motel void

nazire is a 23-year-old independent musician from Istanbul, Turkey. Known for her genre-blending approach – drawing from indie, shoegaze, trip-hop, and lo-fi – she crafts atmospheric yet gritty tracks that resist easy categorization.

MOTEL VOID: You’ve just released your new single “junebug.” Could you tell us more about it? What’s the story behind the song, and how did the recording process go?

NAZIRE: I wrote the song around the time I met my current partner/producer Gun (888hz). A lot was going on in my life at the time. I was trying to step out of my comfort zone and try out new things that I was too scared to try out before. The song is mainly about letting go of baggage that held me back from pursuing new things. Gun really enabled me to realize that I had to make the changes that I did in my life at the time, but it felt risky too. I initially didn’t know how much I could really trust him, but it felt really good when I finally did. I recorded the demo around this time in my bedroom before we started producing together. A few months later after we decided to make the album a thing, we stepped into the studio to re-record everything and and funnily enough he needed to record stuff for a school project too, so that’s where the live drums came in. We liked it so much that we decided to leave it in for the album version of the track.

MOTEL VOID: I’m listening to your most popular track right now – “darmadagin,” which has over 300,000 streams on Spotify. Interestingly, it was your debut single, released back in 2020. How much did that success help you at the time? And does it bring any kind of pressure when you release new music now?

NAZIRE: I think the biggest help I got from that many streams was confidence and motivation to go on. I still feel really lucky. It was the shortest time I took to make a demo and write lyrics too. I think I really had that song in me and usually the more you’ve really felt a song during the process the better it performs. When I look back on my old tracks it’s still the one I enjoy the most. Oddly enough, rather than pressure to match the success, it allowed me to just believe in myself and try out different things. Knowing I was capable of garnering that many streams, I could just focus on having fun. I felt good enough.

MOTEL VOID: This year, you switched from Turkish to English and released singles like toybeat and some thoughts (both are truly excellent!). What made you decide to move away from your native language?

NATIVE: Thank you so much! Back then I figured I had more of a chance for my music to reach people if I started out locally, but to be honest I’ve always wanted to write music in English and to reach other parts of the world with it. It’s an oxymoron but it just feels more natural to me somehow. I think writing in your mother tongue forces you to face your bare self and tears down the wall you create between yourself and your artist persona. It feels scarier to be completely honest. Writing in a second language allows me the freedom to say difficult or cheesy things and get away with it 😊 But that’s a me thing. There are lots of wonderful Turkish lyricists who make similar music today.

MOTEL VOID: What is your biggest source of inspiration at the moment?

NAZIRE: It’s hard to choose a single biggest source of inspiration and I’m sure that’s pretty audible in both my latest songs and my discography in general. It’s all over the place, which I’m not sure is a good thing. I take lots of inspiration from the Philadelphia/midwest shoegaze scene lately. And then Soccer Mommy and Tanukichan are always up there. Soccer Mommy made this album “Sometimes, Forever” with Oneohtrix Point Never, who is one of my favorite artists ever and an electronic music producer like my partner Gun (888hz) (also one of my favorite artists ever:), so what we’re doing feels really similar to that. I also just eat up a lot of the new and popular electronic adjacent stuff that’s been coming out. Safe to say I’m always inspired by my contemporaries.

MOTEL VOID: You’re from Turkey, and honestly, I don’t know many Turkish musicians working in this particular genre. What is it like to be part of the experimental indie scene there? Do you have any favorite venues? And could you recommend some local artists you personally enjoy?

NAZIRE: It feels great but it can feel very repetitive as well. There’s lots of potential and room to be filled, but unfortunately having music as your main gig is not viable for many people in this country. So the few people with that privilege are usually the ones booking major events, as they deserve to do so. I just wish different acts too could get the chance to open or headline because there are so many incredibly talented people who are still stuck playing smaller venues. I also just wish there were more variety of genres and more people trying out what hasn’t been done before. There’s lots of acts are just playing replicas of popular sounds but in Turkish or imitating other people. And I did that too and that’s okay and enjoyable but I still wish more people experimented or just went with themselves. Some of my current favorite local acts are: Goblin Daycare, Sren, Slay Training and vicotüco. My favorite venue is Karga, for the simple fact that they’ve given so many local artists a chance to be on stage. It’s like the mecca of the Turkish indie scene. Great dj sets as well.

MOTEL VOID: Your new songs are part of the upcoming album glitchfolk. Are you planning to take it on tour as well?

NAZIRE: I would love to take it on tour. I still have very little experience being on stage and arranging events but I believe in the album and I would love to play it in different cities both in and outside of Turkey. The biggest trouble so far has been arranging the songs for live, since they’re so layered and involve many electronic gimmicks. My biggest aim right now is to have a tour ready set for when the album comes out, so we’re working on it!