For Harun Tekin, best known as the front man of revered Turkish band mor ve ötesi, travelling between London and Istanbul has changed what feels ordinary. Ahead of his performance at Stone Nest in London, he spoke to &ASIAN about bringing English and Turkish songs together on his brand new record A Dictionary of Night, what beloved classics taught him about songwriting, and why covering a song feels like visiting an old relative.

Firstly, how are you feeling, being in such a beautiful venue for your new release?

Harun Tekin: I’m feeling at home, actually, because this has also been my home for the last three years – I’ve been living in London and Istanbul – and this place, Stone Nest, is great. I feel great about performing here as well. Excited.

Bouncing between Istanbul and London as your homes, how has that enhanced or changed the way you approach your own art?

Oh, first of all, I think my mind works differently when I’m travelling. And this meant travelling a lot. So, travelling usually is something a little extraordinary, but for me, at times it has become normal.

I sometimes thought, ‘Oh, for the next five days, I’m going to be, I’m going to be in the same city. So, that’s extraordinary.’ Then, this movement brought some difference to the way I think about everything, and I think it also resulted in this mini-album called A Dictionary of Night, which is actually also trying to connect two worlds, like two cities, languages, cultural heritages.

When did the first seeds for the album start during your travels? Do you remember the moment?

Not an exact moment, but I think about a year ago, I would say.

I just wanted to try something challenging; I usually perform with my band and it has been going on for 30 years now. [Since] everything is so good and so ready and everything is so well prepared in that world, doing something by myself is like an adventure, to say the least.

Do you feel more comfortable with your artistic process when you’re working with your band or have you settled working on your own? How does that compare?

I will say I’m comfortable in both, but in different ways.

With the band, I know that it is going to be more creative in a sense of doing something new. When I’m by myself, it is more retrospective and trying to make new things out of other things that have already been done, like covering songs from Kate Bush, Elton John. This is like visiting old relatives. Like maybe, I don’t know, an uncle or a grandma who I visit and they tell stories. That kind of creative process.

How did you pick which songs you were going to cover? There’s a mixture of English-language songs and Turkish-language songs.

You must have so many songs that you love. What makes the cut for you?

I think that’s a great question. I don’t know, really.

It was whatever you were feeling?

Yeah, I just knew that if I do something like this, one Elton John song had to be there because he’s a really great songwriter and I was a big fan when I was learning to play an instrument.

He was the songwriter I was trying to connect with because I play the guitar and he plays the piano. I was thinking that there’s something special [there] and I then realised what’s so special about his songwriting.

He’s one of my greatest teachers in that sense, even though I never met him, obviously.

Also, for example, there’s a very old composer called Münir Nurettin Selçuk, who was born in 1900, and the way he composed songs is also very inspiring, so I also knew I had to do one specific song from him.

But around these, then the choices became a little more spontaneous.

You talk about comparing two worlds. Of course, the instrumentation in the album is focused on guitar instrumentals and piano instrumentals.

Me, me, and me!

How did you settle on that? How did you decide what instrumentals would suit what song best?

Actually, I thought, well, I’m better with the guitar, but I think piano offers a little different… okay, I have to put it like, I don’t want to disappoint the guitar, but okay: if a song is written with a piano, then it’s easier to cover it with the piano as well, so I chose those songs.

I realised that the English songs I chose were written all with a piano, and I wanted to make covers that are mainly true to the original versions, but with a touch of me.

So they are not that different in one sense. The Beatles song is slower, the Elton John song has a bit left out by me and the Kate Bush song, I tried to move in a way, but they are all piano songs.

The Turkish ones, though, I did with the guitar, and I thought that I know the instrument better and I can make something different easily with the guitar.

I’d love to talk to you about the album cover as well.

It’s so beautiful, it’s so intentional with the textures, with the colours, with how it’s framed. Walk me through the artistic decision there.

It is called A Dictionary of Night, and it has a lot to do with the night, obviously. That gave us a specific world to connect with. And then, Louise, who did a brilliant job, took the idea and came with the idea of the cover that you see.

I think it really reflects what’s in the album, so that’s great because that’s usually not so easy to have.

Back in 1997 you mentioned feeling like you were an outsider. Now you’re here in London performing to people who are excited to see you!

Do you still feel like an outsider? How does your position in the industry feel compared to back then?

Did I say that in 1997?!

Yeah! It’s been a long time!

Okay, I’m not really responsible for that! But did I say in London? No?

No, no, no!

I was feeling like an alien on Earth!

Like an outsider!

Outsider, okay… I think that’s quite like… we shouldn’t judge him because he was 20 years old, and that’s almost a teenager, you know? Just one year after 19!

But I think I know what he means, and I don’t feel that way now!

A Dictionary of Night is out now. Harun Tekin can be found on Instagram here.