Thanks a lot to Sabrina (France) for sharing with us this interview which appeared on french magazine Super in 1999.
Everything is all right for Tarkan. At the top of the charts, he has begun
his conquest of Europe. From Simarik to Sikidim, our man shakes France with the accents of his Turkish connection. Super wanted to know more about his plans and about his relations with his fans. Be careful, it's cutting!
-The "Simarik" video is on MTV. Are you going to let down France to seduce Europe?
-I'm only in the beginning! My single has been released now in Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, in a lot of countries, that's right. I don't hide the fact that I have always seen my career on a European nivel. But France stays my lucky charm. It was the first country which welcomed me.
-Do we have to infer that you will become the next "king of the world"?
-[laughs] I don't know. I try to share what I do with the most possible
people. I am also going one day to sing in English and from that moment on, the whole world may get interested to me. I hope it in any case.
-Does it annoy you to see that the admiration of some fans becomes an obsession?
-It's not a good thing. Of course, I want fans to love me, to listen
to my songs but when it becomes obsession, it becomes dangerous. I don't want to see someone risking his life for me. In Turkey, a fan comitted suicide for me. Just because her parents had refused to let her go to one of my concerts. It was four years ago. A young boy also killed himself in the same conditons. Nevertheless, all this wasn't my fault. These teenagers had serious problems with their parents and I was only an excuse.
-At the opposite, have you ever fallen in love with fans?
-In the beginning of my career, seven years ago, yes. It was really romantic. Even if it was a fan, it didn't prevent me from falling in love. But the matter is that for a fan it's hard to admit that the guy she has in a poster in her bedroom is a human being as others. As a result, it disturbed her more than anything else. That's why I decided not to have sex anymore with my fans.
-Have your fans ever annoyed you?
-Yes! I was singing in Turkey, in a town placed in the northern part of the country. And the audience didn't stop throwing me edges, tomatoes, potatoes. [laughs] I didn't really appreciated but then I learned that it was a local custom. As soon as someone else gave a concert there, he had the same treatment!
-How do people react when they recognize you?
-In Turkey, I can't go out on the streets anymore. People act as if they knew me. Everyone reacts this way. It seems like for them I'm their brother, or their lover, or their friend. It's really strange. They don't put any distance between us. In France I have already met people in the street who sent me kisses.
-Do you remember of a moment in which your fans would have frightened you?
-Not really. I have never lived a scary situation. Surprising thing, ah
yeah, a day when a girl completely striped her clothes off in a street in Germany!
-Do you feel like being sometimes anonymous?
-Yes of course, that's why I live in New York. There, nobody knows
me. This is the way I manage to find a balance in my life. As soon as I
am fed up with glory, with fame, I need to find basic values. Doing
simple things as washing my clothes or cleaning the house. It's
this way I'm able to write new songs.
-What's the most unbelievable gossip you've ever heard about you?
-When I left Turkey for New York, I told everybody that I was going
to work on an english album. And some newspapers published articles
saying that I had lied and that I worked as a salesman in a shoe
shop! [laughs]
-Did fame change you?
-Becoming famous changes everybody. Both for good and for bad. But all depends on you. If you're strong enough, it will change you in a positive way. In the beginning, I had problems with fame. Today, I take full advantage of the glory.
SUPER PLUS!
Till mid-April, Tarkan tours England, Sweden and Austria. Then, he plans to enjoy a few days of vacations. Tarkan fell in love with Saint-Martin, where he stayed at the end of January-start of February.
