Well, for everything there is a season, and my season for taking care of ohmbience has come to an end. It`s been a fun ride, but I feel it`s high time to move on to some bigger and better things.
This site, and it`s audio will continue to exist for a while, but everything will be moving pretty soon. In the meantime, check out these ohmbience related sites: Anemonemusic.com Anemone MySpace page Bonnalito.com
Alrighty folks, thanks for the memories and take care!
|:| Welcome 2007 - astromass release, ANEMONE live +++
Well, well, well, after a brief Christmas rest and recovery Ohmbience is ready to kick off 2007 right!
First off, Anemone will be playing his electronic twisted brand of acid-jazz live with Circuit Breakers, logikal (of 3kstatic fame), and more at jj`s bohemia in Chattanooga on thursday march 8th. So if you are into the electronics and in the area, be sure to come check it out!
THAT`S THURSDAY MARCH 8TH @ JJ`S BOHEMIA IN CHATTANOOGA! DON`T MISS IT!
Next is the new astromass release LASERS SHOOT FROM OUR FANGS, a 10 track 41 minute journey that sounds `like a blended mix of cure with massive attack with the orb with the church with a little dash of wang chung and a bit of sisters of mercy cut with a slice of shortwave radio interceptions...`
Head on over to
the astromass myspace site to hear samples of this fantabulous new cd and drop ole Todd a line or two. While you are at it check out Todd`s brilliant new collages in the
visuals section.
Things are also in the works for BONNALITO 2007. We are working on a new website, bonnalito.com, have already spoken with Murfreesboro`s
the incredible heat machine, and are planning an all out assault to get anemone on the bill at bonnaroo 2007! More on our plan as it develops...
Alright, what else you ask? Well, we`ve got two new tracks from mastermind Matt Greer,
The Trench and
Did you know for download. Also, Hypothetikal and his girl Lisa are expecting a little one soon, and so we wish them the best of luck! We love you Alex!
Well, after much hard work Buzz and Click IV was a success! I would like to thank DJ B, for putting this thing together and putting his money where his radio show is. There was a lot of great and interesting experimental / electronic music to be heard and seen. I would also like to thank Joel for the minidisc, pictures, video, and general assistance he provided.
It was great to meet and see the circuit breakers from Chattanooga, logikal, of Nashville and 3kstatic, though I was busy breaking down my gear and couldn`t fully enjoy their set. And of course Matt Greer, the newest Ohmbience artist was on hand to take photos and kick it! Logikal was kind enough to include some of my music in his most recent podcast as well as some of the other Buzz N Click folks.
The audio can be grabbed here and check out the video below!
|:| OHMBIENCE WELCOMES MATT GREER!
Ohmbience welcomes Nashville based producer Matt Greer into the fold. Matt`s production style is in the direction of IDM with a healthy dose of rock chord changes providing a solid backdrop.
Visit Matt`s Myspace Page and look for tunes to be added to Ohmbience very soon!
-j
10-18-06
|:| Buzz & Click 4 - Nov 4th @ the end - nashville, tn
Buzz & Click is back in Nashville! Sponsored and promoted by DJ B of the long playing WRVU 91.1 show THE MIXDOWN, Buzz & Click 4 is set to feature tons of new live electronic music from local producers and knob tweakers, many of whom will be using ableton live in their sets.
at THE END, across from the EXIT/IN - $5 at the door.....
8-8:25 aTHeNa BLue
8:30-8:55 Matt Hamilton
9-9:25 Circuit Breakers
9:30-9:55 Bluff Duo
10-10:25 Logickal
10:30-10:55 Taiwan Deth
11-11:25 Anemone
11:30-11:55 3kStatic
12-12:25 The Potato Battery Experiment
12:30-12:55 Let`s Say Baltimore
|:| ANEMONE LIVE ON THE AIR OCT 1ST!
Dj B, of the mixdown, has been kind enough to let me come down to the station on Sunday October the 1st from 11am-12pm. I will be talking about THE RURAL SEQUENCE and doing an ableton live dj set on the air, mixing tracks on the album with other choice musics.
Also, the Bonnalito pics have been update (finally!) so go check them out in the visualz section!
-j
9-26-06
|:| ken lonseth video for `tapewood`
Ken has made another incredible video for one of my tunes. This one is filled with distinct animation and a petri dish automata storyline to go along with the videogame-esque IDM tune from the album, `the rural sequence`
You can check out the fullsize video at google video
|:| campfires and laptops - dj anemone live set
The new anemone dj set from the labor day bonfire party is online! Melding bluegrass/house/funk/ and many more styles into a humorous yet cohesive set, you can grab
campfires and laptops now!
Check out this tracklist!
