Introducing... Buzz’ Ayaz

Antonis Antoniou is fascinated by the idea of using music to bring unity to Cyprus, his divided homeland. And with his new band, Buzz’ Ayaz, the founder of Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke brings together musicians from both sides of the island.

Antoniou is from the Greek Cypriot community, but here he is joined by the Turkish-speaking Cypriot drummer Ulas Öğüç, who left him “almost hypnotised when I heard his groovy tribal-like style” at a venue in the Turkish-administered Famagusta. There’s also Manos Stratis on organ and synths, who studied music at Berklee in Boston, along with British multi-instrumentalist jazz musician Will Scott on bass clarinet, adding sounds inspired by the US band Morphine’s use of baritone sax. And, of course, there’s Antonis himself on his custom-made electric tzouras (related to the bouzouki).

They first got together a year and a half ago, became friends and “for around two months we met every day for the entire day, focusing on the grooves and riffs as the starting point for each song.” The result, as heard on their self-titled debut set, is a slick, rousing and intriguing style – the opening track switches from thunderous passages to a capella vocals, while elsewhere there are echoes of anything from Greek folk styles to Istanbul psychedelia. “I consider us to be a rock band,” says Antoniou, and he agrees that their influences include Baba Zula, who have often played alongside Monsieur Doumani.

In Cyprus, the band have already played to both Greek and Turkish-speaking communities “and despite the fact that I am a Greek-speaking Cypriot, which is the primary language used in the lyrics, we found that Turkish-speaking audiences also respond quite well to it. I feel the band has begun to take on a more representational role for the entire island, and part of the reason for this might be our direct and activist approach to social and political issues that are causing agitation on the island.”

Cyprus has been divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974, but since some of the checkpoints in Nicosia began opening in 2003 there has been “a very interesting and organic socio-political dynamic, involving interactions between artists and people in general,” says Antoniou. He insists that “the ultimate objective is the reunification of our island,” and that music can help achieve that because “I believe that music, of all the arts, is the one which acts in the most direct and potent way. Since we [Buzz’ Ayaz] perceive our island as a whole rather than as separate entities, we wish to give a voice to the entire island through our music.”

The band are already working on their second album – leaving Monsieur Doumani, who won the Songlines Best Group award in 2019, on the sideline for the moment. They are still gigging but won’t be recording for a while, says Antoniou. “We are constantly explorers, and right now Buzz’ Ayaz inspires me to go deeper into my exploration.”

Buzz’ Ayaz’ debut album is reviewed in the October issuw; they play London (Sept 25), Bristol (Sept 26), Falmouth (Sept 27) and Manchester (Sept 29)

This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue, read the magazine online – subscribe today: magsubscriptions.com