Yûnis Das started his musical career in 2008 with the band Teq û Req, which he formed with friends while studying at university, and his first solo album Henase (Breath) has just been released on all digital music platforms.

Das himself has written all the album’s lyrics, music and arrangements. Henase consists of 10 songs in the Kurmancî dialect of Kurdish. The album combines elements of western sounds such as soft and folk rock with Kurdish folkloric rhythms, tunes and lyrics.

Das started the recording the album in July 2020 but had to postpone its release due to production problems.

He spoke to MA about the making of his music in his mother-tongue.

“In 2012, I was the soloist of the band Teq û Req, which performed Kurdish music in the style of Rock and Blues and released the album Keft û Left.”

However, when all the members of this band moved to different cities, the band broke up. Since then Das has been pursuing a solo career.

“I continued working to create my own sound. I wanted my music to reflect both my life and my thoughts and feelings about society. My 10-track album Henase, in which all lyrics, music, arrangements are mine, was released on 28 March.”

The album is called Henase because Das thinks of music as a breath of fresh air. He talks about the album:

“Another purpose of this album is to combine the rhythms of traditional Kurdish music with the mindset of modern Kurdish city-dwellers who constantly searching for something. At the same time, I wanted this album to be a motivation for Kurdish musicians who want to make contemporary Kurdish music.”

Das also studies the Kurdish language, and completed the thesis for his Master’s degree in Kurdish at Artuklu University in Mardin under the title “An ethnomusicological examination on Dengbêj (Kurdish musical folklorist) Mihemed Arif Cizîrî”.