Since the day he picked up an electric bass into his hands for the first time, Tansu has been expressing himself through the lens of music. Surely, a lot has changed over the years in what had started as an innocent interest, has turned into a full time composing venture. 

Having no access to any music education, Tansu had no other choice but to self-teach how to play the instrument from the get go – which later on has become a mantra in his self-learning music theory, and more recently, music production and technology – out of necessity. He kept honing his playing skills while studying “political science” at Bilkent University in his early 20’s.

Around the time he completed his studies, Tansu had released his debut album “Afraid of What?” in 2011, heavily featuring electric bass compositions. The album got critical acclaim from several music magazines such as “Bass Musician Magazine”, for the originality of the compositions and the technical level displayed on the instrument. Before heading to Los Angeles towards the end of the year, he was even approached on his Facebook page by the legendary drummer Bernard Purdie, which he still keeps the screenshot to this day!

The next step in Tansu’s artistic journey was a move to Los Angeles with an aim to expand his musical vision. After surviving a 2.500km cross country drive and a dust storm on an old Chevy Cavalier with 200.000km on it, he had spent the following year hustling and bustling in the LA entertainment industry working as a session player, teaching music, playing in jazz clubs and the occasional gigs. During his California days, he has met with a number of big name jazz musicians such as Scott Henderson, Alphonso Johnson, Ben Williams and has had the chance to play on stage with electric bass legend Andrew Gouche himself. He was also a member of the funk rock band Katerpillar where they have appeared in several shows, including the Ponderosa festival. At the end of 2012, having no time left on his visa, Tansu had no other choice but to return back to his native country, Turkey.

Fast forward to early 2019 – after years of working in soul-sucking office jobs to make the ends meet and pay the bills – Tansu has started a new chapter in his life by committing to learn the art of music production and has embarked on a journey of orchestral music composing. In autumn of 2019, he and his wife took the step to move to a small coastal town in the Aegean where he spends most of his days working on new music. His self-produced album “Euemeria” which features 6 symphonic works was released in 2020, whereas upon discovering the ever endless world of synthesizers and sound design, he has begun to incorporate electronic elements into his classical approach, which is evident on his most recent works such as “Cursus Honorum”. His upcoming mini EP “Xperimentia Asia” is an electronic music experiment, featuring custom instruments designed solely from sound recordings of various places in Turkey such as Olympos and Cappadocia. After 10 years of a break, new bass guitar oriented instrumental recordings are in the works for the artist this year, while additional modern classical pieces also lie ahead.

Here is Tumer’s latest single “Zoroaster.” It’s a modern jazz song with an Eastern flavor, led by an electric bass, accompanied by a string orchestra and performed at an ancient city

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