01) marc cary - intro [jazzateria]
02) montana - warp factor 2 [atlantic]
03) arjun vagale - stomper (moonbeam remix) [moon tribal records]
04) nicola conta - jet sounds (nuspirit helsinki) [18th street]
05) lovin spoonful - nashville cats (lester flatts and earl scruggs / dj anemone edit) [(Association Of Recorded Music)
06) sander kleinberg - my lexicon (16 bit lolita mix) [Little Mountain Recordings]
07) corgalius - dharma wheel [corgalius]
08) elliott smith / the beatles - because (dj anemone edit) [dreamworks]
09) binger the voyager - st. roland [OMW]
10) david bowie - dead man walking [columbia]
11) NIN - closer [interscope]
12) opencloud - life [proton music]
13) bossacucanova - Samba Da Minha Terra [six degrees records]
14) caged baby - hello there (unreleased Matthew E (aka Radioslave) Remix) [Southern Fried]
15) Timo Maas - Haven`t We Met Before? (unreleased Cates & dpL Remix) [morrison]
16) starecase - vapour trails (unreleased vapor of enoch remix - enochsHouse) [hope / ohmbience]
17) bob marley / bill laswell - exodus (dreams of freedom laswell mix) [axiom]
18) bob cobert - the price is right theme song [ABC?]
19) depeche mode - precious [sire]
20) gary martin - long summer nights [flux recordings]
21) Chus & Ceballos, Richie Santana - Low Freqencies [Stereo Productions]
22) rhythym heritage - 3 days [ABC]
9-3-2006
-josh
|:| ken lonseth video for `sunday morning`
|:| NEW ANEMONE RELEASE! THE RURAL SEQUENCE
Inspired by the birth of a new daughter and a near fatal bout with a bacterial infection this 14 track album takes a bit of a departure from the current offerings of most bedroom producers. Born of extended late night trackings between work and family, keyboardist Josh Cochran, aka anemone, marries the technical prowress of of a seasoned hammond organist with the darkness, weight and depth of electronic manipulations.
Taking pages from the vocabularies of acid jazz, IDM, breakbeat, gospel, native american, and downtempo music the disc runs the stylistic gamut while keeping its sense of continuity intact. The disc combines the fluid and organic rhodes, organ, piano, mellotron, and synth playing with the repetitive precision of loops, found sounds, and other sonic wizardry. Several tracks, like marePlacido, machina, and spingInJanuary revel in layers and textures while other tracks like babyDance, pianoShort, and the brinkster are melodic gems with riffs ready to get stuck in your head.
Recorded in ableton live 5 along with esoteric tape machines, the album is beautifully produced, but also full of grit and not overly polished. Clocking in at 55 minutes the 14 tracks are allowed to develop personality, but are also to the point. Many of the tunes smoothly segue into each other and the disc has the ebb and flow of a skilled dj set. If you like keyboards, acid jazz, breakbeats, and/or IDM electronics you will most likely fall in love with this album as it coherently mixes influences from each of those genres into a long playing original work worthy of several spins on your cd player.
All the acts are together and ready to rock out the bonnalito!
We have assembled the acid-jazz / live drum and bass likes of junk buddha, the soulful rock/folk of jeremy davis and stolen bones, the turntable wizardry of hypothetikal , and the mashup madness of anemone. That`s quite a diverse and powerful lineup if we say so ourselves!
This event will also feature a CD release for anemone`s new album the rural sequence, be sure to check it out!
|:| astromass static remix of anemone`s mare placido
Astromass has just released the static remix of anemone’s mare placido track.
It is a dense reverb filled take on the downtempo number, sure to please the ambient lovers out there. Download it today!
4-10-06
-j7
|:| new tracks! looking for talent!
Anemone has just released a new track available for download here from vinylbeats.net. The track, titled Fedounoum, is best described as organic techno. The fedounoum is an African hand drum similar to the djembe. The 130 b.p.m. track also features toy piano, air organ, and some thick synth melodies.
vinylbeats.net is
a great site which will let you host up to 150Mbs of music or images for free.
Ohmbience is looking for djs or live pa acts interested in playing a pre-bonnaroo party called bonnalito on june 14th.
Also, ohmbience is looking for djs and producers to play in an upcoming series of monthlies to be held in Huntsville, Alabama as well as ohmbience hosting and future parties.
Please contact us at m3ntat7 [at] yahoo.com if you are interested in playing some of these parties or participating in Ohmbience events!
-j7
2-23-06
|:| Tha baby is born!!!
Our newest ohmbience member is just a week old! Congrats to the proud parents as we welcome Adeline Ruth into the world with open arms.
2-05-06
-j
|:| Astromass live @ Hologram 12-1-05 Philly....
