Kaan Güneşberk

Kaan Gunesberk
Birth nameKaan Güneşberk
BornOttawa, Ontario
Occupations
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • guitar
  • bass guitar
  • saxophone
Years active2013–present

Kaan Güneşberk, commonly anglicized Kaan Gunesberk, is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and composer. He is best known as a close collaborator of producer Frank Dukes, with whom he has penned hits for Post Malone ("Better Now," "Circles") and Camila Cabello ("Havana"). Among other awards, he was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2020 for co-writing "Circles".[1]

Biography

Güneşberk was raised in Ottawa, Ontario and attended the arts magnet school Canterbury High School.[2][3] He attended the jazz program at University of Toronto.[4][5][6] In Toronto, he formed the experimental electronic band Kilmanjaro.[7][2] The band was active between 2012 and 2018, releasing their debut album in 2017.[8] He is part of a number of other Toronto-based music projects.[9]

Güneşberk began collaborating with Frank Dukes early in his professional career. His first major songwriting placement was on the 2015 Drake single "Right Hand" on which Güneşberk also sings background vocals.[7] During the rest of the decade, Güneşberk would closely collaborate with Dukes,[10] working in the studio with him and artists Post Malone and Camila Cabello, among others. He has also contributed to tracks for Frank Ocean, Zayn Malik, Aminé, and Lorde.[9]

Discography

Solo discography

  • Selina/Pull Start Push Stop (A/B) (2019)
  • The Realist (Single) (2020)
  • Does Anybody Really Know (2020)
  • New World Volition [still dope in 2046] (Mixtape) (2020)

With Kilmanjaro

  • Kilmanjaro EP (2014)
  • A Place Unknown To All You Ever Say (2017)

With Owen Wilson

  • EP (2015)
  • EP II (2016)
  • Computor EP (2017)

With Elegance

Songwriting discography

Selected credits, sourced from SOCAN and Jaxsta.[12] Songwriting credit unless otherwise noted.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Year Award Nominated work Result
2019 Album of the Year Beerbongs & Bentleys (as songwriter) Nominated
Best Rap Album Astroworld (as songwriter) Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Album Camila (as songwriter) Nominated
2021 Album of the Year Hollywood's Bleeding (as songwriter) Nominated
Song of the Year "Circles" (as songwriter) Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Kaan Gunesberk". GRAMMY.com. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  2. ^ a b "For Kilmanjaro, playing "Field Trip" was a plan two years in the making – The Silhouette". Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  3. ^ "2019-20 NACJB Roster". Nepean All-City Jazz Band. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  4. ^ "MORPHINE SUITE" /KAAN GUNESBERK/ Univ. of Toronto Jazz/ Rex Hotel (video). March 18, 2013.
  5. ^ "Kilmanjaro: 40 (Without Her Love)". FYIMusicNews. 2017-05-15. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  6. ^ Jazz, All About (11 January 2014). "University of Toronto 12TET: Rebirth album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  7. ^ a b Killet, Kate (2017-04-05). "VIDEO PREMIERE: "40 (Without Her Love)" by Kilmanjaro | Sidewalk Hustle". Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  8. ^ "Kilmanjaro and Young Clancy team up on Astigmatism". Red Bull. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  9. ^ a b c "Meet the talent heading to RBMA Bass Camp Montreal". Red Bull. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  10. ^ "How Hitmaking Producer Frank Dukes Is Reinventing the Pop Music Machine". Spin. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  11. ^ "EP, by Elegance". Elegance. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  12. ^ "Public Repertoire | SOCAN null". www.socan.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  13. ^ "Good Night E.P, by Beachtown Exile". Beachtown Exile. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  14. ^ "Motorcycle Patches". www.umusicpub.com. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  15. ^ "Highway Dancer, by Calvin Love". CALVIN LOVE. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  16. ^ "Luckiness REMIX by Kaan Gunesberk (Kilmanjaro), by Language Arts". Language Arts. Retrieved 2021-02-18.