maNga

Biography

Manga (stylised as maNga) is a Turkish rock band whose music is mainly a fusion of Anatolian melodies with electronic elements. In 2009, they won both the Best Turkish Act award from MTV Turkey and consequently the Best European Act award from MTV Networks Europe in MTV Europe Music Awards 2009. They represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "We Could Be the Same×We Could Be the Same16 April 2010 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1We Could Be The Same (Brussels)3:032We Could Be The Same (Istanbul)3:033We Could Be The Same (Stockholm)3:374We Could Be The Same (Gooseflesh Radio Edit)3:425We Could Be The Same (Gooseflesh Extended Remix)4:43" and took second place.

History

maNga was formed in the year 2001. It was guitarist Yağmur Sarıgül's idea to name the band after Japanese comics. Initially, they were mostly underground, playing covers of other rock and metal bands. The band made the music for Aşık Veysel's poem "Kara Toprak", and later used a different poem by Göksel for the song "Dursun Zaman". They came into the public spotlight after finishing as runner-up at the Sing Your Song music contest. This caught the attention of artist manager Hadi Elazzi (GRGDN), who immediately promoted the band to Sony Music, which resulted in their first, self-titled album being published in 2004, becoming a hit. Following this, they performed at various music festivals and have worked with various famous Turkish singers as Koray Candemir (of Kargo fame), Vega and Göksel.
On 13 August 2006, maNga became the first Turkish rock band to take stage at the Sziget Festival, Budapest, Hungary. In 2006 they also had concerts in the Netherlands and Germany. Most of their songs are written by the group members. Sarıgül, the author of most of the songs, has described the band's genre as blending nu metal and hip hop with Anatolian melodies. maNga's duet with Göksel is included in one of the most successful (with almost a million viewers) Turkish films, Sınav (featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme). Their song Bir Kadın Çizeceksin was featured among the music of the FIFA 06 game. The band headlined several Turkish music festivals, including Saklıfest, Patlıcan, Rokofest and Rock'n Coke. The band was to take stage in the Wembley Stadium in London, together with Tarkan, but maNga did not perform due to technical difficulties on 13 April 2008. They also played in London's O2 Academy Islington on 4 December 2009. On 12 January 2010 the Turkish broadcaster TRT announced that maNga would be the Turkish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. They came second with 170 points, behind Germany.

Current members

Ferman Akgül - vocals (2001–present), keyboards (2013-present)
Yağmur Sarıgül - guitar (2001–present)
Cem Bahtiyar - bass guitar (2002–present)
Özgür Can Öney- drums (2001–present)

Former members

Orçun Şekerusta - bass guitar (2001-2002)
Efe Yılmaz - DJ, electronics (2001–2013)