite lifetime of mine. To be able to stay healthy under one roof, with all your personal traits that you like and dislike, with all your states here and there, with everything you are. Despite all the resentment and enthusiasm…
Are there any personal traits that disturb you when you confront yourself, parts that you want to rebuild?
Melike Şahin: I am literally a control freak. I’ve been trying to fix this for a long time. There won’t be hair left on my head if I go like this. I drown myself in details, and I get too tired because of this habit of mine, especially in my work. I’m very curious, I keep a weather eye open on everything. But I’m tired now. I’ve built a lovely sphere for myself, and I’m trying to hang out in it and draw a sweet little boundary between me and the outside world.
Are Melike on stage and Melike at home two different characters?
Melike Şahin: They are quite different. One is a young star who has an admiring audience of thousands, the other one is lying on her couch, under her blanket. I love the Melike on stage, we call her “boss lady”. She is tough and self-confident. For some reason, I considered her as if she were a separate person from myself for a while. Only recently I’m realizing that I am the one who created her. House Melike is someone entirely different. A very domestic girl who wears pajamas. You are also familiar with that side of me as well, through social media. I don’t see any harm in not hiding my humanity.
Was the nickname “Diva-Baby” frightening you; did it bring forth a concerning responsibility when you first heard it?
Melike Şahin: It never did, because with the word “baby” I emphasize that I do not claim to be a diva in the full sense of the word. I don’t know, maybe “baby” will make me itch when I celebrate my 50th anniversary in the profession. But by then I might have other nicknames, who knows? I’m cool with it now.
How much space does dreaming take up in your life?
Melike Şahin: Since I’m the daughter of a civil servant family, I have a hard time dreaming dreams, I always like to have both my feet on solid ground. I don’t really get the dreamers. Although now, when I look at my life from a distance, I see that I’m living my dream. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m not so keen on dreams.
“Life is full of challenging stages, you are constantly expected to adapt to something. You are expected to renounce yourself, give up some parts of yourself in order to be accepted. I guess it’s not every brave man’s cup of tea to exhibit the courage to say, “I’m OK this way, I’ll proceed like this.” The masculine tone in the word “brave man” just set my teeth on edge right now. I would have gone into the subject of being a woman in this country and even in this world, but instead I just say “I paid the price.” You have to be brave to put yourself under the spotlight. And to find yourself.”
Everything is possible; can you dream a dream for us?
Melike Şahin: Even though no dream excites me as much as my retirement aspirations, I will try. Although I am extremely aware of the possibility range, I envision myself as a global artist in the future. I want to introduce Diva Baby to the world. One of my favorite dreams is to found an art school when I grow up.
Creative Direction & Interview by Duygu Bengi
Fashion by Burak Sanuk
Photography by Ergin Turunç
Hair & Make Up by Zeynep Dombaycıoğlu
Hair & Make Up Assistant Burak Kuzgun
Creative Team Ceydanur Demir, Şevval Küçüktır, Umutcan Öncü, Belgin Demirhan
Fashion Team Murat Kıvık, Selenay Tosun, Murat Şentürk, Naz Paksoy
Gaffer Okan Ataş
Gaffer Assistants Ali Şimşek, Arif Bilbay, Arda Seyrek, Orhan Sever, Cüneyt Kaya
PhotographyAssistants İzgi Yılmaz, Cihangür Erken
From Based Istanbul N°42 – me, myself & I Issue. “Talk to yourself like someone you love. Perhaps then, the balance might change. This time ask yourself: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” Buy your copy now!