By Blair Warren '17, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Turkuaz, a nine-person "powerfunk" army hailing from Brooklyn, NY, is coming to Saratoga Springs to play at Putnam Den on Thursday, April 9. Turkuaz adds some jittery doses of world-pop-dance grooves, with a refreshing funk that is a definite must-see.
David Brandwein, guitar/vocals, said that whenever they played music for fun, “it was always funk or dance music,” inspiring their current genre. In the beginning, they spent a lot of time doing home recordings, leaving the house on occasion to stop by the Turkish market across the street (named Turkuaz!). Eventually, they submitted demos to Heavy Rotation Records, naming the band after their favorite Turkish market.
Generally, they categorize their music as “Powerfunk,” while still drawing on a lot from Classic Rock, the standard Rock and Roll and occasionally delving into some 80’s synth elements. “But,” Brandwein said, “at the end of the day it’s Powerfunk.”
When asked what inspires their music, Brandwein explained, “I think musically the only rule is it has to be something exciting that hopefully will fit into the live show eventually. For lyrics, it’s really mostly stream of consciousness and words that sound good first and foremost, though I’m always trying to slip some actual meaning in there somewhere.”
Their favorite part about performing is when something unexpected happens and ends up being the best part of the show. “Or on a particular night, a certain song will just get the whole band and audience excited for some intangible reason. You can’t explain those things sometimes because it’s just magic. That’s the best part.”
Come see their performance on Thursday, April 9 at Putnam Den, and get their new EP “Stereochrome”, coming out on April 14 (turkuazband.com, facebook.com/turkuaznation).