Touring Turkish rock act, Black Sea Storm, releases a new single album “Kesilme Topraktan,” from Uruguay during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Montevideo, Uruguay, Release Date: July 2nd, 2020. For Immediate Release
Kesilme Topraktan:
The global pandemic hit Black Sea Storm during its Latin American Tour. Three days after the band’s arrival in Montevideo Uruguay, all borders closed. The band’s initial plans were to play several shows in Uruguay then continue the tour in Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico.
The impossibility of playing live shows allowed the band to write and record “Kesilme Topraktan” with the available equipment brought on tour. The recording session took place in the historical neighborhood of Palermo in Montevideo at an Airbnb rental apartment shared with several other travelers. Although the lack of quiet moments and intimacy inside of the condo was challenging factors, the excellent acoustics of the old Montevideo house and the extraordinary context due to the pandemic presented themselves as sources of inspiration for the band.
About Black Sea Storm:
Black Sea Storm has been Ali Ozkan’s solo project since 2002. The adventure began in San Diego, California. For several years Black Sea Storm served as a recording side project and a musical laboratory to develop and try new ideas while playing actively in a signed touring band. During the early years of Black Sea Storm, Ali Ozkan was the bass player and singer of the San Diego based rock trio, Channing Cope. Ali Ozkan has been putting music out under the name Black Sea Storm since 2005. The initial digital distribution started with unofficial internet releases.
In 2010 the band decided to put out all the existing material on global digital platforms. The same year a physical release came out in the form of a 7” vinyl titled “Onca Onsuz.” The same year an official video for the song “Kayıp Bir Aşk” was shot by the Canadian filmmaker Steve Rioux. Since 2010 Black Sea Storm has been putting out official digital releases from various parts of the World. “Kesilme Topraktan” is the band’s 24th official digital release. With this last single, Black Sea Storm counts for about 65 released songs.
After being a recording project for almost two decades, in 2018 Black Sea Storm adopted nomadism as a lifestyle. In 2019, it was able to integrate live shows to the already in place nomadic lifestyle, performing in Mexico, Peru and Argentina. Today the band considers itself being in a constant state of touring and embraces this reality as a way of living life at its fullest.
The band’s post-pandemic plans are to pursue the tour in Latin America once the venues reopen for live events. In the future, besides touring in the Americas, the one-man band is also hoping to book shows in Türkiye and places with a sizeable Turkish-speaking audience.
About Ali Ozkan:
Ali Ozkan started his rock career in the mid-90s as the bass player of the Swiss indie rock act Swoan. In the 00s, he was a founding member of Channing Cope, a power rock-trio from San Diego, California. He also performed as a stage musician with the Kenseth Thibideau Band. Since 2011 Ali Ozkan has been solely focusing on Black Sea Storm, playing all instruments, doing all the recordings himself, and performing live as a solo act.
Throughout his rock career, Ali Ozkan had the opportunity to share the stage with renown rock artists such as Mogwai, Royal Trux, Shannon Wright, The American Analog Set, Swell, dEus, The Fu**ing Champs, The Album Leaf, Sleeping People, The Dresden Dolls, The Godfathers, Drugstore, Rob Crow, Damien Jurado, Moholy-Nagy (ex-Tarentel members.) Talkdemonic, Danava and Carson McWhirter.
Listen to “Kesilme Topraktan” on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, SoundCloud
Contact Black Sea Storm: Instagram, Facebook
