What's in a name

August 02, 2015

Our story

What is Okey Lofi?

We love the space and surroundings we call home. Staying in with friends and family for a home cooked meal with a crackling old jazz record gets our fire lit. Turn off the tube, dim the lights and silence the smart phone for some good old-fashioned conversation. Whether you're into games, books, or simply want to decompress, where you do it must always have a unique ability to soothe, enlighten and comfort. The best place is still home.

We reminisce about a time when family meant gathering around a popup table after supper. Playing cards, assembling puzzles, gluing popsicle sticks together, or more commonly, a classic board game would take center stage only second to the glow of a real wood fire. All of this, reminding us how great it was to reconnect after a long day. One of our favorite games still is Rummikub. Okey, another spelling for OK, also happens to be a similar tile-based game very popular in Turkey (get the iPhone App Here). It is almost always played with 4 players, though in principle can be played with two or three. Like Rummikub, it is played with the same set of boards and tiles but with different rules, evolving from the original through cultural contacts of Gastarbeiter in Germany. Particularly in Turkey, and among Turkish communities abroad, it is still very popular in homes and in coffeehouses alike.

Lofi (or lo-fi sound) can transform the ordinary into an extraordinary experience that stirs emotion and passion. Like the song of an old Victrola or the haunting melody of an accordion played in the narrow streets of old Italy, natural reverberating sound is often of low fidelity, and unlike any other. It can be the steady warm drone of the falling rain, the hum of an old oil furnace or warmth ticking from the stove, faint conversations overheard from a local coffee house. Dissonant, lo-fi sounds are an experience all on their own and are transportive, similar to treasured objects or a familiar touch. Much like the glow of something worn and aged, these lo-fi "melodies" bring back comforting memories while creating new ones along the way.