Şebnem Ferah
Şebnem Ferah (born 12 April 1972) is a Turkish singer, songwriter, composer, and guitarist. She was the lead vocalist of the all-female hard rock band Volvox[1] until 1994, after which she went on to pursue an illustrious solo career. Her music style varies from pop rock to hard rock though her later albums have progressively incorporated more of the hard rock sound.
Şebnem Ferah | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 12 April 1972 Yalova, Turkey |
| Genres | Alternative rock, hard rock, alternative metal, pop rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, composer, guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals, electric guitar, mandolin, keyboard |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Raks, Universal, Pasaj |
Early life and Volvox
Şebnem Ferah was born on 12 April 1972 in Yalova to ethnic Turkish immigrant parents from Skopje (present-day North Macedonia). She first took solfeggio and instrument lessons from her father who was also a teacher. She grew up listening to her father's Rumelian folk songs played with bağlama, mandolin and piano.
She got her first guitar when she was in the first year in boarding at Namık Sözeri Highschool of Bursa. She got acoustic lessons. During her second year, she hired a studio with her friends and formed the group Pegasus. The group had their first stage appearance during a rock festival in Bursa, in 1987. After a while, Pegasus disbanded. In 1988, Şebnem formed Volvox with four friends of her that they named after the microorganism known as volvox, which they encountered in a biology lesson.
After graduating from high school, she attended Middle East Technical University, studying economics, and moved to Ankara with her sister. During this time, she met Özlem Tekin, who has later become another recognized pop-rock musician in Turkey, and Özlem joined Volvox. Volvox could not practice for a year and a half because the members experienced a hardship with coming together, with the other members except Özlem and Şebnem living in Istanbul. In her second year at the university, Şebnem changed her mind about being an economist; instead she dropped out and moved back to Istanbul.
In Istanbul, she attended classes on English language and literature at the Istanbul University. For two years she performed in various bars with Volvox until dissolution of the band in 1994.
Solo career
Although short-lived, Volvox gave Ferah what she needed: attention from professionals. Turkish diva Sezen Aksu and Aksu's writing/recording partner Onno Tunç saw Volvox on television. In a short time, Ferah sang back vocals for Sezen Aksu.
In 1996 Ferah released her first album Kadın (Woman), which contained some of her best songs, Vazgeçtim Dünyadan (I Gave up from this World), Yağmurlar (Rains), Bu Aşk Fazla Sana (This Love is much to You), and Fırtına (Storm) to name a few. They featured a rather polished and clean production, possibly the effect of producer İskender Paydaş; these came off much differently from how she would later perform the songs live. Kadın was a huge hit and many club and arena gigs followed its release. In 1998, she provided the singing voice of Ariel for The Little Mermaid.
Three years after her debut album release, Ferah came into the scene with her second album, Artık Kısa Cümleler Kuruyorum. She was working with the same production team of Paydaş and members of Pentagram, but she had mostly broken free of artificial synths that time. Being a decent rock album, it was more introverted due to death of Sebnem's sister prior to its release. With less catchy songs, Ferah also started to create a fan base who would sing and feel all her lyrics rather than a following who would only memorize the hits and ignore the rest.
In 2001, Ferah came up with a more acoustic third album, Perdeler (Curtains), two years after her father died at 1999 İzmit earthquake. Apart from the lead single Sigara (Cigarette), Perdeler fell short of creating hits. She also collaborated with Finnish band Apocalyptica on the title track.
Her next step was the fourth album "Kelimeler Yetse" ("If Words Were Enough"), which was released in 2003. The album was a low point in her career although it included "Ben Şarkımı Söylerken" ("While I'm Singing My Song") and "Mayın Tarlası" ("Minefield").
In 2005, she released her fifth studio album Can Kırıkları, produced by Tarkan Gözübüyük. The album showcased her heavier side and was yet her most distortion-friendly outing. After her nationwide concert tour, a live CD/DVD 10 Mart 2007 Istanbul Konseri was released in 2007.
In December 2009, she released her sixth studio album Benim Adım Orman (My Name is Forest), features slow rock song like Bazı Aşklar (Some Lovers) and Eski (Old) while there were hard rock song like, Merhaba (Hello) and Mahalle (Neighborhood). This album indicates her point of view for rock music.
On April 12, 2018, she released her newest album, Parmak İzi (Fingerprint). It features the title track "Koridor" (Corridor).
Live Performances
Kadın Album Tour (1997) Artık Kısa Cümleler Kuruyorum Album Tour (1999) Fanta Tour (2002, 2003, 2010 and 2013) Coca-Cola Soundwave Tour (2006) Istanbul Concert (2007) (with İstanbul Symphonic Project) KoçFest (2007 and 2008) Benim Adım Orman Album Tour (2010) Turkey Tour (2011) Vodafone Free Zone Tour (2011, 2012 and 2013)
Discography
| Year | Released | Album | Songs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 23 November 1996 | Kadın Woman |
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| 1999 | 6 July 1999 | Artık Kısa Cümleler Kuruyorum I Form Short Sentences Now |
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| 2001 | 18 October 2001 | Perdeler Curtains |
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| 2003 | 24 April 2003 | Kelimeler Yetse If Only Words Were Enough |
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| 2005 | 21 June 2005 | Can Kırıkları Shards of Heart |
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| 2007 | 7 September 2007 | 10 Mart 2007 İstanbul Konseri 10 March 2007 Istanbul Concert |
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| 2009 | 16 December 2009[2] | Benim Adım Orman My Name is Forest |
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| 2013 | 9 May 2013 | Od Fire (sales: 40,000)[3] |
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| 2018 | 12 April 2018 | Parmak İzi Fingerprint |
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References
- Karaege, Vefik. "Biography: Sebnem Ferah". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- "Benim adım Orman". Hürriyet. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- "ŞOK!.. 2013 Ve 2014 Yılı Albüm Basım Rakamlarını Açıklıyoruz!." muzikonair.com. 7 August 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
