Büşra Kayıkçı, pianist & composer

Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?

Astor Piazzolla, Anouar Brahem, Ravel, David Darling

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

To be on stage. Because I didn’t have any stage routine until the age of 29 when I started composing. It took me some time to be okay with so many people watching me. And just me obviously. But I have my ways to be okay with it now. For example, before going on stage, I indoctrinate myself by repeating this phrase: ‘I’m not here to show myself, I’m here to show my art’. It works well on me actually.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?

I’m highly empathetic, so usually it is easy for me to smell the air and understand what is expected. And I think it is very developing to receive feedback from different perspectives, people coming from different backgrounds and fields as well.

Of which works are you most proud?

I am proud of the development in general between my two albums Places and Eskizler. It feels good to see that I improved my production and composition skills in time more than I’ve dreamed about.

How would you characterise your compositional language?

I think it’s about sharing stories of life’s challenges and finding hope in the midst of them. I typically talk and write on every day and relatable stories about the human experience. However, I also trust in the ability of music to offer relief and solutions rather than just defining emotions. Because I strongly believe that every hardship has an ease at the end. For the possibility of spreading some healing with music, to me, it is important to share that side of the story too.

How do you work?

I have a very multi-disciplinary attitude. I try to feed myself by multiple fields of art. I read, watch, paint. Especially playing with colors untangles the musical knots and blockages that occur in my mind from time to time. And in the meantime I try to protect my connection with nature since it is very hard in a big city life.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

I feel like I achieved something when I am 100% sure about my work and believe in it. Not everything I release reach to that point of certainty to be honest. But sometimes you just have to leave them the way it is.

What advice would you give to young/aspiring composers?

I’d definitely advise to leave the space of music often and be in search of other fields. Find different types of sources.

What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about but you think we should be?

Why, in an activity about ‘listening’, are we so addicted to ‘visuals’? Sometimes it is hard to say whether you are at a concert or a theatre. This is a very interesting topic for me and at some point, I believe it became a pressure for musicians. I feel sad about this.

You’ve just released your debut album, Places. How did this album come about?

It came out during the pandemic lockdown. I felt a bit stressed about being forced to stay at home. And this is my typical relationship with the piano since childhood. I talk to it and share with it whenever I am down. I didn’t plan the tracks on the album to be about ‘a place’ from the scratch. I realised that when I listed all the compositions and looked at them as a whole. So most of the songs in the album came out while I was dreaming about being in another place or a feeling of refuge that I keep running to which I define as a shelter.

What is your favourite work on the album?

My favourite is Unrooted. First of all, I feel a joy every time I play it on stage. This is definitely not the case with all the songs. It is actually rare when you play the same set very often.

It is also about the way it came out. With some compositions it takes time to finish them after you have started them. But with others they just happen in a very short time after going through a hard process or a deep thought in your life. So it feels like a gift or a blessing.

What next – where would you like to be in 10 years?

To be honest I never have such long-term ideas or plans. I do not even like to plan tomorrow but than of course there are responsibilities… I will continue what I am doing at the moment!

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

I do not think on happiness. I believe in tranquillity and I am only after it. Because it can exist in happiness and sadness at the same time. When both of these feelings are temporary, it makes no sense for me to pay attention to. And the idea of tranquillity is about having a meaningful goal and a deep conviction to realise it.

What is your most treasured possession?

Feeling hope.

What do you enjoy doing most?

Spending time with friends.

Büşra Kayıkçı is exclusively signed to Warner Classics, and released her debut album, Places, last year. You can hear her live at Edinburgh’s Queens Hall (24 January) and London’s Bush Hall (26 January).

busrakayikci.com