As one of the pioneering bands of the Turkish-language punk rock scene, Second shared their highly anticipated new single, “Bana Hiç Gerek Yok,” with listeners on May 8, ahead of their first full-length album, “LUDDITE,” set to be released in 2026. Combining melodic punk rock tones with a pop approach to songwriting and a fast tempo, the band opens the doors to their studio kitchen with this new track, which serves as a herald for the upcoming album.
Having shared the stage with punk rock giants such as NOFX, Yellowcard, MxPx, Therapy?, Frank Turner, and JayaTheCat, the band talks to apartmanno26 readers about how they translate years of stage experience and uncompromising energy into studio recordings, and how an album is built as a concept.
“We knew since 2010 that the name of this album would be LUDDITE.”
The countdown has begun for your upcoming album “LUDDITE,” which is currently in progress and scheduled for release in 2026. Is there a connection between the concept of “Luddite”—which symbolizes the anti-technology movement during the industrialization period—and the artistic content of the album? Is choosing this name in today’s age of artificial intelligence a meaningful coincidence?
Actually, contrary to what people might think, this name has no direct connection to recent artificial intelligence developments. We knew way back in 2010 that the name of our first album would be “LUDDITE”; we wrote and said this in many places. We chose this name due to our interest in that first historical Luddite movement and its philosophical starting point.
Of course, considering humanity’s relationship with the world of 2026, and in an era where the current pace of the world leaves humans so far behind, this concept feels much more meaningful right now. In a way, the concept we designed years ago has perfectly aligned with today’s world.
“Our listeners deserved a massive 18-song album.”
After such a long and deeply rooted career, why did you decide on a full-length album “now”? In an era where the industry has completely shifted to a “single-oriented” speed of production and consumption, what was the motivation behind designing a whole album?
From our perspective, there isn’t a vastly different feeling of excitement between releasing a single and making an album. We are a team that gets incredibly excited when a single drops, handles its design in the studio, and tries to celebrate it. However, we believe our listeners truly deserve this given the loyal attention they have shown us for years.
We wanted to put exactly 18 songs in front of them all at once, rather than a 3-5 song EP. No matter how much the industry moves toward single tracks focused purely on “consumption,” we made this full-length album decision in order to tell a cohesive, complete story.
“A loud mixtape describing Second’s new path.”
Your new single, “Bana Hiç Gerek Yok,” blends melodic punk tones with a pop approach and deep emotional intensity. How parallel will the general architecture and sonic atmosphere of the upcoming “LUDDITE” album be to this track? Will we see different genre experimentations that might surprise us?
It is going to be a truly different album that we have worked on in a very multi-layered way. You can think of the “LUDDITE” album as a mixtape that describes Second’s new path and new design. We can call it a loud cocktail where all the previous Second eras we’ve gone through are remixed with a different aesthetic and a fresh vision. Of course, the fundamental structure doesn’t change; the general sound will still be quite loud and at a punk rock speed.
“Reflecting emotion into a recording is overly romanticized; the secret lies in correct decisions and arrangement discipline.”
As a band that has taken the stage with global giants like NOFX and Yellowcard, what methodology do you follow when translating that “uncompromising” and high live energy from the stage into the sterile environment of studio recordings? How are decisions made in the studio kitchen?
From the outside, the idea of reflecting emotion into a recording is overly romanticized. If you want to project the right emotion and that high energy in the studio, you need to make the absolute right decisions for that song prior to the performance. This requires debating and brainstorming in the studio for days, even months.
Finding the right arrangement, the right note selection, the right recording method, and the most accurate, fastest tempo where the words can be articulated one by one requires technical precision. The performance part comes after all these mathematical and intellectual stages. Since we are decent musicians, the performance side is relatively the easiest part of the job.
We also have a strict rule in our kitchen: we discuss things at length within the band, but the major final decisions in these matters are always made by our producer, and in the end, the band executes that design with precision.
How will the physical release process of this new production, which you have been meticulously crafting for months in the studio, connect with the listeners? What are your near-future concert designs?
The launch excitement of the energy we built in the studio will be crowned on stage with special concerts taking place in June. We are counting down the days to rebuild the pogo area (mosh pit), which is the lifeblood of this album.
To present this new world we designed live, we will be at Istanbul – Blind on June 6. Right after that, on June 14, we will meet our listeners at Ankara – 6:45.
Let’s give apartmanno26 readers a little studio secret: at these concerts, we will play not only “Bana Hiç Gerek Yok” but also a few never-before-heard new songs from the “LUDDITE” album live on stage for the first time. We invite everyone to join this collaboration and share the energy.