Astromass will be playing as instruction shuttle at tbtmo`sHologram in philly along with djs zenas prime and rob mall.(zenapolae)
`i`m going on late and i plan on running the jazz bass thru ableton live 5. (crosses fingers)` quoth the todd astromass himself.
if you are in the area head on over and check it out!
|:| More new ohmbience tracks!
Ohmbience artists astromass and enochs house have added several new tracks to the site!
Astromass has added two new mellow skippy glitch tracks called january and strangled .
Enochs house has added a deep house remix of the tune `everything is everything` by astralwerks artist phoenix featuring some saxaphone and fender rhodes footwork.
Head on over to the audio section right now and check out these new tracks!
-j (11.27.05)
|:| ohmbience welcomes astromass!
Ohmbience would like to welcome bassist/live PA artist and prolific glitch/ambient producer Todd Astromass to the ranks!
Todd Astromass (aka instruction shuttle) hails from Philly PA where he has performed at numerous events and appeared on dozens of releases.
One of Todd`s current projects involves Dean Garcia (of curve fame) and is called the dog lab. You can hear a sample mp3 here and check out some astromass tracks on the audio page.
Please join us in welcoming this great guy and artist into the family!
-j
|:| New tracks released!
Sho Geist has created another new masterpiece of progressive drum and bass, 2552MKUltraRd.
Sho is one of the few artists deserving of the `progressive dnb` moniker, flawlessly combining elements of idm, jungle, and hip-hop, Sho Geist`s music is both unique and contorted.
Also, 5 year old star Dara Z has recorded another track with ohmbience producers anemone and enochs house.
By giving this young diva a simple groove and letting her express herself these producers are then able to piece together an innocent and meaningful song from the oh so honest exclamations of a child. Check out I Can Imagine with Dara Z today!
Anemonemusic.com has been updated with a new look and a sweet flash audio player. Head over there and check out the new site!
Anemone has also added a new full-length track, mare placido, which has been kicking around on his hard drive for a while. Its a dnb influenced downtempo kind of breakbeat track with saxaphone, pads, and saxaphone pad percussions! Look for it in the audio section.
Infected Mushroom are Erez Aizen and Amit Duvdevani (Duvdev) of Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the late nineties they have risen to make an astounding impact upon the global psychedelic trance scene, relentlessly turning out new tracks, remix projects with other psytrance artists, and forging their unique sound while touring the world constantly, performing at some of the largest and hottest psychedelic trance festivals in exotic locations across the globe.
Both Erez and Duvdev are clasically trained musicians which reflects heavily upon their productions and performances. Between 1999 and 2000, the duo released two of the most well-known and admired albums of the genre, The Gathering (1999)and Classical Mushroom (2000). In 2001, their third release, B.P. Empire was seen as a step away from traditional psytrance and also as the emergence of their combined personal vision and desire for their music. Their next album, Converting Vegetarians (2003) was seen by many as their most controversial album and featured two discs... a Trance Side and The Other Side, whereupon the duo further explored the boundaries of their music, dipping into many different classical and modern styles, from Hip-Hop and R&B to Ambient, Industrial, and Breakbeat, and also featured a heavier use of vocals and lyrics. Their fourth and most recent album, IM The Supervisor (2004) combined all of these elements into a hart-pounding album of psychedelic dancefloor trance.
After recently making the transplant from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles, Infected Mushroom has been touring North America and bringing their unique sound to enthusiastic New World crowds.
Welcome to Atlanta. Have you ever been here before?
(Duvdev)~No, this is the first time we are here, and I was pretty... pretty amazed by the reaction of the crowd, because I did not know anybody knew us here and the club was really packed! The Israelis came and made a very happy evening tonight.
Yeah, they seemed very, very supportive.
(Duvdev)~They help us a lot, the Israelis, all around the United States and... and it was a really good show. For the first time it was good; I imagine the second time will be much, much better.
So, what other cities in America have you stopped on in your tour so far?
(Erez)~He remembers these things better than I do. *laughter*
(Duvdev)~We did New York, we did LA, Miami, Atlanta, we do Seattle tomorrow, San Francisco, and Chicago... In Canada we did Montreal, Toronto, Quebec, Calgary, Vancouver, in LA we did the Electric Daisy Carnival, and we are going to play again in LA, because this is where are are based at the moment...
Yeah, you just moved there, right?
(Duvdev)~Yeah, uhm... I think they called it the Electric Daisy Parties, maybe I forgot, so... *laughter*
Well, I am sure that happens sometimes when you are on tour... and interesting or bizarre stories you have to share from any one of your shows?
