| Cem Köksal | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Cem Köksal |
| Born | July 3, 1976 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Genres | Rock, Neo-classical metal |
| Instruments | Guitar, Bass, Keyboard |
| Website | http://www.cemkoksal.com/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Stratocaster, Shark | |
Cem Köksal (born July 3, 1976) is a Turkish musician and guitar virtuoso.
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Cem Köksal was born in Istanbul on July 3, 1976. He started his musical life in primary school playing mandolin. His childhood was filled with music of the 60s due to his parents' influence. In 1987 he switched from mandolin to guitar. Theoretical music courses from Derya Yener in 1991 and 1992 were significant in his musical development. During those days he continued his musical works in his basement in Kadıköy, Istanbul with his friends and participated in musical events at his high school.
Although he was interested in popular rock groups he began to look for something different. His musical perspective moved in a new direction due to the influence of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Air". From then on, classical music was very important to Cem Köksal. He always chose tonal modes for his music and Johann Sebastian Bach became one of his greatest heroes. Writing music was the challenge of blending classical music elements with modern music in a harmonious way, using the guitar up to the limits with high melodic levels of songs despite thousands of flowing notes, and a very strong sound.
Cem Köksal, who pushed himself to perfection on guitar, began to show his guitar skills not only in standard techniques but also in alternative techniques. Soon he became interested in the anatomy of guitars. After months of studies he created a new guitar (Shark) which was completely his own design.
When he felt that he has reached his musical maturity, Köksal began to create his first album. He not only wanted to write the compositions and arrangements and the songs, but also to record it himself. Although this seemed to be a huge burden that could not be overcome by a single person, Cem Köksal thought this was the only way to achieve the results that he wanted. He started to study by reading books and trained himself for two years with the resources that he found. He drew studio plans and schemes and established his own studio, Studio 29, in 2002. The album, which was finished in 2003, was named Set Me Free!! and offered to the appreciation of music lovers everywhere.
Set Me Free was a big surprise to everyone involved because it was the first time a major label (Universal) gave its label for a heavy-metal album with lyrics in English. In a short time Cem Köksal was well known at music era and that brought in offers for concerts. Köksal participated in many big festivals such as Rockistanbul with Queensryche, Rock the Nations with Manowar, and Coca- Cola Soundwave Tour 2005 - which was a total success. The band performed in 11 different cities of Turkey to 150,000 university students. Because of his high energy performance on stage, Coca Cola Soundwave Org. invited Köksal back for the 2006 tour.
This time the band included rock Joe Lynn Turner, former vocalist of Deep Purple, Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc. The tour was for 10 different cities and pulled 200,000 students to the organization. Cem Köksal produced a DVD of the Bursa concert. 35,000 students were the highlight of this big show. In March 2007 the DVD Cem Köksal feat. Joe Lynn Turner Live!! was released. On May 17, 2007 he released his second solo album Siyah Beyaz Masallar (Black and White Fairy Tales). It is sung in Turkish by jazz vocalist Senay Lambaoglu.
Cem Köksal recently completed his new CD "Vigilante" with Mats Levén (ex-Therion, Yngwie Malmsteen) on vocals.