Direc-t is an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, originally founded in

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

. Their members include Alex Tintaru, Bilge Kösebalaban and Özgür Peştimalci.

Band history

A car accident resulted in the naming of the band Direc-t in 1997. The band's name Direc-t means "post", named after the post that they crashed into. The band decided to stick with the name Direc-t as it was appealing to the members. The band broke up in 1998 and the re-teamed with different members in 1999. Ozgur Pestimalci joined the band in 1999 as the drummer, while Alex Tintaru, bass guitarist from

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, joined the band in 2000. Direc-t won its first music award in 2001 at the Roxy Music Awards. In 2002 the band shared the same stage with

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

Sneaker Pimps Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, '' Becoming X'' (1996), and its singles " 6 Underground" and " Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an articl ...

and

Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...

at the Alternative Festival in Istanbul. In 2002 they played on the demo stage at the H2000 festival. In 2003 they played a show on the main stage at the H2000 festival. In 2003 Direc-t signed a contract with On-Air Productions and they recorded their first studio album with Deniz Yılmaz (Kurban) contributing as the producer. The first album ''

Rus Kozmonatları Direc-t is an alternative rock band from Turkey, originally founded in Adana. Their members include Alex Tintaru, Bilge Kösebalaban and Özgür Peştimalci. Band history A car accident resulted in the naming of the band Direc-t in 1997. The ...

("''Russian cosmonauts") was released in June 2004 with 10 songs in Turkish and one in English. The band shot the first video from ''Rus Kozmonatları'' ("Russian Cosmonauts") to the song "Dur Sakın Konuşma" ("Stop Do Not Talk") and then to "Hasret" ("Longing") and "Ama Sen Varsın" ("But You are Exist") songs. The video of "Ama Sen Varsın" as an animated video caught the attention of the public. In 2004 the band performed in the Rock Istanbul Festival which was broadcast live from Dream TV. In July 2004, Direc-t performed at the Pohoda Festival in Slovakia and assumed the title of the first Turkish band ever to have performed in Slovakia. In 2004 Direc-t played a benefit show for the Tsunami victims in South Asia at ''Yedi Kule Zindanları'' (" Dungeons of Yedikule") in Istanbul. In 2005 Direc-t started touring with the ''

Fanta Fanta () is an American-owned brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are over 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as a Co ...

Gençlik Festvali'' ("Fanta Youth Festival") which included 17 cities all over Turkey. In 2005 the band made an appearance on the main stage of the Rock Istanbul Festival. In addition, Direc-t performed in many bars 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 ...

such as Line, Kemancı, Life Bar, Bronx, Gitar Bar, Vox, ''Yeni Melek Gösteri Merkezi'' ("Yeni Melek Show Center"), Stüdyo Live and also in other cities such as Ooze Bar (

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

), Saklıkent (Ankara), Bar Fly (

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

) and Doors (

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

). The band also appeared as musical guest at various University and High School Festivals (German High School, Ereğli Anatolian High School) all over Turkey. Direc-t's second studio album '' Olympos'' was released in

. In 2005 a song by Direc-t was released in a Turkish

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products, such as video game co ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. A song by Bilge Kosebalaban called "Anything I've done" was selected as a December finalist in VH1-Song of the Year-2005. It is a duet with Gulce Duru. The band had two songs in two other compilations released in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Starving Kids Records Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...

in 2007. Direc-t played in the

Midpoint Music Festival MidPoint Music Festival (MPMF) was an annual three-day independent music festival and music industry conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 2001 to 2017. The event took place every September in the city's downtown and historic ...

on 2007 and also at

Mo Pitkins Mo or MO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mo, a girl in the ''Horrible Histories'' TV series * Mo, also known as Mortimer, in the novel ''Inkheart'' by Cornelia Funke * Mo, in the webcomic '' Jesus and Mo'' * Mo, the ...

Club in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

East Village. In 2009 the band played two gigs in Germany: Sommerlounge festival in Pforzheim and in a club in Aachen. They also performed in the Ukraine-Slavske Rock Fest in Lviv region. The band has shot their 3rd video for "Pembe Elbise" ("Pink Dress") and their 4th one "Derya" from their second album, ''Olympos''. Their last video, "Git", can be seen on TV channels and the band has finished recording their 3rd studio album.

Personnel

*Alex Tintaru – bass *Bilge Kösebalaban – vocals, guitar *Özgür Peştimalci – drums

Discography

*''Rus Kozmonotlari'' (''Russian Cosmonauts'') (2004) *''Olympos'' (2005)

References

External links

Official website
*http://www.myspace.com/directistanbul *http://www.songoftheyear.com/webawards/d/direct.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20071218030951/http://www.bandspace.com/Direc-t

*http://www.purevolume.com/directfromistanbul
Official pageMyspace page
{{Authority control Turkish alternative rock groups