Nev

Nev — Biography

Nevzat Doğansoy, known by the stage name Nev, is a singer and composer who writes both the words and the music of his songs and blends a pop-rock line with alaturka colours. He broke through with the song Zor, and after 2010 moved into a different lane with the Bir Nev-i Alaturka albums, in which he reinterprets classical Turkish art music with rock, tango and rembetika tones.

He started on the mandolin; in his second year at university he bought an electric guitar and was on stage within months, playing on the southern coast in the summers. After graduating he worked for a while as a product manager at sportswear brands, played in a bar with the group Chantage in 1995, and then committed fully to composing. A Turkey tour in 2000, joined at Teoman's invitation, gave him experience in front of very large crowds. His first album, Her Şeye Rağmen (2001), was the result of three years of studio work, followed by Sen Gibi (2004) and Işığım ve Gölgem (2007). In 2004 he performed on a Coca-Cola-sponsored concert series and at the Fanta youth festival. Later albums were Kıyısız Deniz (2014) and Bir Nev-i Alaturka 2 (2016).

In 2007 a poll among thirteen universities named him Best Male Singer. He has given around four hundred concerts since 2001; his eight university concerts in May 2009 drew more than 180,000 people, and his biggest single crowd, about 60,000, came at Karadeniz Technical University. In 2011 he won the Altın Kelebek award for best male soloist in Turkish art music.