Mahmut Orhan

Turkey's Mahmut Orhan produces deep house and nu-disco that frequently include warm, rhapsodic melodies played on traditional Middle Eastern string instruments. Since he first began releasing music in 2011, his popularity has steadily increased, and he topped the charts in several European countries with singles such as 2016's "Feel" and 2018's "6 Days."

Orhan was born in Bursa, Turkey in 1993. Active as a musician since he was 15, he moved to Istanbul in 2011 and began working at a nightclub. His first single, the progressive house track "Undesirable Life," was released that year. Over the next few years, he continued releasing singles, including collaborations with fellow Turkish producers Boral Kibil and Deeperise, and began incorporating more acoustic string instrumentation and vocals into his sound, as on tracks like 2014's "Herneise."

After Orhan's 2015 track "Age of Emotions," featuring a violin sample from Canbaz's "More Ve Otesi," became his first single to chart on dance retailer Beatport, he worked with singer Sena Sener on a single called "Feel." The 2016 single was a huge international success, becoming a major hit in Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, and several other countries. This was followed by the instrumental "Game of Thrones" and "Save Me" (featuring Eneli) in 2017. "6 Days," Orhan's remix of "Six Day War" by the obscure British band Colonel Bagshot (previously sampled by DJ Shadow on his 2002 single "Six Days"), appeared in 2018 and topped the Romanian airplay charts. Several of Orhan's remixes were then collected on a release titled One. ~ Paul Simpson