(Duvdev)~I think the best show we had in that tour was the Electric Daisy Carnival in LA, it was a huge festival, we played with, like, the biggest American electronic bands like Crystal Method, Junkie XL, and we were accepted as like, the best, like, when I saw the crowd, I mean, we had a huge acceptance from the crowd so we were really happy, so I really think that was the best gig in the tour.
Do you have any other unique stories to share?
(Erez)~Well there are many unique stories... I have obtained a few... we had better not speak about them though. *laughter*
Is there any kind of differences you have noticed in the trance scenes in each of these cities or regions of North America? Like anything that sets each place apart from the other?
(Duvdev)~Hmmm... Well, for us, different is like an area where people dance more or less, so for us, we expected so much, and it actually happened with this tour... it was really... generally, it was a huge success. Most of the places were sold out, so the measurement, like I told you, is whether the dance or not, and we had a lot of really good parties... we really had a lot of luck in this tour.
Excellent. Well... you guys have performed all over the world... how would you describe the current state of the North American psy-trance scene versus everywhere else in the world?
(Duvdev)~Well, first I have to separate North America from America, because... America is far behind from North America. Take the Canadians... the Brazilians... the Mexicans... it is huge! If you go to Brazil you can have parties of Infected Mushroom alone... ten, fifteen thousand people. And when we come to America, the Americans do not know us so much, so... I separate between America and North America What I can say about America is that a lot of people are coming to check us out, because the Israelis tell them, and they hear the name, and they come, and they really like the show, and hopefully the next time, there will be more as well, not only coming because Infected Mushroom is a nice name, you know? So I think we did a good job in this tour. I separate North America and Brazil, for example, which has the biggest scene in the world, even bigger than Israel...
Really?
(Duvdev)~Yeah, it is crazy what is going on over there.
Where did you play over there?
(Duvdev)~Well, if you are talking about Brazil, we played everywhere, we played in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, all along the beaches... we have played in Mexico, I think, every city possible in Mexico to play, we played, uhm... Canada, we are becoming bigger and bigger over there as well, and we play each time all the cities in Canada, and now the States, you know, for us to come to Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, these are cities we did not play so much in the last year. We used to come to the United States and we would play New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, that is it. And now we are spreading to all these cities, and hopefully in the end we can go to all the United States and spread this word around.
So you think that next time you will be playing even in the smaller cities?
(Duvdev)~Well, our manager, we told him, listen we want to go to the shows, not always for the money, you know, because there is not always the big money in the small cities... we played Calgary, I think, like one week ago for 300 people, you know, just to go and do it, so you know, so for us, we want to do it, you know, in the future, it is like a spinning wheel... people talk, and then will come to see the shows.
Is there anywhere that you have not played yet that you would still like to?
(Erez)~I think one place that we want to come to play but have not been able to, for political reasons, is Morocco maybe.
Morocco, eh?
(Duvdev)~Yes, it is supposed to be really nice parties.
(Erez)~We were invited many times over there, and even this year we had another invitation to go over there, but at this time, the Israeli government at this time cannot allow us to go over there because it can be dangerous, so we must see.
Interesting how politics can play into a global scene.
(Duvdev)~Politicians always ruin stuff. *laughs*
Dammit, those politicians.
*laughter*
Hmmm... what goes through your minds as artists when you go out, not necessarily to play but just to have a good time, and you hear one of your tracks being played?
(Erez)~It actually rarely happens because most of the time, we do not have time to go out for parties, and when we have the time, sometimes we prefer to stay at home and relax, because all the time, I do not know, we are doing like 4 parties a week.
(Duvdev)~It is a good feeling to hear somebody playing Infected Mushroom but we really do not go out to psy-trance fest parties because we do it all the time, so if we go out, well, if I go out, I go to pubs, and if we go out together, we go to see other shows like, I do not know, we want to see mainstream shows even, like Black Eyed Peas, or Dream Theater, but we like something that’s completely different from what we are doing to see... the different vibe of the shows, so we really do not go to psy-trance parties too often.
Makes sense, I suppose, when you are out all the time, staying home is like going out to you.
(Duvdev)~Exactly. These are the best days, you know.
You mentioned Dream Theater; I read once that that was one of your sources of inspiration...
(Duvdev)~Well, not so much as a source of inspiration, you see, Dream Theater is a very complex band, we like them, and we try to bring them into our music, but our music is catchier in my opinion.
(Erez)~We like what they are doing, we like Depeche Mode a lot, and also the new stuff that is going around, like Linkin Park, System Of A Down; we listen to everything. So from each band we take a little bit.
You guys have been performing and making music in our scene for a while now... how in your eyes has the psy-trance scene changed over the years? How has it grown... you know, how have the people changed in general?
