Ümit Besen

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Ümit Besen
Ümit Besen live at Tarabya Palet, 1982
Background information
Birth name	Ümit Besen
Born	1956, Osmaniye, Turkey
Genre(s)	Synthpop, New Wave
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instrument(s)	Keyboards, synthesizer, Piano
Years active	1973 - present

Ümit Besen (born 1956, Osmaniye, Turkey) represents the darker side of Tarabya school of electronic music. He started his professional career with playing keyboards and singing with his band at the local clubs in Adana, Southern Turkey. While he was in the army for his obligatory service a brigadier-general (Brigadier in Commonwealth armies) liked his style and appointed him with the task of singing at the officers tavern.

[edit] 1980s and rising popularity

After the completion of his 18 months service he returned to Adana. While singing and playing to make his living one day Turkish football legend Metin Oktay visited the club he was working at. Amazed by the power of his voice and his knowledge of synthesizers, Metin Oktay recommended him to his club owner friends in Istanbul.

In Istanbul he kept playing at famous clubs and finally he was teamed up with songwriters Selami Şahin and Ahmet Selçuk İlkan to record his first LP. The result was not only a commercial miracle but also an album that is still regarded by many as one of the best Turkish electronic albums of all time.

[edit] Ümit Besen today

Although not being as famous as he was in the 80s, Ümit is probably one of the best known artist to come from the legendary Tarabya scene, only second to Cengiz Kurtoğlu if not the best known. Today he performs at Beyaz İnci club in Yenikapı, İstanbul.