Ismail Nacar of Anatolia describes himself as Kurdish, Alevi, Anatolian and Turkish, and sees Anatolia, the five-piece band he plays with, as a mixture of all these elements. Setting out to play the "people's music", Anatolia specialise in the folk music of the Anatolian region, rather than of a specific ethnic group or nationality. Singing in Kurdish, Armenian and Turkish, the band combines eastern and western instruments, playing between them guitar, keyboard, sax, bendir, flute, cura, darbuka, violin and the oud. For Anatolia, the message is as important as the sound. Nacar describes his trade as "telling stories" with strong social themes that reflect issues within the community "and that is why it is like a real life story". The combination of such a variety of instruments is also key. The band sees their mission as "to mix together, to mix and live together through the music". Re-interpreting traditional music by adding drums, or using different instruments, has become a way of bringing the Anatolian tradition to a wider audience. Performing for both Turkish and non-Turkish audiences has been a success. Nacar says that he was surprised by how well British audiences respond to Anatolia, and the Turkish community see the band's work as being that of "cultural messengers".

Nacar feels that London has given Anatolia opportunities that they would not have had in Turkey because "London is very rich in culture and is completely different to Turkey - London is much more serious about music". The future in London looks bright for Anatolia. The mixture of community and festival performances is keeping them busy, and they are also looking further afield for inspiration. "We would love to meet traditional jazz musicians from Mediterranean or Africa" in order to continue to "mix together".