Manga (band)

History

maNga was formed in 2001, with guitarist Yağmur Sarıgül suggesting the name after Japanese comics. Initially an underground act playing covers of other rock and metal bands, the band created music for Aşık Veysel's poem "Kara Toprak" and later used a poem by Göksel for "Dursun Zaman". They gained public attention after finishing as runner-up at the Sing Your Song music contest, which led artist manager Hadi Elazzi (GRGDN) to promote them to Sony Music. Their self-titled debut album was published in 2004 and became a hit. The band performed at various festivals and collaborated with Turkish singers including Koray Candemir, Vega, and Göksel. On 13 August 2006, maNga became the first Turkish rock band to perform at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary, and also had concerts in the Netherlands and Germany that year. Most songs are written by group members, with Sarıgül authoring most of them and describing the genre as blending nu metal and hip hop with Anatolian melodies. Their duet with Göksel appeared in the Turkish film Sınav, which featured Jean-Claude Van Damme and had nearly a million viewers. The song "Bir Kadın Çizeceksin" was included in the FIFA 06 game soundtrack. The band headlined Turkish festivals such as Saklıfest, Patlıcan, Rokofest, and Rock'n Coke. They were scheduled to perform at Wembley Stadium in London with Tarkan on 13 April 2008 but did not due to technical difficulties. They played at London's O2 Academy Islington on 4 December 2009. On 12 January 2010, Turkish broadcaster TRT announced maNga as Turkey's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, where they placed second with 170 points, behind Germany.