Morîk by Danûk

Morîk
Danûk, a group of exiled Middle Eastern musicians, comes together in
debut album Morîk to reignite a shared consciousness of the value of homeland through the discovery of centuries-old sounds. The album was produced by Michael League (Snarky Puppy) with the support of the British Arts Council, in 4-time Grammy Award-winning League's Studio 20.

Danûk manifests archived phonograph recordings of Kurdish folklore and wedding songs that have been preserved in wax cylinders since the beginning of 20th century, in The Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv and Phonogrammarchive in Vienna, into phenomenal auditory icons of profound cultural heritage and identity.

Morîk, the band’s debut album, is a flawless, rhythmic homage that resurrects a treasured past at the axis of the present and future. Made by Austrian and German explorers at the start of the 20th century, sounds of a Syrian priest singing in Jerusalem (“Axir Zemana” , “Lo Lo Li Mino”) Kurdish shepherds’ songs, and locals singing Kurdish folklore in Sendshirli excavated sites (present-day eastern Turkey) (“Xelîlo Lawo”, “Lê Lê Mi Go”), are recomposed, giving new life to the aural aesthetics of a multicultural time and place. Four songs adapted from wax cylinder recordings and five traditional Kurdish folklore and wedding songs (“De Çêkin”, “Finciko”, “Şewqo”, “Girê Sîra” and “Lo Şivano”) transmit an experience of inflexible symbolism through sound. Morîk, meaning pearl, resonates with the band’s discovery of light and meaning from what might have been forgotten.

Snarky Puppy’s Michael League who produced the album explains further about how the album came together: "the recording of Morîk was incredibly special for me. Aside from the historical and cultural significance of recording songs never before committed to modern recording methods, it meant a lot to me personally to have the pleasure of spending this experience with an incredible group of musicians and people. Tarik has been one of my closest friends and teachers for years and helping him and Ferhad (also a friend for many years) represent Kurdish culture in this way is one of the great honors of my life. I hope that the music wins the heart of its listeners as it has won mine."

Danûk
A diverse channel of cultures, Danûk seeks to make music that transcends borders. Founded in Istanbul in 2015 amid a period of commotion, the band remixes Kurdish folk songs creating mementos of a complex geographic and audible past.

Having left the war in Syria, the group, graduates of Syria’s best fine arts and music programs, became street performers in Istanbul using their talents as a means of survival. Here, they were discovered and hired by a social enterprise to help compose film and radio scores. Danûk’s success was followed shortly by the opening of their own recording studio, festival performances in Turkey, and most recently, support from the British Arts Council. In 2020, Danûk received the British Arts Council’s Develop Your Creative Practice Award, ultimately leading to the creation of the band’s debut album. The group is made up of Ferhad Feyssal, Tarik Aslan, Hozan Peyal, Yazan Ibrahim, Ronas Sheilhmous.

“We are shocked and pained by the earthquake hitting our homeland, a region that has already been suffering inhuman conditions due to decades of conflict and oppression. The government and international community have failed our people, with aid not arriving where it’s most needed due to political unwillingness. We are seeing great actions of solidarity in the community, but also division and discrimination. As artists in exile, it’s easy to feel powerless in these circumstances. For this reason, we have decided to gather funds through the release of our first album with the hope that the music from our pain-stricken homeland can contribute to helping people affected by the earthquake.” - Danûk

About DOZ e.V.
DOZ is a non-profit organization based in Leipzig, Germany. DOZ works in Turkey, Syria and Iraq through local partners. Together they are mobilizing their resources to provide long-term support including food, shelter and sanitation items to victims of the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquakes.

Omni Sound is an independent label based in New York and Istanbul. Working with an international network of composers, musicians and artists from a variety of creative disciplines, Omni aims to nurture interdisciplinary and culturally transcendent collaborations by compiling a catalog beyond genres through delicately curated project releases.