Türkçe okuyun: https://www.buzdokuz.com/2025/08/cagatay-koparal-ile-soylesi/

Interviewer: Berat Korkmaz

Çağatay Koparal, a member of Buzdokuz‘s translation team and a poet, was born in Marmaris in 1994. He graduated from Hacettepe University’s Department of English Language and Literature. He has been a translation editor at Independent Turkish for five years. He also produces and DJs under the name Waves of K.

“Born Again,” the first official work by Çağatay Koparal, who produces under the pseudonym Waves of K, was released last June. This four-track EP represents the artist’s strong and characteristic entry into the electronic music scene. The EP’s and tracks’ titles immediately suggest it’s a “concept album.” Listening to it, you get the sense that the tracks represent the introduction, development, and conclusion of a story.

However, Born Again isn’t a classic ambient or downtempo. On the contrary, its high-energy, occasionally explosive structure has a way of energizing the listener. The tracks convey emotions not through words, but through frequency, dynamic structures, and sonic textures that communicate with the body. Each one virtually illuminates a stage; it feels as if you’re not in the middle of a dance floor, but at a mental threshold, an inner transition.

Çağatay Koparal’s first foray into electronic music production is striking, both aesthetically and technically. Born Again isn’t just a listening experience; a narrative of rebirth that flows through rhythm and speaks the language of movement.

I posed questions to Koparal about this first work, to be published on buzdokuz.com.

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This sense of unity throughout the EP is particularly striking. Did you truly approach the production process with a meticulous “concept”, or did this structure emerge naturally? How do you construct the story in music where rhythm and layered sound textures carry the narrative weight? How do you construct dramaturgy through sound?

 Actually, yes and no. I’d been working on the songs for a while and it turned out they were waiting for this bitter turning point in my life. I didn’t know that either. Dominant feelings combined with the style that I want to be a part of so yes, naturally a concept was born.

Since I realized that my favorite works are multilayered, I’ve been trying to create layers in my songs with harsh and soft sounds. And I chose the synthesizer to achieve that. Of course, not every song tells a story with a beginning and an end; in fact, they often convey the feelings of different moments. I can’t say that there’s a specific story I want to convey or a specific emotion I want to evoke in my songs. I’m guided by the question, “What would I like to listen to?”. But that’s just for now. I’d also like to make a concept album that tells a story from beginning to end.

In “Start of Something Beautiful”, we hear the main melodic line continue almost unchanged. This reminded me of contemporary poetry. Sometimes a poet finds a voice and refuses to stray from it; it feels like another voice would disrupt the poem’s structure. Could we approach this piece from that perspective? Was this “insistence on the sound” a conscious decision?

 “Start of Something Beautiful” is actually a homage to Prodigy. I insisted on the sound because I wanted the song to be short, sharp, and fast, just like Prodigy, with a punch. I particularly enjoy repetitive sounds. They take the listener somewhere and keep them there. We don’t have to fulfill expectations when we create. The overwhelming majority of music listened to has a formulaic structure. I didn’t use those patterns on this album. This might make it harder to listen to, but that’s what I wanted.

The track that caught my attention most on the EP was “Rising”. It stands out from the others, with a softer, more relaxing tone. However, towards the end, the pad volume increases considerably. I felt like perhaps increasing the snares’ volume by 1-4 dB would have created some balance. What were your technical goals for this track? Did you want to try a different narrative style?

 Sudden changes are also a part of my music. The synthesizer is a universe in itself, and when you sit down with it, you have endless possibilities. I prefer to play with sounds.

The line between artificiality and sensuality in electronic music is becoming increasingly blurred. How do these two extremes come together in your music? How do you establish the balance between “human” and “machine” in your production process?

The line between artificiality and reality blurs in everything offered for consumption. Since I make electronic music, I’m compelled to learn the necessary software, and I enjoy using it.

Being able to express oneself through sound waves and convey any emotion is truly magnificent. Doing so with virtual instruments, which are nothing more than software, is even more captivating. Technology has always changed music and will continue to do so. I’m not trying to achieve any kind of balance. I write my own melodies.

Although I haven’t been able to afford an analog synthesizer due to financial constraints, I hope to do so in the future. I’d like to utilize hardware in my production process, but since I don’t have the means, I’m currently working with the software I have.