(Erez)~First of all, I think it used to be very much a drug scene, and today the drugs are almost gone from the parties, except for alcohol maybe, so this is in this direction. In the other direction, I think... musically, like five years ago, four years ago, you could never hear a trance track with singing inside and today you can hear tracks with a lot of singing, and you know... a whole lot of lyrics and stuff like that, so... and musically, you know, it used to be very monotonic like six years ago...
(Duvdev)~Trance music has changed a lot, like if we go back now to 96, in my opinion, the music was much better, more trippy, and... the sound was not so much as good because it was not so professional but there was so much music going around, and today I think it is less better but more professional, so if you find a good track, it is really something good. It was all like house, the gear was old, there were no new computers, you know... Then came 99 and 00 like what he is talking about, monotonic music, it has changed... every two, three years, the music changes, and this is I think the point. The music moves from this direction to that direction, and now... now it is most of all Israeli artists, you know, you see them all around, so this is what is going around for the next few years.
I am sure being from Israel, you are happy to see that.
(Erez)~Well, we are happy and we are not so happy because... for us, when we made music as an Israeli band, as a beginning band, Infected Mushroom, we used to look at what was going on in England, Germany, France... today there is nowhere to look anymore. It is not so good, you know, in my opinion it is missing something because...
(Duvdev)~There are some really talented artists in the world that used to be huge at the time that we were big fans of, like Simon Posford, Etnica, X-Dream, Transwave, a lot of big bands and they vanished... well, they did not really vanish, they are still making music, but it is completely different. Maybe they were fed up from trance music because... well, I do not know we are also doing it also for so many years. But a lot of the European trance... psychedelic trance is gone, you know, and I am not so happy about it, but in the other case, to see the Israelis going all around, it is really fun to see.
What do the two of you see as... Infected Mushroom as a group... as your role, because you are very prominent now, a lot of people have seen you as a staple of the trance scene... how do you view IMs role in this society?
(Duvdev)~Well, it is hard, you know, we are considered to be the biggest in the psy-trance scene and everybody is looking at us, but we do not try to think that way, you know? We look at the kids, what are they doing, you know, and what is going on the dance floor. As a psytrance artist, I think me and Erez all the time try to make the dance floor move really strongly. We do not think about what Infected Mushroom is to the rest of the world.
(Erez)~We just want to spread the music of what we are doing to more people, and slowly, slowly, we are succeeding, but it takes time.
Definitely. What do you see as todays psy trance scenes best virtues and worst vices?
(Erez)~The virtues, I think, of psy-trance music....
(Duvdev)~When you go... like, if you want the virtues compared to other scenes... I think it is a scene with no violence, you know, people are really only coming to dance and stuff, the drugs came down... it used to be a really huge drug scene. Now the music has really become professional, and I think it is one of the best ways to go out and dance today compared to other music and the downside of the psy-trance scene today, well... I think it would be much bigger if people will give it more chance, you know, like record labels and stuff like that... we are not played in any television stations... I think if we were given a chance, then much more people would know psytrance, but then it will become not underground as people like it, so there are always virtues and downsides to each thing. In my opinion, we do not get enough pushing from the record industry to be where we should be, but, slowly, slowly.
Do you (Erez) have anything to add to that?
(Erez) ~I think today, if I were to stop making music and go out, I think you get the best crowd at psy-trance parties complete from other parties that I went to, they are most nice people, and very nice girls and guys, and everything... just really nice people, so... this is what I think.
Which artists have you collaborated with to make your music in the past?
(Duvdev)~Oh, we have collaborated with Simon Posford, whom we are huge fans of, because he is one of the good ones in the psy-trance scene, one of the best producers around the world, we did music with the Israelis, with Astrix, Zerox, Space Cat, uhhhh... I collaborated with Skazi, Deedrah, we collaborated with Talamasca, almost everyone really... but the point is when we have the time we do it. It is a matter of time, we are so busy and the other artists are busy... so when we meet sometimes, it is more of a meeting and then on the way we start a track and then we finish it and we call it collaboration. *laughs*
Are there any who you are currently working with or plan to in the future?
(Erez)~Plans, yes, but I am not too sure yet.
Do not really want to say at this point?
(Erez)~No, it is not like that... just that when it will happen, it will happen.
What sort of gear did you use to do your show tonight?
(Duvdev)~It is our basic gear that we use for every show, we have our own laptop and sound card, we asked for a Mackie desk but instead we got a Midas, the keyboards are usually the Nord Lead by Clavia, the Motif by Yamaha, the MS2000 by Korg, we use two FX processors for delay and reverbs, a compressor for singing and a Shure microphone, and... That’s it!
So do you take your gear around with you? Or...
