Turkey’s first Psychedelic Trance Music, Culture and PsyArt E-mag.!
Interview with MAJI
by Yeşim Özbirinci
27 November 2018
https://www.wearethehippies.com/psy-trance-kulturunu-anlatan-turkiyenin-ilk-yayini-maji-e-mag/ << (Turkish version)
When we travel all the way back to 2007, we come across Maji E-Mag, Turkey’s first publication, which tells about psy-trance culture. Some of the new generation may not know, but Maji E-Mag published a total of 19 issues in both English and Turkish. From the correct formation to the correct understanding of the psychedelic trance culture, the impact was enormous. We asked the founder Mustafa Buyukozer about the process of this beautiful formation and the excitement of the period.
Hello, can you introduce yourself first?
Hi!, First of all, thank you for your interest. I was born in 78. I have been living in Antalya for a long time. I have a professional life where I focus on graphic arts and web design. I have been working as a freelancer for about 16 years. Apart from these, one of my special projects;
In 2001, I wrote a book about Martial Arts. It was printed and distributed in limited editions. I continue to be interested in Martial Arts, which I have been dealing with since my childhood. www.dovussanati.com
My interest in psychedelic trance goes back to 2002. I also designed the poster of LoveParty, the psy gethering held in Adrasan/Turkey, the first psy-trance poster of which was printed in Turkey.
I went to Goa in 2005. When I went there, I had the opportunity to get to know the elaboration of the culture more closely. The symbols in the culture and the power in this music were enough to attract me. Maji Mag was also among my personal projects. We published the content of psychedelic trance culture in e-mag format, 19 issues that I designed and edited between 2007–2011.
I can say that I am good music listener. Regarding this issue, I founded Jojomi internet radio with the help of a few friend between 2012 and 2014. I also included music genres such as psybient/psychedelic/psy-trance, which are not available on the radios in Turkey, in the radio broadcast stream. We were onair 24/7 for about 18 months. Jojomi’s last 15 months have turned into a business where I do all the music selections. I had to suspend the project due to the intensity of my work.
I’ve also been designing psy t-shirts & design apparels for Public Beta Wear (Hungary) for the last 7 years. In short, I have an audio-visual world that oscillates between my personal projects and my business projects…
www.publicbetawear.com
Generally, people in this culture choose music or visual arts for production. A written production is not a very preferred thing. How did you decide to release Maji Mag? I think it came out after Soul Clipse Festival (2006). Did you decide to do something like this with this festival?
Actually, Maji Mag was more important to me with its visual aspect.. Because I saw the design as a voluntary work that I was completely free compared to commercial works and was full of visuals that I loved. Afterwards, I can say that guided a developing culture both visually and in terms of content, with the help of good writings and the contributions of friends.
I can say it predates Soul Clipse. Namely; Oom Vision, which we created with the sisters Deniz and Zeynep Yimsel as soon as we returned from a trip to Goa/India at the end of 2005, became Turkey’s first Online Psyshop.
In addition to web and graphic works, we colored the drawings we designed with UV active paints and wonderful psychedelic decor products began to emerge.
We opened our first stand at the PsyFiles 1/Olympos festival held in July 2007. Waste our second booth at the second J-Fest. I also designed the official t-shirts of the same festival.
We attracted great interest and by taking our work further, we published the first issue of Maji Online Magazine in the last months of the same year. Maji received more attention than we expected. Until 2011, we published 19 issues in both English and Turkish. We have become an ever-expanding family, with people who have given us serious help from home and abroad.
The magical world of “Psychedelic Trance”
Why did you choose the name Maji?
The name “Maji” was chosen by Zeynep, one of the sisters Deniz & Zeynep Yimsel, with whom we started this project together. At that time, the “magical” world of this culture affected us all. I think Maji was the best name that could have been… Maji means “magic” in Turkish Language.
What was the purpose of the Maji Mag?
We wanted Maji Mag to create a series cultural attractions that celebrate the visionary philosophy of art, philosophy and music. Perhaps it was to shout to the future that we are not passive spectators in the feast of archaic knowledge, while standing in solidarity with the past and trying to learn from the wisdom of traditional cultures…
The intensity, enthusiasm, meaning and contradictions of life; With psychedelic-inspired art, mystical poems, literary interpretations between the cruel flows of conscious expression, and the emergence of spiritual practices that sometimes illuminate creative mind, such as a philosophical and visual exhibition, we aimed to explore and combine all these together. Music and dance; It was the intersection point of all this for Maji…
How many people are your team? What topics do you cover?
I, Deniz & Zeynep Yimsel sisters and the core founding team were three people. Melek Ayçenk, who joined us later, was with us until the last issue regarding the translation of the magazine. But as I mentioned above, we became a much more crowded team by the help of so many friends. That I can’t count their names here, who contributed to Maji. Thanks again to all of them here via We are the Hippies.
There was something that united everyone.
There was a multi-faceted but psy-cultural subject flow such as free-style writings, travel notes, interviews with DJs and visual artists, awareness-raising and informative articles, and philosophical articles, festival notes, especially in the last issues, with friends from England and South Africa joining us..
How did he contribute to the formation of psy in Turkey after he started publishing the e-mag? Did you observe any changes?
First of all, it was an aspect that united almost everyone who listens to psy-trance in Turkey. It started to be followed visibly with its structure that started with the spirit of fanzine and later became more colorful. In my opinion, I can say that they have made an important contribution. While Maji’s contribution informed many people, sometimes musically, sometimes in terms of decor, sometimes in terms of psy art, it also encouraged those who were already engaged in this business. We could see these feedbacks very clearly at festival meetings. This has always been a motivating factor for us to take Maji further.
So why did you stop the publishing?
There is no single reason for this, but the most important reason was that we could not spare enough time. In order for it to be good both visually and in terms of content, it became necessary to devote serious time to it. You will appreciate that; somethings can be difficult to do in projects based on volunteering. If a system could be formed that could values the time they spend financially for the people who are interested in this project, I think it would be an e-mag and perhaps a printed magazine that publishes around the world rather than Turkey’s e-mag.
Finally, is there anything you want to say?
When I reviewed We are the Hippies, I felt like I had received the flag that Maji was carrying, and that made me happy. In this sense, I want you to know that all of Maji’s knowledge and experience is open to We are the Hippies. I wish you success in your publishing life.
Interview with Μ Λ J I
27 November 2018 (Turkish)
https://www.wearethehippies.com/psy-trance-kulturunu-anlatan-turkiyenin-ilk-yayini-maji-e-mag/ << (Turkish version)
by Yeşim Özbirinci
What is “Maji” doing now? >> www.majimag.com
