Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I was born and raised in Turkey. I always looked for something more than usual. Something magical. For a while I satisfied these feelings through books about magic etc. even waited for a letter from Hogwarts until I was 11. But that year I realized it wasn’t happening. So the next year at my 12, I started to take music seriously and joined a band. Music is my alternative path to be involved in magic.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: Currently at a retrospective stage, I listen to Lifehouse, Keane, Sting on rotation. They take me back to specific times of my life, mostly high school and help me see my life from a wider perspective nowadays.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘BUEL’?
A: Bee Gees, The Beatles, John & Yoko, Nirvana. I feel so lucky to find my name Buel through Bebe Buell. When I saw her last name, I felt I found exactly who my superhero self would be. Buel doesn’t carry any cultural, traditional or gender related weight or stigma on it. Makes me feel free to fill in the space with my own experience, before my name makes people think of things.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Dancing with Devils of Mine’. Is there a story behind it?
A: I want people to give each other a chance to express their uniqueness and individuality instead of making them say a word to define who they are, like small talk or elevator pitch. Like, hey I’m a girl and I’m interested in other girls or guys etc. I’m gay, straight. I feel like a masculin girl or feminine guy. Whatever. I think we are much deeper than this and the thought that we owe society an explanation of our inner state or sexual orientation is just simply horrible to me. Because life is about balance and happiness.
Seeing someone walking or dressing up in their way and trying to guess what they are like in a game is straight up annoying to me. Seeing the x and y doesn’t make it xy. Humans can’t be an answer to ‘what’, but could be an answer to ‘how’ and ‘how’ is a deep question. You must really care about a person to learn about that ‘how’. I like being surprised everyday and not try to guess or estimate people’s journeys.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: Yes! My album is recorded and waiting to be released in the next year. In fact Dancing with Devils of Mine is my first single from the album!
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: The key quality I seek for is the music to feel neither oversaturated or segregating. I don’t have any cultural or religious bonds and I would like that to come out when my music is heard. By oversaturation I mean I don’t care much about who people adore these days or those days.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Absolutely. I can’t tell you how much satisfaction I get from putting my art out there. Times may make it valuable or valueless to others but all I know is I have all these thoughts and feelings in my head that help me turn my DNA into a ‘hi’ to this world. It feels priceless. Some people may have come to this world to seek for gold, but I think I have come to overcome the weight of this world and I hope I can get in touch with all the people who feel the same to feel okay.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: It really did change and will keep changing. At the moment it’s me and my dreamy world one moment and then me and making up melodies and words from that pool of thoughts in another. It’s very random and effortless.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Working with people. It’s a really hard thing to figure out when people are helping your vision come alive and when they are erasing your traces from the mutual projects. The boundaries I guess.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: There are no points. I don’t even see Grammy as a point. I think it’s more of a line full of up and downs. All attention feels borrowed but personally for me, I feel like I’m growing and growing to be more and more aware and free everyday and that’s significant to me.
