Manga (band)


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" and took second place.

History

Manga was formed in the year 2001, being named after japanese comics when the group guitarist Yağmur Sarıgül came up with it. 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 completely different poem by Göksel for the song which became known as Dursun Zaman. They came into the public spotlight after finishing runner-up at the Sing your song' music contest. This caught the attention of artist manager Hadi Elazzi, who immediately promoted the band to Sony Music, which resulted in their first, self-titled album being published in 2004, becoming a mass hit. Following this, they performed at various music festivals and have worked with such famous Turkish singers as Koray Candemir, 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. The genre of their music was described by Yağmur, the author of most of the songs, as having a touch on nu metal, hip hop and mixing these all in a "pot" with melodies of Anatolia. Manga's duet with Göksel is included in one of the most successful Turkish films, Sınav. Their song Bir kadın çizeceksin was featured among the music of the FIFA 06 game. The band is considered a headliner for 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.

Members

Current members

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

Festivals they attended

Important festivals Manga has participated so far: