Kervane by AySay

AySay is one of the sounds of the New North anno 2020. A trio who embraces the diversity of the world, travels through it and stands with it. ’Kervane’ is AySay’s second EP. A collection of uplifting and rebellious songs about love, presence and the right to exist. An EP built on AySay’s ability to collaborate and create new worlds with human traditions, roots-based inspiration and spiritual energy as a their building blocks.

Kervane lands as a follow-up to the trio’s self-titled EP from 2018, weaving together two years of intense tour activity and inspirational journeys in five songs spanning Anatolian psych-folk in Kurdish to Nordic tunes in Turkish and Danish pop arrangements in beautiful synergy with nature. The guest list includes both saz master Orhan Özgür Turan (Hudna, Ipek Yolu, Özgür) and the French/Turkish group Seyyah.

The name ’Kervane’ carries a story that, in all of it’s innocence, unfolds the essence of AySay, albeit by mistake. Frontwoman Luna Ersahin, who grew up in a home with both Turkish and Danish, writes the song ’Kervane’ confident that the word means ’caravan’ in Turkish. However, it turns out to be a mixture of the Turkish ’kervan’ and the Danish ’karavane’. Thus, the word lands in an all too familiar category from Luna’s childhood home called ”Luna words”. Yet another word that does not belong in either one of Luna’s two languages, and which used to give Luna the experience of insufficient knowledge of her own roots. A feeling of tripping in the balance of life. This time, the trio, meanwhile, chose not to correct the mistake, but instead to step into it with proud ownership and a strong belief in the freedom to choose themselves. At the heart of AySay is precisely this meeting between different entities, and a belief that the embrace of the second and the new is a source worth seeking out.

The caravan symbolizes the struggle against status quo. Not through war, because the caravan bears celebration and colors, but with an uplifting energy that fights for room for more people, more lives and more souls. The caravan is full of women, men, mixes, weirdos and whoever feels they have their place there. Thee caravan is the new North. A North that can no longer run from its diversity and cultural wealth. An uproar filled with hope, sound, song and music.

Luna Ersahin was born into a life of two cultures. With a Danish mother and a Kurdish/Turkish father, in her voice, a tale of the totality of two halves, is told. Being the centerpiece of the trio AySay, the same story translates into a soundscape where traditions from both east and west melt together.