“Bends”, “I love you so, do you have anything to say?”, “Flowers in mourning” and many more immortal songs he engraved in our hearts.

We had an intimate conversation with Metin Milli, who gives life to the unforgettable tunes with his powerful voice, about music, painting, theatre, and many aspects of art in the magical atmosphere of Bodrum.

We would like to begin our chat with the subject of music before touching upon your interest in painting, love of theatre and your business title. Has music always been in your life?
I would like to start the conversation with a memory I cannot forget. I was a successful student in the honour lists at schools. The only lesson I failed at school was music. In 3rdgrade of secondary school, Bedia Hanim, the music teacher liked my voice. During that academic year, we learned about the classical western music. I had a special passion for the classical Turkish music, though. It seemed a betrayal to deal with another kind of music. Therefore, I had not studied for my lessons. That is why my teacher had had me failed. I was a distributor of a foreign company for Turkey, doing especially seismic explorations and drilling in the petroleum industry. Meanwhile, I started to make friends from the Ankara radio. We used to go to listen to the programs of Guneri Tecer and Muzaffer Ilkar 2 or 3 days a week. In 1977 I wanted to make a different promotion for my company. I had given it a lot of thoughts and said to myself “You have been interested in theatre, made paintings, opened exhibitions, so, you have to do something about music.” I decided to record a tape. I first shared the idea of mine with my close friend Guneri Tercem. As he did not know how much I was interested in music, he told me to give up.

I asked him to set up the best saz team from Ankara radio. In two days time, he made me meet Selahattin Altinbas. We rounded up the sazs, made a record of three songs recorded with four different systems of melodic modes at the studio of Erkal Zenger and on New Year’s Eve from 1976 to 1977, I presented my tape to my friends. Guneri Tecer was so surprised that he was listening to my song all the time. The famous master of Ankara Radio, Ferit Sidal had also listened to my tape while in the car of Guneri and wanted to meet me. The music sector used to depend on tapes in those days; in cars, houses and even on peddlers, tapes were everywhere. In Ankara, there was a place where Ferit Sidal and I used to go frequently. We used to get together and talk about literature, poetry, music and arts with the people such as Avni Anil, Halil Soyuer, Selahattin Altinbas, Ziya Taskent, and Guneri Tecer and so on. These chats took almost one year, what I was not aware of was that Ferit Hoca had been testing me. He would call me with my surname. One day, “Milli, would you consider working for the radio?” he asked. I was working so hard that I did not want to accept that. He said, “You cannot hide this talent for yourself.” And he convinced me, since then, my stage life had begun. I started on the radio at 32. I got very excited the first time I was live on the radio. Those days, the sense of TRT Ankara Radio was so different, believe it or not, but at this moment I can smell the days of the radio!

TRT was at a very special spot. You really had to have talent, a skill, and a good voice. Even the preferential treatment given by the heads would not be sufficient. In 1991, those who could not even walk by TRT had red-carpet treatment by the private television channels. I recorded a long-playing record including my classics in 1978. On the other hand, I was doing research on how we could add western musical instruments and melodies in its own rules without breaking the taste of Turkish music. With my 15 albums, I gained 120 unique works for TRT repertoire. In 1992, Turkey's Jewish Community organised a contest as a part of the activities to celebrate “the celebration week” in Istanbul.Then I was not aware of the contest. They had listened to the most popular singers’ tapes using high-tech equipment in America. They had chosen me as the one to use, my voice was the best. At the end of the grading utilised with high-tech equipment, I was awarded “the best and the strongest voice of 1992”

You have been the first singer to wear a cloak on the stage, is this true?
Everybody remembers me in the cloak. There is not much detail you can change in men's clothing. I searched the history of cloak and the research extended to Ireland. A cloak is an object that determines the status of the person relying on its collar, colour and markings. I had had the best fashion designer in Turkey make a cloak for me.

What does painting mean to you?
I had musical talent; on the other hand, a great painting love. The painting was always ahead. I went to Ankara from Mardin to study at university. I was participating in painting courses, workshops, whilst trying to make money at the same time. I graduated from Ankara Academy of Commercial Sciences and also continued my education at Faculty of Law and Ankara Language History-Geography faculties. Those days I was only sleeping for 3 or 4 hours. While a university student in Ankara in 1965, I had my first exhibition. Music was not in my life yet. After charcoal and fusing drawings, I have continued my studies of oil painting and figurative painting until today. I opened my 9thexhibition in Ankara last year. I am planning to open my 10thexhibition in the spring.

During my undergraduate years, theatre also entered my life. My philosophy teacher was the person who made me like theatre.

We would like to listen to your story of coming to Bodrum and what Bodrum means to you?
To be honest, in the beginning, Bodrum did not appeal to me much. That was the period people from Ankara would prefer Marmaris and people from Istanbul would prefer Bodrum. I used to say “What do you find in Bodrum? There are no trees, Marmaris is green.” The late Zeki Muren used to say, "You cannot know it, you can understand its charm after living here for a while, it is not something to be explained with trees and stones." When I arrived in Bodrum for a holiday in 2001, it started to change my mind and deceive me. I am a Jaguar fan, although it is a car, it has style, a breath that you cannot describe. You just feel it, which is how Bodrum is to me.

Do you have any advice for young people, who want to be an artist?
An artist is a real artist if she/he makes a great effort, improves her/his art, and absorbs what it takes, no matter what kind of art she/he works on. You have to learn on the factory floor. Maybe she/he has a gift, a native ability, a good ear, a good voice; the voice must be educated anyway. Education is necessary for every field.
Especially to improve the art, the education for that art is required.

We know that you have been working on a book, would you tell us about it?
I have written a book. As a matter of fact, it is a biography including anecdotes, art movements, my thoughts about music and many photographs. It is already 600 pages, however, I am taking it slow. It requires to be redacted after a while, terms and conditions depend. There will be a description to state the chain of Mardin, Ankara and Istanbul.

Finally, we would like to know about your redline?
I have very clear redlines. Ataturk, secularism, law, democracy and republic... This is what Metin Milli is. I am also a passionate Besiktas fan. I have been a member of the Congress since 1995.