Monotonix interview
HUCK talks to the Israeli punks who are dividing opinion with their acrobatic live performance including crowdsurfing an entire drum kit, beer-spitting and getting naked.
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HUCK: How did you guys meet?
Ami: We’ve known each other for a long time because all of us played in other bands. The scene in Tel Aviv is very small, so every one kind of knows each other, and that’s how we met. After a while, I don’t know, it seemed like the right thing to do to play together.
What is the music scene like in Israel?
Haggai: Is real.
Yonatan: As Israeli as it gets.
Ami: It’s very small, especially the rock and roll scene. It’s very small because most of the mainstream music in Israel is like, I don’t know, a combination of Arab music and Greek music. Rock and Roll is not really in our culture because we are an eastern country. So it’s very small, and pretty conservative. But I think that people are doing their best, compared to what they’ve got.
So how did you guys get into Rock and Roll?
Ami: From records, a lot of classic rock.
Haggai: You can get hold of the vinyl in Israel, it’s not that isolated. But the fun stuff, if you want the real stuff, you should go abroad. Or tell somebody who comes, to bring it with them.
Do many bands come to tour Israel?
Ami: Not a lot, no, it’s not like the UK or the US or whatever, but there are a few big bands that come. It’s hard to get underground bands to come because it’s not on the route. It’s hard to get to Israel if you’re touring Europe, because you can’t drive there.
What inspires you to make music?
Yonatan: To meet Jesus?
To make music.
Yonatan: The deficit on our bank accounts. That’s the reason most people make music, it’s a very lucrative market. My mum always told me ‘you need to be a musician son, that’s where the big bucks are.’
Is it important to you guys how many people come out to the shows?
Ami: Of course.
Yonatan: It’s important to the deficit on our bank accounts.
People know you for your crazy live shows. Do you feel like you have something to live up to when you play now?
Yonatan: What if we never thought about that and now you’re the first person to ask us and from now on we get stage fright and we can’t do the show. Aren’t you gonna feel bad about yourself?
Uhh…
Yonatan: You ruined everything. We did 600 shows and we never thought about it and then you came along and asked us if we ever get afraid and we can’t do the show anymore.
Haggai: Write it down, no fear.
What other bands are you into at the moment?
Haggai: Melvins. Ministry.
Ami: I’ve been listening to Dub Side Of The Moon. But more classic.
Like what?
Ami: Wagner [they all laugh]. Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath. I prefer to watch a good football game than watch a show, to tell you the truth. I prefer sport to music.
Do your shows often get shut down?
Yonatan: No, because if they booked us they know what to expect, but this show is kind of DIY, I guess whoever booked the show forgot to tell the guy who hosts the show what kind of a band we are. I’ll be surprised if the show even starts.
Would you ever tone it down?
Yonatan: No. Maybe we will in the sound check so he’s not expecting it. We can’t do it differently you know. I mean we’ve done it so many times it would be like changing the way you walk, and talk. It would be impossible. So I think tonight’s show is not even going to begin, which is unfortunate, for the audience, who’s paying to see it, and for us.
Why are your shows the way they are?
Yonatan: It was just the natural thing for the three of us to do when we started playing with each other.
Was it a conscious decision or did it happen naturally?
Yonatan: It kind of evolved. I think the only thing we thought of consciously was ‘let’s play on the floor among the people’ because we saw and played a bunch of shows on stage with different bands and it always seemed a little boring. So we thought let’s do something else, let’s play on the floor, and we’ll make the audience and the band the same thing.
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Monotonix interview (text) by Shelley Lee Jones is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.Comments (2)
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...although I do like the fact that the guy with the glasses looks like Weird Al Yankovich.
What inspires you to make music? To meet Jesus?
What an utterly sublime answer!