(Duvdev)~Nonononono, it is usually rented, and it is very easy to rent, and for us, taking gear with us is very hard with all the flying and stuff like that...
Oh yeah, you know they will just throw it all on the airplane...
(Duvdev)~The machines were getting wrecked... We used to do it, many years ago, but no machine can do it so much to go on a plane, so the people rent this gear for us.
Are there any new pieces of gear you are working with that inspire you that you have not used in a live show yet?
(Duvdev)~Most of the gear, first of all that we use in the studio we do not have in the live show. I cannot ask for an Eventide H8000 that I really like and I have in the studio to rent because it is a really expensive piece of equipment, you know? And we have some compressors and a really high end microphone, so we have a lot of stuff in the studio. We buy stuff all the time, and now we bought lately the Roland FX Fantom something and uhm... *laughter* and a multichannel compressor from Focusrite, so each time we buy new hear, we are addicted to that.
Personally, do you find that the sound of the hardware is definitely a lot richer than most of the softsynths you find nowadays?
(Duvdev)~Well, I think that hardware until today and always has been better than software, but the software is getting really really close, and sometimes even better, you know? Nobody thinks in the world that Spectrasonic, if you know this company, like everybody use Stylus Remix and Atmosphere... nobody thinks it sounds less good than a keyboard because everybody is using it, so I think in a few years to come, the hardware will go away.
(Erez)~You have to choose the right instruments, there are really good VST instruments...
(Duvdev)~I think the programmers, you know, are getting better, if you take a good programmer and a proper synth in the programming, it will sound as well as the hardware, so five years ago, the software was shit, and now we are here and the software is almost comparing to the hardware. Five years form now I think there will be no hardware anymore, only software.
When you go into the studio to work on your tracks, is there anything special that you do to mentally prepare yourself to make music?
(Duvdev)~Completely not. We drink a cup of coffee in the morning, we go down to the studio, it is like a big game room, sometimes it is a really hard job to make a track, because we are stuck, sometimes it is really easy, but we are used to it, you know. We have the heart, we have the soul, so we just go sit together in the studio, sometimes he has more melodies so he puts it on, sometimes I have more melodies, sometimes I come with the beat, sometimes he comes with the beat... it is two people sitting in a room. No inspiring, no nothing, we just start and see what is going on, you know, we love what we are doing, we love music, so it is not a job. We have a nice room. It is the best room in the house.
So you have mentioned Simon Posford, Dream Theater, a couple of other artists... either in electronic music or not... that you kind of take influence from?
(Duvdev)~I think there is Depeche Mode, very inspiring, melody-wise, and uh, Pantera as well...
Wow, Pantera?
(Duvdev)~We like the group of Pantera. The guitarist that died a few months ago, but one of our favorite bands, we like Metallica, Megadeth, a lot of trash metal for many years and Depeche Mode is a really good example. We like the Prodigy as well for what they are doing, if you mention electronic-wise, Marilyn Manson I like a lot.
(Duvdev)~We listen to a lot of music, like everybody. Hip-hop we like sometimes, you know, I like some of the Black Eyed Peas stuff, so we listen to a lot of music... Jay Z we like a lot... whatever.
Are there any artists who for one reason or nether no longer make music that you miss?
(Duvdev)~Pink Floyd is one, but they are fed up... Guns N Roses, I used to like a lot, but went away... Pantera.... very missed... a lot in the trance scene of course. Etnica, Transwave... now there is actually a new Transwave coming out, hopefully it will be good. There is a lot fo bands that I miss, but all the time new bands are coming out, so... making music after so many years is hard, so after like ten years you can be fed up from one direction and go to another direction, so to make consistent music for so many years is hard.
How long on the average does it take for you to make any given track?
(Erez)~It used to be fast, it used to be two days maximum; today it takes us about a week to finish a track properly.
(Duvdev)~I think we are more picky today, we deliberate on every sound too much sometimes because we want it to be really proper, like if you take our older album, like, I do not know, Classical Mushroom, I really like the tracks but when I hear it today I say, What the fuck is this sound? *laughter* We did not have that at that time, but today there is no stuff like this, you know, if something is not sounding proper after two days, we say Fuck it, we dump, then three days afterward, we are done, and the touring and such like that now it takes longer time. We are more particular on what album is going to come... a lot of people are looking at us today, you know, waiting, a lot of expectation each album and album so we work very hard on each album so it takes more time. Sometimes one week per track... usually it takes a week.
Obviously for the two of you to have worked so long together, you must each have your own strengths and weaknesses which compliment each other in a way... how would each of you describe your strengths and weaknesses in the studio?
