The Away Days is a Turkish dream pop band formed in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey, in 2012 by Can Özen (vocals, guitar) and Sezer Koç (guitar, bas guitar), but the current line-up consists of Can Ozen and Orkun Atik.

History

Formed in 2012 by Oğuz Can Özen and Sezer Koç, the band released their debut EP, ''How Did It All Start'', independently in late 2012. Following year, the band released their first music video, "Galaxies", and performed at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival, attracting international attention. In addition, the band performed at

The Great Escape Festival The Great Escape Festival is a four-day music festival held in Brighton and Hove, England every year in May. It is operated by MAMA Festivals and showcases new music from a variety of genres. The festival was founded in 2006 and hosts roughly ...

and toured United Kingdom. The band also opened for artists such as Portishead, Paul Banks and

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright (born September 7, 1979), known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music P ...

. In 2014, the band released the singles "Your Colour" and "Paris" with respective music videos. The music videos were premiered by '' Clash'' and ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'', respectively.

Musical style

The band's musical style has been described as "

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

" and "

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...

." ''Clash'' magazine editor Robin Murray wrote that "the band's material matches the citrus-sharp songcraft of School of Seven Bells with the whirlwind drumming of early Ride," while also noting that "there's even a bit of

Swervedriver Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band formed in Oxford in 1989 around core members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. Between 1989 and 1998, the band released four studio albums and numerous EPs and singles despite a considerable ...

's rock edge in there." Mischa Pearlman of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote: "Turkish shoegaze might not be a major phenomenon, but given the breadth of their he Away Days'talent, it soon could be." Zachary Lipez of ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' described the band's style as "a solid mix of 2006 Brooklyn, forever Flying Nun, and The La’s if they were mentored by the Reid brothers." The band's lyrics are sung entirely in English. On the band's name, lead vocalist Oğuz Can Özen stated: " We called the band The Away Days, not because we feel we don’t belong to Istanbul or Turkey, but because we don’t feel like belonging anywhere. And maybe Istanbul didn’t have a great deal of influence to our music, but it has been a great home for us." On the influences, Özen further stated: "We �zen and Koçboth listened to Selda and

The Strokes The Strokes are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1998. The band is composed of lead singer and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr., Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikola ...

when we were kids. But now, as we begin our twenties, we're trying to find some rare music influences through far east and India." He also listed

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

and

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

as personal influences.

Members

;Current members *Can Özen

Discography

;Albums * ''Dreamed at Dawn'' (2017) ;EPs * ''How Did It All Start'' (2012) * ''THIS'' (2015) ;Singles * "Your Colour" (2014) * "Paris" (2014) * "Best Rebellious" (2014) *"Paris (Portecho Remix)" (2014) *"World Horizon" (2016) *"Places to Go" (2016) *"You Think You're High" (2018) *"Designed" (2019) *"Sadness Will Last Forever" (2020) ;Music videos * "Galaxies" (2013) * "Your Colour" (2014) * "Paris" (2014) * "Sleep Well" (2014) * "Best Rebellious" (2015) * "Calm Your Eyes" (2015) * "World Horizon" (2016) *"White Whale" (2017) *"Designed" (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Away Days, The Musical groups established in 2012 Turkish indie rock groups Turkish shoegaze musical groups Turkish dream pop musical groups Indie pop groups Musical groups from Istanbul Turkish rock music groups Musical quintets 2012 establishments in Turkey