Biography

Starting their musical journey back in 2004, 123, in other words "one, two, three", released their debut album "aksel" in November 2009. "aksel" includes 14 songs, that tells the first part of an intersecting story of three characters created by the band's drummer Berke Can Özcan. "aksel" is a CD/Book with 230 pages of illustrations made by Huban Korman. In May 2010, the band released an EP named "stereo love", that contains 6 tracks. Just before the end of 2010, 123's third album "arve" was released. "arve" has 15 songs, and it's actually the second part of the story that was started in the album "aksel". "arve" is also a CD/Book with 190 pages of photography taken by Irmak Altiner. The Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen is a featured guest on the title song "arve". The band released their fourth album "LARA" in january 2012. "LARA" puts the emphasis on Dilara’s mesmerizing voice and poignant lyrics. The album also features three notable guest musicians - İlhan Erşahin plays saxophone on "Sun in the arms of love", Hakan Kurşun sings and plays guitar on "Yokuz" and percussionist Arto Tunçboyacıyan sings and plays on "Trip". 123's 5th studio album "anja", released in may 2015, features 13 songs performed by the "new quintet" version of the band. "anja", the final part of the CD/Book trilogy, focuses on the girl's point of view. Including both English and Turkish lyrics the playlist is built of many different genres from rock, bossa to experimental. There are some featured guests too; Norwegian trumpeter Gunnar Halle plays on "drill", Gökçe and Ayşe Gürçay do body percussion and Selim Saraçoğlu plays acoustic guitar on "undertow", Barış Ertürk plays tenor saxophone and bass clarinet on "there i go" and "anja". 123 is also known for its symphonic work. The band played with two different symphony orchestras conducted by Ender Sakpinar. The band has played at many international events such as; Azgo Festival (Mozambique), Bushfire (Swaziland), United Islands Festival (Prague), Istambul Agora Festival (Sao Paolo), Kolaj Istanbul (Paris), Glimps Festival (Ghent), Mini Europe Tour by Elle (Turin, Straubing, Munich, Oslo), Şimdi-Now (Stuttgart), Berlin Jazz Festival (Berlin), 0090 Kunstenfestival (Antwerp), Bridge to Turkey Festival (Munich), 123 feat. Gunnar Halle at Nordik Festival (Istanbul), Kings of Convenience + 123 at Nordik Festival (Istanbul), Rock'n Coke Festival (Istanbul), Efes One Love Festival (Istanbul), Urban Festival (Istanbul), Babylon Sound Garden Festival (Istanbul), Contemporary Festival (Istanbul), International Istanbul Jazz Festival (Istanbul) and Akbank Jazz Festival (Istanbul).