~(Duvdev) Well I can tell you my weakness... I do not have patience. Sometimes if something sounds okay, I say Lets do it; He (Erez) will sit another two hours on this segment. I will say `Fuck it, lets do it.` Sometimes I think he sits on something for so long only for me and him because the crowd will never hear it. I am telling you. *laughter* No, I promise you will never hear it. I will tell you, Listen to this, and you will say What? So he is more patient than me. I do not have patience in the studio.
~(Erez) For me, it is that I give up much faster. The moment I cannot do trance anymore, he is ridiculing me...
~(Duvdev) He gives up way too easily. *laughs*
~(Erez) I say, We have already done this a million times and blah blah blah...
~(Duvdev) To make a track and to finish it is a hard job but int he end, we are both happy. Sometimes I get fed up so I go from the studio, sometimes he gets fed up so I continue... it is the way of making music. Sometimes we make a track and it goes like this: *snaps fingers* When you make music, it is not always coming to you very easily. Me, myself today, I like the more hard ones. It is kind of a fight for me. Sometimes it goes fast and sometimes it goes slowly, it depends on the mood of the week.
Which direction so you see, musically speaking, so you see the Infected Mushroom sound headed in in the future?
(Duvdev)~We continue to make tracks because I think each year the parties are becoming so good and so strong, you know... to leave trace behind when we see fifteen thousand people in Brazil doing like that *throws up hands* in the air, it is not possible for us. But, in another way, we are really interested in all kinds of other music. I think you will feel it in the next upcoming album; there will be some really different tracks from Infected Mushroom because we really like all different kinds of music. So the point now is we are doing psytrance on one side and other music, like breakbeats, ambient, rock, on the other side.
You expressed this well in the Converting...
(Duvdev)~Yes, in the Converting Vegetarians album we tried to express this. But the problem with this album was that the psytrance side of this album was not so much for the dance floor. And then people said Blah blah blah, Infected forgot the dance floor stuff, and we got pissed, you know, and did IM the Supervisor. So this album is not going to be like that. I promise you that the psytrance record is going to be really strong, but the other tracks are going to be really different, so it is going to be a diverse album. To see what goes in the future I cannot tell you. First do the album, and then we will talk about it.
Don`t want to give any secrets away?
(Duvdev)~No, its not secrets, we just dont know. People ask whats going to be on the next album, I dont know. We are just now making it.
(Erez)~We are trying to invent something new.
(Duvdev)~ People say, `Tell me the direction.` But there is no direction.
(Erez)~We are just doing stuff and we`ll see what happens.
So, when you make any given track, is there any kind of specific feeling, message, or emotion that you intend to instill in the listener?
(Erez)~No, we never think about a message, other than come and dance, that`s about it.
(Duvdev)~There are kinds of feelings in the tracks, we might consider one track is more `happy` and one track is more `dark`, but they are in our eyes only because the dark track that we see somebody might see as really happy and vice versa, you know, so this is the only feeling he and I have about them, but no message in the tracks beyond considering this track `more fluffy` and this track `more hard`.
One thing that I find about trance music in general is that it`s very often like this, where it`s a very raw kind of music that isn`t intended to give across any specific message, political or societal or otherwise....
(Duvdev)~That is exactly the point, there is no message in our music, political of course not, the only message is `Come dance!` and you can catch the music as... some feel it is spiritual, but this is their choice, you know, it was not our intent to make it `spiritual`, but if somebody takes it as the most spiritual thing they`ve heard, then I`m happy for them.
It`s mainly more of the interpretation of the individual.
(Duvdev)~Yes, the interpretation of the individual in each country, and in each person it`s different.
These days, the technology is increasingly made available for more people than ever to be able to produce their own music at home and not necessarily need a gigantic professional studio... what kind of impact do you think this will have on the trance scene?
(Duvdev)~First of all, the impact is already here... if you catch the Israeli kids sitting at home with their computers and doing amazing music, you know, you can`t believe how good it is, so I think the purpose of the technology helps a lot of people come into the music and it`s really good because more music is being done. And the more music being done means the more shit music is being done, but also that more good music is being done. There is more music, and I think this is the point and I think from year to year, it will become so easy to make music. I think in ten years we will simply speak to the computer and it will do some version of that... at least, I hope it will be that way... It will make my job more easy, but uh... I think the more music that is being done, the better it is. It`s not always good... but some of it is really good.
Do you (Erez) have anything to add to that?
(Erez)~Hmm, no, only that it`s good that everything is cheaper to make music today. We used to buy tons of equipment while today we can buy the high-end gear, but at this time you need only one computer, one keyboard, that`s it.
(Duvdev)~We continue to buy equipment...
(Erez)~...But we`re addicted. *laughs*
(Duvdev)~Yes, addicted. We don`t need it. We just buy it. I don`t know why, I can`t explain it.
