Special Interview with Billy Watson

Antalya City Blog Has A New Surprise!

Antalya City Blog Presents the Special Interview with Billy Watson who is Scottish comedian and poet, and an expat. We Asked Him A Few Questions About Antalya and Our Blog.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Billy Watson and I am a Scottish man who has lived in Antalya for 6 years.  I have a website called Antalya Living where I blog about my life in Antalya and also promote the region by taking photos and making videos of my travels.  I also run an Open Mic night here and perform comedy and poetry at the Edinburgh Festival every August.

What is the meaning of Antalya for you?

I used to miss Scotland a lot but after living here for a number of years that I have come to realize that Antalya is my home now.  The climate and food are of course great but this is where my friends are and that for me is what is most important.  

What is your favorite activity in Antalya?

Well, I have just started doing Open Mic Nights here and so I would say that is my favourite activity because one of the reasons I missed Scotland was because there are limited opportunities to perform here, so after six years I eventually decided to start something myself.  I hope to encourage Turkish people to come along and help develop local participation in the creative arts in Antalya and so far I’ve had positive feedback.

Do you have a memorable moment ever in Antalya?

I attended the Efes Blues Festival in 2011 with five of my lady friends and when I told them it was my 40^th birthday we went to a bar in Kaleici that has unfortunately been closed since, called Adı Bar.  I used to do a pole dance on a metal support and I had gained some fans along the way, including a couple of the ladies that were there that night.  I thought beforehand that if we went there they would ask me to do a Pole Dance, so on I had put on some interesting underwear as a surprise for them. Well, when we got to the bar they did indeed ask me to dance for them but I played it cool.  They then got the barman to play ‘You can leave your hat on’, which is a popular Tom Jones song for doing a strip tease and so I pretended to reluctantly agree.  I gave it my all and they were impressed but at the end I revealed my underwear which was a thong with a small Kilt like covering. 

The ladies burst into hysterics and all the men in the bar ran out which made them laugh even more.  I said “Gotcha!” and gave them all a ‘high five’. It was priceless and a great way to begin so called ‘middle age’. 

What do you want to see in the city of Antalya?

Although there are some great festivals here like Oktoberfest, Efes Blues and Golden Orange Film Festival I would like to see people taking a more active role in the arts from the ground up so to speak.  Lots of bands here tend to play songs they know tourists will like because that is how they will find work here but other cities like Istanbul and Izmir have bands who create their own music and style just for the art of it.  I’m sure a lot of interesting bands could be formed here because of the mix of people from different nationalities that settle here. 

Maybe if there was a festival or a monthly event where people got exposed to that type of music on a regular basis it may encourage them to experiment more themselves. 

I would also love to see good well established bands touring here. Robert Plant came a few years ago but it wasn’t very well promoted and in the end he had to let many in for free so I think that may have put other bands off.

What do you think about Antalya City Blog?

It is a very well designed and laid out blog with lots of great information about Antalya and many useful links.  It is also regularly updated with events in the region and I would recommend it to anyone whether living here or just coming for a holiday.  Antalya City Blog is really well-known abroad. I know a lot of people that, visit the Antalya City Blog before coming to Antalya. Antalya City Blog is like a digital encyclopedia and promotion office  of Antalya.

Thanks to Billy Watson for taking the time to answer these questions for Antalya City Blog..