Min Taka: A bridge between two worlds

It seems like your career is going like a rocket at the moment. You participated in Popronde 2024, performed at Le Guess Who after it and were recently confirmed for the lineup of Noorderslag 2025. How have you experienced this busy year?

“We are now at the end of the year, a good time to look back on everything that has happened. At the beginning of the year, I started playing more and more live with my band. At that time I didn't have a manager or a booker, mainly because before that I was only active in Istanbul, so I didn't have a network in The Netherlands yet. When I moved to the Netherlands, I actually had to start building that network all over again. It was quite a challenge to present myself in a completely new environment. 

My music is mainly in Turkish, which made it extra exciting. I wondered how I could present that in the best way here in the Netherlands. In late 2023, I gave my first real headline concert in the Netherlands, and from then on everything began to grow organically. One show led to the next, and so it all started moving. 

The last few months were the busiest, mainly because of the Popronde. That was a huge change for me! But a very positive one, because this is exactly what I always envisioned.”

You mentioned that it was completely new for you to play live shows in the Netherlands and that before that you performed a lot in Istanbul. Is Istanbul also where you are from originally?

“Yes, I was born and raised in Turkey. When I was eighteen I moved to the Netherlands for my studies. During the pandemic I traveled a lot back and forth between Istanbul and The Netherlands, but two years ago I decided to return to the Netherlands to finish my studies. Since then, I have been rebuilding my life and music career here.”

What was it like for you to have to rebuild your music career in a new country that you didn't really know that well?

“It was very challenging. I love Istanbul immensely, where I played a lot in other bands and made music with al lot of people. Yet in Turkey there is a mentality of: “You are a musician, but at least then you have to have done a study.” I did my studies in Holland, and during the pandemic I went back to Turkey. There I started my project Min Taka, and that went very well. After that, when I had to go back to the Netherlands to finish my studies, I didn't really want to leave. But my parents insisted that I finish my studies. Given the current political situation in Turkey, they felt that I would have better opportunities in Holland. And they were right!

It took some getting used to in the beginning. I think it took me about a year to get comfortable with live play here. A funny moment ended up kick-starting my career. My roommate, with whom I am now very close, came to watch one of my shows once. There were some people from the music industry there, including a booker. My roommate introduced me and drunkenly said, “Min Taka is great, you have to book her!” That booker then decided to book me. From that show, which was at Roodkapje in Rotterdam, everything started going.”

How do you experience live playing in the Netherlands? Is it different than in Turkey?

“Yes, it is definitely different than in Turkey. When I just started playing, I often wondered: is anyone going to respond to this or understand it at all? In fact, most of the songs I play are in Turkish. I am now in the process of releasing some songs in English, but my live shows still consist mostly of Turkish songs. 

In general, performing here is super fun. I've never had any weird reactions from people saying they don't understand the lyrics. What strikes me is that the Dutch audience doesn't pay much attention to the lyrics. They listen more to how it sounds and base their opinion on that. That makes playing in Holland very satisfying for me.

It's also very special that sometimes Turkish people come to my live shows. It's really cool to see that they also respond well to it. That gives me the feeling that with my music I can really build a bridge between two different worlds.”

Do you feel that your music also lands with the Turkish-Dutch community, or do you hope it does?

“My lyrics are of course in Turkish, but my music has a lot of Western influences, such as drum 'n bass and pop. Because of that, I think the Turkish-Dutch community here, which often has a more traditional ear, sometimes finds my music a bit unusual. At the same time, there are also people with whom it does stick. My music is quite genre-bending, so I can imagine that it sometimes comes across as a crazy mix. When I sing in Turkish, I often see a kind of surprise in the reactions - an “oh, huh, what's going on here?”- moment.

It's mostly the younger generation, like students who have moved to Holland from Turkey, who come to my shows. I find that incredibly cool. It feels like I'm creating a small community of international people. That's very special to see.”

Your songs have been mostly in Turkish so far, but you recently released your first English spoken single. Do you plan to also sing more in English in the future?

“An EP will be released next summer, and it will be entirely in English. Also, we will have a release show at Paradiso at the end of June including a vinyl release with Paradiso Vinyl Club. And a new song, 'Eyesight', will be released on January 10th. 

I follow my own imagination. If it becomes Turkish, then it becomes Turkish, and if it becomes English, then it becomes English. Lately I do write a little more in English, probably because I live in Holland now and speak more English daily. That has naturally influenced me so much. By the way, I also feel more like a bridge between the two cultures now, Turkish and Dutch, and that's also something I like to create, that bridge between two worlds.”

What is the meaning behind the name 'Min Taka'?

“It was during the pandemic, and I was thinking about a good stage name, but didn't want to use my own name. My life was a bit of a roller coaster, because I was constantly moving, and I sometimes felt more at home in one place than another. Then during the pandemic I decided to have a tarot reading done by my sister, and she drew a card called Min Taka. It represented losing your idea of belonging, the feeling that you can never find your home. I really thought, “What the hell is this? So I looked it up and found out that Min Taka was and myth. There was once a planet called Min Taka, but it disappeared. The people or beings who lived on it had to reincarnate on Earth, but they always kept feeling the sense of being lost and searching for their original home. Their home was no longer there, so they walked around on earth, a little lost and out of place.

That really spoke to me at the time, even though I hadn't necessarily gone through a traumatic experience. I was just constantly moving and feeling totally ungrounded. And that grounding is very important to me. Besides, of course my name is 'Yasemin' a it already had 'Min' in it, so it just felt like a perfect match.”

You also describe your music as bubble grunge, pixie pop. What exactly is that?

“Pixie pop is something I actually just came up with. It's not actually a genre, but for me it reflects well what my music exudes. My sound doesn't quite fit within one set genre, which is why I like to make up my own words. Pixie pop sounds very on-brand to me: it has something girly, which I think is cool. Also, I do call my music 'bubblegrunge,' because it has both the light, playful side of bubblegum and the raw side of grunge.”

Your latest song 'I Don't Want To' is about your procrastination, and in the song you say that you prefer to just put off everything. What inspired you to write about this?

“Every September I realize how you go back to your routines, school and work. It's really such a transition from summer, where you're active and doing fun things, to diving back into familiar routines. It almost feels like a new beginning, like it's January. Every September for the past few years, I got sick again, and this year, oddly enough, it was my roommate who also got sick. I realized that maybe it was more something psychological than physical, because I just don't want to go back to all those routines. My body is saying, “No, I don't want this.'' I guess it's kind of a protest against the whole idea of getting back into those set rhythms. And I just don't want that.”

It seems like you have an aversion to routines like that. During your writing process, do you actually stick to those regularities?

“When I just started writing, I really had a routine and thought it would help with writing every day. I also had more time to think then because I was performing a little less at the time. But since the past year, it's all become a little more chaotic and it comes more from my intuition. I used to really go inward, but in the last year and a half I've gone outward a lot more. As a result, the writing process has become a little messier and more intuitive.”

On Saturday, January 4th, Min Taka will play at Paradiso during Indiestad Nieuwjaarsborrel. She will also perform at Oosterpoort during Noorderslag on Saturday, January 18th. 

Text: Nori de Groot