Blood makes noise

How did the band form and what does the band name mean?

We started jamming together during covid while a lot of our other projects were on hold because of lockdown/s. Eilis and Andi knew each other from being involved in a DIY venue in Berlin and also worked together on many other projects, but never really managed to actually play together. Simultaneously Eilis met Barış, who was the best friend of her housemate at the time, the beginning was uncharted waters, and we played with almost no idea of what we were trying to do, at the end of 2021 we recorded our first demo and then we started playing live, we haven't stopped since!

Kara Delik is Turkish for “Black Hole” - but apart from inspiring many of our naming schemes for the records and the general spacey reference, it doesn’t hold too much meaning.

Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?

Andi: Going way back, I think I grew up with a Radio playing somewhere all the time. From there It somehow went from borrowing my Dad’s records (being quite literal Dad Rock) to hanging out at youth centres which was the gateway into getting into the DIY hardcore/punk scene and playing in Bands like Henry Fonda, Afterlife Kids or Yacht Communism over the years.

Eilis: I’m a classical music geek, spent more time that i’d like to admit going to the Orchestra and practising obscure excerpts from various symphonies on triangle/ tambourine/ Glockenspiel (you name it)

Baris: Starting with guitar, I was only singing in my past life in Turkey in a non-traditional way. Then I moved to Berlin, got homesick and started exploring traditional music styles and instruments, which crossed my way.

First concert that you ever went to? 

Andi: I think I can hardly remember the very first one to be honest. But I guess some of the most memorable and impressionable ones would be the first local shows in these youth centres previously mentioned of local bands that probably now all don’t exist anymore, haha.

Eilis: My first band concert I think was Ben Harper, I was 11 (?) and my parents let me go with my older sister, who was a big fan. The crowd was very excited, I could hardly see the stage, and the floor of the concert hall broke. 

Baris: I went to Marlyn Manson concert with my dad when I was 10. It was literally next to the beach. It was surreal for that age. 

What's your writing process like?

It really depends. Sometimes one of us comes up with an idea, whether it’s a pre-recorded demo or just a little melody or reference of something that we would like to incorporate. But we also play together and then see whether there’s things that stick and have the potential to be developed further.

What other artists or songs inspire your music? 

Andi: We all draw our influences from a lot of different things - not only between us but also within the things we listen to ourselves. For me the energy of Post-Punk Bands like Priests or the Eternals for example is something that definitely is something that I also want to somehow bring into our music, while both of these examples somehow still manage to bring other elements into it that push the boundaries of the genre. But also being introduced to a lot of traditional Turkish music like Neset Ertas through this band was very inspiring in regards to learning about how to play in different time signatures and scales that I didn’t encounter before because of a very narrow western eye on music. On the other hand the groove and atmosphere of modern takes on R&B like Sault are something that I listen to a lot as well.

Eilis: I have such a soft spot for TFS, all these weird double/triple vocals, live they are a machine and is there anything more endearing as the Australian accent? (no)

Amyl and the Sniffers are also simply a powerhouse. I love the delivery of the lyrics and the whitty writing, the energy is great and I never want the songs to end. 

I love spoken word, Ghostpoet was introduced to me in the pandemic and I've been hooked ever since, these groovy arrangements and lyrics that make you feel as if you're living in his head. So many weird and wonderful sounds, it never gets old. 

Baris: The great clarinet master Mustafa Kandirali. You close your eyes as the notes from his clarinet dance around you. You keep your body still and centre your waist weight. The waves from the waist and hips shape your dance. 

When we started Kara Delik, I took a workshop called freestyle ottoman singing from the master Nikos Andrikos on the island of Samos. Since the band and my interest in this style of singing tried to coincide in time, when I write vocals, I always remember the lessons on the island of Samos.

What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be it's own thing?

Andi: I personally think it’s nice to take the best of both worlds. To take as much as you can of a recorded song to also present live, but It’s always fun to see how a song develops further and further the more you play it and how little twists and turns that we all bring to it after a certain amount of time somehow elevate it into something new. It also keeps the songs interesting for us and also always produces new ideas.

Eilis: I live for live music, I just love it. I love when things vary live from the recording, when the artist takes you on a journey you weren't expecting. I hope that we never play two identical concerts, imperfections, and different turns make it all the more exciting to play, and hopefully, to watch. 

Baris: When you first write or record the song in the studio, you don't imagine the eyes of the audience, but when you're playing on stage, it's really exciting to see the relationship you have with people, the feelings that the song evokes in them. Because that spontaneous interaction that happens in that moment can be reflected in the excitement of your next note. Maybe that's why some of the songs we recorded started to have a different energy, the audience helped shape the energy of the songs over time. I think that's why live music is live music.

Has the band toured? What has the touring experience been, best shows? worst shows?

Andi: Yes, we tried to be on the road as much as possible the last two years. It’s been very fun to come to a lot of new places for this band and play a lot of exciting venues and festivals! Some of my highlights would probably be our first time in Vienna, a full on dancing crowd on a Sunday in Weimar and playing support for two amazing acts at the beautiful UT Connewitz in Leipzig. Don’t know if there’s a true worst show, the only thing coming to mind would be our Show at Garbicz Festival in Poland when it started absolutely pouring the minute we started our set.

Baris: The most memorable show for me was definitely the show in Germany/Regen. This concert, which took place in a village in the Bavarian mountains, was attended by a maximum of 10 older listeners. Since the owner was from India, the visual aesthetic inside was half Bavarian and half Bombay. Germany can sometimes present itself in an interesting way when you least expect it. Greetings again to our fans in the youthful village, don't neglect to do sport.

What's up next for the band?

For the next couple of months we have two big tours coming up with around 30 shows in 6 countries to celebrate the closing of our “Singularities” Series that we released last year. In Summer we will then hit the studio to record our first full length album, so a lot of exciting things in the making!