Erkin Koray bio excerpts to be posted online in english

Just the other day I became facebook friends with the co-writer of the only Erkin Koray biography. His name is Gokhan Aya. I'm looking forward to reading some excerpts especially anything about the mid seventies albums Electronic Turkuler, and Turkusu.
Gokhan told me that Erkin Koray wrote an autobiography, but it really ended up as a series of opinions about the Turkey and the world.
I gave Gokhan a link to the Austrlian band from Perth called Tame Impala who are spearheading the psych rock revival in OZ.
Erkin Koray is the hardest rocking of all the East rockers. Tracks like Inat and Bir Osilik are equal to anything produced in British or American psycheldelic rock. Erkins over-driven fuzzy tone never fails to excite.

A phone interview with Nate Toleetha from Shaggan

An interview with Nate Toleetha – Lead singer/guitarist of Shaggan

Interviewed by MichaelG Swifte for the Documentary 'The giants of East Rock' 10/1/09.

Why did you form Shaggan?

“We formed Shaggan in 2006 primarily because of our love of fuzz guitar…. my dad gave me his old fuzz-wah peddle he got from his big brother who played in bands here in the bay area back in the day.”

Where does your inspiration come from?

“We were getting into these guys like Erkin Koray, Baris Manco, the oud player John Berberian, and bands like Moggollar , Ec Hurel and these guys out of New York called The Devils Anvil….these guys were like the giants of rock in the Middle East!...there’s also this chick Selda Same who’s got like this super powerful voice, she’s kinda like Tracey Bonham or Skin from Skunk Anansie.”

Where does the name Shaggan come from?

“The name Shaggan comes from the Arabic meaning transcendent yearning through music….fuzz guitar is like the closest rock ever got to talking to God….you can see where these Islamic backgrounded guys are coming from you know with like their Sufi traditions….you listen to these guitar solo’s and it’s like shit that’s like up there!”

Tell us about your new album?

“So we’re about to launch our first album we hope, it's full of ginger baker style drum solo's, some nice studio effects like huge phase effects and big reverbs, we're looking for a title that is like a simple way of explaining the name....it's definitely East Rock…we want to spread the word about East Rock cos it’s like an east meets west unifying kind of thing?”

The Pitch

East Rock is one name for psychedelic and hard rock from the middle east and eastern Mediterranean primarily from the late 1960's, and 1970's. It is typified by fuzz guitar and an Eastern melodic sensibility. I first encountered East Rock through my search for similar tracks to Omar Korshids "Rakset el Fadaa". During this search I found the unusually titled "Turds on a bum ride" compilation featuring a track by John Berberian enticingly titled "The Oud and the Fuzz". I was so taken with the fuzz guitar solo in that track that I felt compelled to explore further.
What I discovered was that over the past decade many East Rock tracks has been restored from the original vinyl and tapes, and re released for music lovers and obscurantists alike. I also discovered that the majority of East Rock was produced by Turkish performers in Turkey.
My research lead me to a little known band out of Oakland(Bay Area), California, USA called "Shaggan" and their lead guitarist Nate Toleetha who is clearly the most enthusiastic exponent of East Rock in existence. After making initial contact I prepared a pitch for David Granato of Polygranate Productions. He liked the idea and gave the go ahead for me to begin preliminary interviews for a documentary which I believe will chart the rise to prominence of fuzz guitar driven rock where east and west unite.
So why blog the documentary process? The answer is laziness. This blog is in a sense 'the pitch'.