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Iccy speaks with Avi and Lior from Top Israeli Trance Act, Astral Projection, whose new album "Another World" has just come out on Transient Records.
Iccy: What first got you interested in dance music and the scene in general?
Astral Projection: In the early 80's we both had (separately) Industrial and Electronic bands we both performed all around Tel Aviv. At that time people were into New Wave Music. We both stumbled across each other and an Acid House tune on 12" Titled 'Superman' by Psychic TV. It was love at first sound. We then began writing similar music together at Avi's parents' underground shelter. The first track to come out of our new ventures, 10 years ago was as SFX and entitled 'Monster Mania' released by the Belgian Company, Music Man. SFX was our first band together, which later changed to Astral Projection in the same format. Less than a year ago we released the album "SFX-The unreleased Tracks 89-94" in which we released the tracks by SFX.
Iccy: So who or what is your main influences musically?
Astral Projection: The list is long but we will minimise: Kraftwerk are an influence from day one till today. Yazoo - Vince Clark's perception of technology did it for us. Depeche Mode signified somewhat of a breakthrough for us with their innovation in electronic music in their first days. Duran Duran - we felt Simon LeBon's style was something to copy. Soft Cell - we liked how they refreshed the New Wave sound. Psychic TV - this is the band that started us in Acid House 13 years ago and opened our eyes to dance music. Trilithon - they are our influence for composing Trance Music, too bad they don't release anymore. Overlords - Good Stuff! LDC - we were privileged to meet him when he was a DJ at the Dorian Grey Club. We were extremely saddened to hear of his death in a motor accident.
Iccy: Is there anyone in particular who would you most like to work with?
Astral Projection: In respect of the fact that we have been working together for over 10 years and the fact we share good chemistry between us, we choose to work alone as Astral Projection, only on remote occasions did we work with other artists.
Iccy: Have you got any new projects (especially secret ones) coming up and would you like to tell me about them?
Astral Projection (Avi): My most secret project - one I worked on with my wife Keren is due in a few months in the form of a baby girl (it is the biggest project of my life).
Iccy: What is the Dance Music scene like in Israel?
Astral Projection: On the face! There are many electronic bands in Israel that were not around 10 years ago. There are tons of clubs for Dance, House and Progressive Trance etc. There are about half a million dance lovers and about 200,000 trance lovers in Israel. The problem is with the Authorities who simply do not support freedom of art and do almost anything possible to stop the vibe from being alive. Meanwhile the vibe is getting stronger in many peoples' hearts, but they have to take it underground because of the authorities' attitude. We sincerely hope things will change for the better so that people can write music, and others can dance to it FREELY and without fear of a police raid.
Iccy: What would you be doing if you were not making music?
Astral Projection: Quite frankly, we wouldn't be alive.
Iccy: Is there anything you would like to tell us about your new album?
Astral Projection: First of all we are extremely happy that our work has paid off and that the album is doing well. Over the years we encountered the difficulty every recording artist comes across: innovation. Staying true to our style without repeating or recycling our music or ourselves. We worked for about a year on this album, putting new sounds in to it, yet keeping the melody bit going, putting a lot into high production level.
Iccy: can I ask you for a few favourites things?
Astral Projection:
Iccy: Is there anything else you want to add?
Astral Projection: Yes! Thank you to all our fans, family and friends for the love and support over the years. We wouldn't be here with out you people. And thank you for the interview.
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