Born in 2014, Grup Şimşek is an outernational band with members hailing from several countries – Turkey, Germany, UK, France.

The line-up: Derya Yıldırım, talented Turkish singer and bağlama (a.k.a. saz) player; Greta Eacott, British composer and drummer (G-Bop Orchestra, One Take Records); Graham Mushnik, and Antonin Voyant, both multi-instrumentists and music wizards from French collective Catapulte Records (Orchestre du Montplaisant, Guess What, Phat Dat).

The bunch met thanks to music anthropologist, DJ, and friend Sebastian “Booty” Carrell (B-music), during the New Hamburg festival – where the group performed live as a one-off show. When the Hamburg project came to an end, they were sure of one thing: the band must live on!

Grup Şimşek gathered again in 2015 in London and in France; in 2016 they recorded their first EP: Nem Kaldı – subsequently released on Catapulte and Bongo Joe.

Following the release of Nem Kaldı, the band toured Europe, from small clubs to prestigious festival stages in over 10 countries, and appeared live on BBC Radio 3, France Inter, Euronews, and German-French TV channel Arte’s concert program. They shared the stage with artists such as Selda Bağcan or Turkish psych legends Baba Zula, and also performed at Istanbul’s renowned Zorlu club.

In 2019, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek released their first full-length album “Kar Yağar” which launched another series of tours and drew the attention of filmmakers (notably Bryan Fogel for « The Dissident »), magazines (« Top Of The World 2019 » in Songlines) and festivals (End Of The Road, Levitation, B-Sides and many more).

After having released a digital single « Deniz Dalgasız Olmaz » in March 2020, the band is now ready to launch the first part of their upcoming double-LP « DOST », and is eager to hit the stage!