A Chat with Irem Bekter (29.04.26)
Hailing from Istanbul, Turkey, now based in Montreal, Canada, Irem Bekter has released her latest single, ‘Miscommunication (Lost In Transmission)’, lifted from her album, The Winding Road. We chat with Irem Bekter about all things music below.
OSR: You’ve lived and created across Istanbul, England, Argentina, and Montréal. How do these different cultural environments continue to shape your artistic identity today?
Irem Bekter: It’s been a process of rediscovery as much as evolution. I returned to Turkey after many years, having left when I was eight and a half for England, and that reconnection with my roots was very powerful. I fell in love again with its music and complex rhythms, and those elements naturally found their way into my writing. England, in many ways, formed me. I grew up immersed in British music, from Pink Floyd and Nick Drake to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Sting, and later Radiohead. That influence shaped my sense of songwriting and sonic identity.
In Argentina, I went deeper into traditional music and expression, and meeting Mercedes Sosa, the voice of Latin America, was a defining moment. It grounded my connection to music as something lived, embodied, and shared. And in Québec, the French language has become an essential part of my artistic voice. Writing and singing in French opened another emotional and poetic space for me, very different from English or Spanish. With each language, there’s a different emotional connection, almost a different way of feeling and expressing the same idea. Navigating between them is now at the core of what I do; it shapes not only the sound, but also the meaning and the rhythm of the words. My collaborations with Québécois artists and my immersion in chanson are deeply rooted in me, and today all of these influences coexist naturally, forming a language that feels truly my own.
OSR: Do you feel like you ever fully ‘belong’ to one musical scene, or is that in-between space where your creativity thrives?
Irem Bekter: I don’t feel like I fully belong to one musical scene, and I’ve come to understand that as a strength rather than a limitation. I’ve moved between cultures and languages for most of my life, so that in-between space is very natural to me. It’s where I listen differently, where I question things, and where new ideas emerge. I’m not trying to fit into a specific scene; I’m more interested in creating something that feels true to my own path. That sense of being “in between” is actually where my creativity thrives. It gives me freedom, freedom to move between styles, languages, and perspectives, and to create something that reflects that complexity in an honest way.
OSR: How has your relationship with language evolved as both a songwriter and communicator across different countries?
Irem Bekter: My relationship with language has evolved alongside my life – it’s inseparable from the places I’ve lived and the experiences I’ve had. At first, language was about adapting and finding my place. Over time, it became a creative tool. Each language I express in – English, French, Spanish – carries its own rhythm, its own musicality, and its own emotional landscape. I don’t express the same idea in the same way depending on the language; it shifts the tone, the imagery, even the intention. I haven’t yet started writing lyrics in Turkish, that will come with time, but its rhythms and sounds are very present in my music. It lives there in a more instinctive, almost physical way. As a songwriter, this has opened up many possibilities. Sometimes a song begins in one language and naturally moves into another, because that’s where the emotion wants to go. As a communicator, it has also deepened my listening; I’m more attentive to nuance, to what is said and unsaid. Today, navigating between languages is at the core of my work. It’s not about translation, but transformation. Each language brings me closer to a different facet of the same truth, and together they create something more complete.
OSR: You often blend Turkish folk influences with jazz, indie, and electronic textures. What determines which tradition leads a song?
Irem Bekter: Most of the time, nothing is consciously “leading” at the beginning. A melody appears, and I follow it. I might be singing while playing a frame drum, or walking, or experimenting on a drum machine. It happens very organically. From there, the direction reveals itself. Sometimes the rhythm carries something closer to Turkish influences; sometimes it leans more toward jazz, so I find myself at the piano, or toward something more atmospheric. But I don’t decide that intellectually – it’s already contained in the first impulse. The process can also reverse. I might start from a rhythm, like a 9/8 pattern I picked up from a traditional Turkish song, and then a melody emerges from that foundation. Electronic textures are then developed in the studio through the arrangements, with Jean Massicotte, or sometimes earlier in the process with my collaborator, pianist and arranger David Ryshpan. It may evolve later through arrangements and collaboration, but I tend to trust that initial idea. Very often, it holds the essence of the song.
OSR: When you’re writing, do you think in terms of stories first, rhythms first, or emotional atmosphere first?
Irem Bekter: There isn’t one fixed method; I shift between different entry points. Sometimes there are stories I want to tell. I already have text, ideas, or fragments written, and the music comes to meet that. Other times, it’s much more playful. I’m amusing myself on a drum machine, experimenting with rhythms, and something unexpected emerges, like in Miscommunication (Lost in Transmission), where an absurd song took shape. And often, it begins with an emotional atmosphere or a physical impulse, a rhythm, a melody, a sensation in the body. From there, everything starts to connect. So it’s not one path, but several. Each song seems to choose its own way of coming into being.
OSR: How has your experience performing internationally influenced the way you think about audience connection?
Irem Bekter: It has shown me that connection goes far beyond language or cultural context. What reaches people first is something more direct – presence, emotion, rhythm. I’ve seen audiences connect to songs even when they don’t understand the words, because they recognize the feeling behind them. It’s made me trust simplicity and authenticity more. Rather than trying to explain or adapt too much, I focus on being fully present and letting the music speak. The details may be different from one place to another, but the emotional core is shared.
OSR: Do you see your music as more autobiographical or more observational of the world around you?
Irem Bekter: It’s both. Some songs come from very personal experiences, things I’ve lived or felt deeply. But others are shaped by what I observe, what’s happening around me, stories I hear, people I meet. Even when it starts from the outside, it becomes personal in the way I process it. And when it’s autobiographical, I try to keep enough distance so it can resonate more widely. So there’s always a dialogue between the inner world and the outer world.
OSR: What role does improvisation play in your creative process, especially given your jazz influences?
Irem Bekter: It plays an important role, but maybe not in the most obvious way. Improvisation is very present at the beginning when I’m exploring, playing, letting ideas come without controlling them too much. That’s often where the most honest material appears. Even in writing, I allow space for that kind of freedom. I follow a melody, a rhythm, a phrase, without knowing exactly where it will lead. Later, the structure becomes more defined. But that initial openness, the willingness to not know is essential. It’s what keeps the music alive and allows something unexpected to emerge.
OSR: How do you balance preserving cultural specificity while still creating something globally accessible?
Irem Bekter: I don’t approach it as a balance to manage – it happens quite naturally, or it may not. I stay true to the details – the rhythms, the languages, the nuances of where things come from. That’s the specificity. But I focus on emotion and intention, which are universal. If something is honest and grounded, people connect to it, even if they don’t recognize every reference. So I don’t try to simplify or “translate” culturally. I just put it out there and trust that the authenticity carries it.
OSR: If someone listened to your entire discography in order, what personal evolution would you hope they hear most clearly?
Irem Bekter: Resilience and transformation. From the first to the last song, there’s a shift from questioning and displacement toward renewal and connection. It finishes with ‘Drunkenness of Love’, a song that speaks directly to the listener – and perhaps to myself as well – almost like a conversation with a friend, a reflection on what remains of us: “Love is the key, love is the key / What remains of who we are / Is how we care, how we love.” At the core, it’s a journey toward being fully myself.
Many thanks to Irem Bekter for speaking with us. Find out more about Irem Bekter on her Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify.
