Adem Ilhan

Adem Ilhan
File:Adem Ilhan.jpg
Background information
Birth name	Adem Ilhan
Also known as	Adem
Origin	South London, England
Genres	Folktronica, indie folk, post-rock
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Domino Records
Associated acts	Fridge, The Memory Band, Silver Columns

Adem Ilhan (Turkish: Adem İlhan, IPA: [ˈɑdem ˈiːlhan]; /ˈædɛm ˈɪlhæn/) is an English musician of Turkish descent from South London. He is the bass guitarist in the post-rock band Fridge, alongside Kieran Hebden, and is part of the electronic duo Silver Columns with Johnny Lynch. His solo music is released under the name Adem.

Recording history

Ilhan's debut solo album, Homesongs, appeared on Domino Records in 2004. Mixed by Kieran Hebden, the album found critical acclaim with limited commercial success. The album includes the song "Statued", which featured on the soundtrack of the film Dead Man's Shoes.

A second album, Love and Other Planets, was released on 24 April 2006 to generally favorable reviews.

In May 2008 Ilhan released a collection of cover songs called Takes. The album includes tracks originally written and performed by Yo La Tengo, The Smashing Pumpkins, Björk, dEUS among others.

In 2008 Ilhan along with Jeremy Warmsley & Mystery Jets contributed the song "Grains of Sand" to the Survival International charity album Songs for Survival.

In 2011, Adem collaborated with folk music group Lau to create the Ghosts EP under the name Lau vs Adem.

Since 2014, Ilhan has been performing with Philip Selway's band and opened for Selway on his 2015 US tour.

After years of collaborations by production and session-playing, Adem released a new solo album, seconds are acorns, in October 2015. The first single from it, "Snow in April", received its first radio airplay on BBC 6 Music in August.

Discography

Albums

• Homesongs (29 March 2004)
• Love and Other Planets (24 April 2006) UK #180
• Takes (12 May 2008)
• seconds are acorns (16 October 2015)

Singles

• "These Are Your Friends" (17 May 2004) (CD/10")
• "Ringing in My Ear" (13 September 2004) (CD/7")
• "Waves" (19 June 2006) (only as a download on iTunes 'Free Single of The Week')
• "Launch Yourself" (2007) (CD/7") UK #157

Other work

• Ilhan contributed a cover of Jeff Buckley's "Mojo Pin" for the 2005 tribute album Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff Buckley.
• Ilhan plays the bass and sings on English folk supergroup The Memory Band's 2006 album Apron Strings.
• Ilhan is the founder and organiser of the Homefires Festival, which takes place at the Conway Hall in London, UK.
• Ilhan remixed the track "Welcome, Ghosts" for a special edition release of Explosions in the Sky's 2007 album All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.
• Ilhan plays on Vashti Bunyan's 2006 album Lookaftering
• Ilhan sang a cover of Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" for a 2006 Levi's "Slim Straight" Jeans commercial.
• Vocals by Ilhan are featured on two tracks from the Emma Pollock album, The Law of Large Numbers; Letters To Strangers and Chemistry Will Find Me.
• Ilhan collaborated with the Elysian Quartet on the soundtrack for the 2009 film In the Loop, directed by Armando Iannucci.
• Adem mastered the single version of "You Only Went Out to Get Drunk Last Night" by Kid Canaveral released in May 2010.
• Adem collaborated with Lau on the EP Ghosts (credited to Lau vs Adem, 2011).
• Adem participated in the recording of Philip Selway's 2014 solo album, Weatherhouse.

Personal life

Ilhan attended the University of Warwick. In December 2006, Ilhan played a free concert in Barrhead Community Library, commenting "I love libraries. [...] The existence of public libraries is one of my favourite achievements of human kind."

Ilhan is deaf in one ear.

External links

• Official website
• The Memory Band