DUBBELBLOED (DOUBBLE BLOOD)

The DJ and producer from Antwerp Merdan Taplak  submerges in his personal past to tell the story of a “doubble blood” : people who grew up with not one, but two cultural backgrounds. Merdan Taplak child of a Belgian mother and a Turkish father, grew up in the region of Antwerp, but as a child he visited his home country Turkey several times. Although he does not speak the language, those long and adventurous travels left an intense impression.  The double blood that flows through his veins, makes him observe the world in a different way for years. He translated those impressions musically on his first album “In It For The Honey”, which he dedicated to the “50-50” people.
We know Merdan specially from the festival stages, where he has been playing for some seasons, either with his full band or solo as DJ. Once he started as a teacher of Dutch and History, and now a man behind the buttons, both in the studio as behind the turn table. With his company Nareddin he had a taste of children’s theatre a few years ago: together with some actors and musicians , he made a show around the mythical figure of “Nasreddin”, de Till Eulenspiegel of the Middle East.
Besides smells and tastes, it is especially the music that sends Merdan back in time.
Many of his memories are linked to specific songs from the Turkish music culture, which he connects to tasty tales as of his double blood perspective. He dives into the family archives, searching for the definition of a double blood. Probably many young people recognize themselves in this story: grown up between two worlds, stuck between two nationalities with double blood in their veins.