Kalben

Kalben — Biography

Kalben Sağdıç comes from İskenderun, a district of Hatay, where she was born on 17 January 1986; a keyboard her mother gave her at eight introduced her to music, and by fourteen she owned a second-hand guitar of her own. On a scholarship at Bilkent University, she finished her degree in International Relations in 2007 and a further master's in media design and cultural studies at the same school in 2011, then settled in Istanbul, first managing brand campaigns at Universal Pictures and later taking on scriptwriting, editing and translation jobs. Having played only occasional concerts for years, her breakthrough came in 2014 with Sadece, a solo acoustic recording made for Sofar Sounds in a Galata apartment that drew wide notice; around that time she also wrote a children's-book series called Lulu and played a small part in the series Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer?. Her 2016 debut album, released under the name Kalben, brought her two Golden Butterfly Award nominations and the best newcomer female artist prize at the Radyo Aydın Müzik Ödülleri; she followed it with Sonsuza Kadar, Kalp Hanım, Eski Yeniler and Eski Dünyanın Yangını, then released her fifth album, Kayıp Aşıklar Ülkesi, in 2026. Recognized as well for her advocacy on women's rights, she has become one of the leading figures on Turkey's independent music scene through spare, self-written songs.