Manga (band)

Manga (stylised as maNga) is a Turkish rock band whose music is mainly a fusion of Anatolian melodies with electronic elements. In 2009, they won both the Best Turkish Act award from MTV Turkey and consequently the Best European Act award from MTV Networks Europe in MTV Europe Music Awards 2009. They represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "We Could Be the Same" and took second place.

History
maNga was formed in the year 2001. It was guitarist Yağmur Sarıgül's idea to name the band after Japanese comics. Initially, they were mostly underground, playing covers of other rock and metal bands. The band made the music for Aşık Veysel's poem Kara Toprak, and later used a different poem by Göksel for the song which came to be known as Dursun Zaman (by the title of Göksel's poem "Dursun Zaman"). They came into the public spotlight after finishing as runner-up at the Sing Your Song music contest. This caught the attention of artist manager Hadi Elazzi (GRGDN), who immediately promoted the band to Sony Music, which resulted in their first, self-titled album being published in 2004, becoming a hit. Following this, they performed at various music festivals and have worked with various famous Turkish singers as Koray Candemir (of Kargo fame), Vega and Göksel.

On 13 August 2006, maNga became the first Turkish rock band to take stage at the Sziget Festival, Budapest, Hungary. In 2006 they also had concerts in the Netherlands and Germany. Most of their songs are written by the group members. The genre of their music was described by Yağmur, the author of most of the songs, as blending nu metal and hip hop in a "pot" with melodies of Anatolia. maNga's duet with Göksel is included in one of the most successful (with almost a million viewers ) Turkish films, Sınav (featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme). Their song Bir Kadın Çizeceksin was featured among the music of the FIFA 06 game. The band headlined several Turkish music festivals, including Saklıfest, Patlıcan, Rokofest and Rock'n Coke. The band was to take stage in the Wembley Stadium in London, together with Tarkan, but maNga did not perform due to technical difficulties on 13 April 2008. They also played in London's O2 Academy Islington on 4 December 2009. On 12 January 2010 the Turkish broadcaster TRT announced that maNga would be the Turkish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. They came second with 170 points, behind Germany.

Current members

 * Ferman Akgül - vocals (2001–present), keyboards (2013-present)
 * Yağmur Sarıgül - guitar (2001–present)
 * Cem Bahtiyar - bass guitar (2002–present)
 * Özgür Can Öney - drums (2001–present)

Former members

 * Orçun Şekerusta - bass guitar (2001-2002)
 * Efe Yılmaz - DJ, electronics (2001–2013)

Participations in festivals
Important festivals maNga has participated so far:


 * 7. METU Rock Festival, 2002, Turkey
 * European Youth Festival, 2002, Turkey
 * Tuborg Rock Festival, 2004, Turkey
 * Rockistanbul festival, 2004, Turkey
 * Eregli Festival 2005, Turkey
 * Rock'n Coke 2005, Turkey
 * Rock 'N Live, 2005 Turkey
 * Mimar Sinan University, 2005, Turkey
 * Saklifest Ankara 2006, Turkey
 * Ankirockfest 2006, Turkey
 * BİMFEST! 2006, Turkey
 * Sziget, 2006, Hungary
 * Eggplant, 2007, Turkey
 * Rock 'n Coke, 2009 Turkey
 * ITU Spring Festival of 2009, Turkey
 * Cukurova University Fest., 2009, Turkey
 * Gazi University Fest., 2009, Turkey
 * Rock the Balkans 2009, Bulgaria
 * Rock'n Coke 2009, Turkey
 * Emerging talents in 2010 Bilkent University, Turkey
 * Uludag University Spring Festival of 2010, Turkey
 * AİBÜ, 2010 Spring Festival, Turkey
 * Eurovision Song Contest 2010, Norway
 * Fanta Youth Festival 2011, Turkey
 * Spring Festival 2011 Marmara University, Istanbul / Turkey
 * Fatih Dershaneleri Spring Festival in 2012, Turkey
 * TED Ankara College of Traditional Dry Bean Day 2012, Turkey
 * Istanbul Aydin University Spring Festival of 2012, Turkey
 * METU College 2012-2013 Academic Year Opening Concert, September 30, 2012, Turkey
 * Gordion Youth Festival Interview Signing Day and December 8, 2012, Ankara / Turkey
 * Fest'13 Gediz Gediz University, Izmir / Turkey
 * Rock'n Coke 2013, Istanbul / Turkey
 * Altug, Mehmet Niyazi Anatolian High School, MNAFEST May 12, 2014 in Istanbul / Turkey
 * The Vefa High School, vefafest'14, June 6, 2014, in Istanbul / Turkey
 * Çankaya Municipality Anıtpark, April 19, 2015, Ankara / Turkey
 * Olive Rock Festival, August 29, 2018, Balıkesir / Turkey
 * milyonfest Istanbul, September 14, 2018, in Istanbul / Turkey
 * Young Bi Festival, May 4, 2019, in Istanbul / Turkey
 * METU Northern Cyprus Campus 12th Spring Festival, 12 May 2019, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.