Well, it`s a passion.
(Duvdev)~Yes, we are completely addicted to machines.
On that note, what advice do you have for all these home artists out there? What would you say to them?
(Duvdev)~Well, we had one guy, one show ago, he told me, `You know, I sit two hours every day and make music.` And I told him, `Listen, I could sit today for twelve hours and do music, what are you telling me?` My advice is to sit a lot, as much as you can, and do music... your music in the beginning will be shit, like any artist, at the beginning, our music was shit...
(Erez)~For the first year or two it will be...
(Duvdev)~... Because you cannot take what is in the mind, even if you say, `I have so many ideas` and put it to the hand. It takes two years to take what you have here and put it to the hand, you know, to the keyboards, to the computer, you have to learn the computer and learn the machines and stuff, so the only point we have is to do as much music as you can. It will be shit in the beginning, but eventually you will get better.
Practice, practice, practice.
(Erez)~Don`t want; just do, not one or two hours, but at least eight hours every day if you have the time.
(Duvdev)~People are too lazy.
(Erez)~This is the problem. People are so lazy. Some people, the younger ones, they don`t have any worries. They sit in their parent`s home, they have their own studio or computer... get to work!
(Duvdev)~This is the vice of the kids, you know, I can understand someone that is 25, and they have a job, and they have a girlfriend and a house... they don't have time to spend eight hours a day working on music, you know, but the kids... they don`t do nothing, you know, 15, 16, you can spend eight hours a day. You don`t have a family to take care of, you don`t have a house to rent, blah blah blah, and so if you`re a kid, you have a computer in the house and you want to do music, you have to give it a lot of hours a day.
On a different subject, I read once in a past interview that you were gifted with a hamster at one of your shows, is that true?
(Duvdev)~No, that is a complete rumor. We never got a hamster. *laughs*
Is it one you`ve heard before?
(Duvdev)~Nope, that`s the first time I`ve heard it.
Well, that was one of the things I`ve read in someone`s past interview, and it seemed pretty unusual to me, so I thought I`d find out if it was really true or not. Hmmm... well is there anything unusual, or, uhm, memorable that people have truly given you?
(Duvdev)~ People usually gift us with mushrooms. All sorts of kinds of mushrooms. T-Shirts, big mushrooms, magic mushrooms, and other stuff, like necklaces of mushrooms... I have millions of them. So this is the gift that we get. Sometimes we get things like paintings, and stuff like that, but it`s not unusual, CDs, blah blah blah...
I guess it`s their way of showing appreciation.
(Erez)~You`re supposed to bring us some food, you know.
(Duvdev)~Yes, some food! Bring us some food! Give me a sandwich or a nice hot dog. *laughter* I would appreciate that as well. *laughs*
Well, next time I will bring you a hot dog. *laughs* Hmmm... Well, where does the name `Infected Mushroom` come from?
(Erez)~It used to be a band from Israel, a cool punk band, they were called Infected Mushroom, and they split up, one went to the Army, one to London, they stopped making music, and we were jsut starting and thought it was a cool name, and so we just stole the name. We never thought we were going to be released ona CD or anything like that, or even be a band, so...
(Duvdev)~Many years after we started the project under Infected Mushroom, and then our third album came, and we were a really big band, the original `Infected Mushroom` then contacted us about the name, blah blah blah...
(Erez)~They wanted to sue us.
(Duvdev)~And then we told them, `Listen, you know, now we are coming, it`s after three albums, this is like, bullshit! You could have said something in the beginning, but by then it was closed. It was another band, but they stopped doing music, so we just took the name. It sounded good for us, it was a good name.
I guess a kind of personal question; do you guys have any wives, a family, girlfriends, and children?
~(Erez) I have a wife.
Well, congratulations.
~(Duvdev) And I`m divorced, but with a new girlfriend, so...
Well, congratulations to you too. You both seem quite happy to say it.
Again, another personal question, and you don`t have to answer, but do either of you follow any particular religion or personal spirituality or anything?
(Erez)~Not at all, the only thing, I think, is that we try to help people as much as we can.
(Duvdev)~We don`t really go by religion, you know, our religion, that is, the Jewish religion, don`t allow us to play on Saturday, and we play all over the world, so we don`t go by any religion, we just try to be ourselves and do what we think is right... we don`t follow any religion.
Humanistic libertarianism. *giggles*
Here`s a broad question... when in your opinions did `Goa Trance` become `Psychedelic Trance` and how would you describe to somebody who isn`t normally into trance, the difference between the two?
(Duvdev)~Well, the whole story about Goa Trance and Psychedelic Trance, I think, trance started beginning in Europe in like 88, 89 and then moved to Goa because it was a good place to party to that music, then came back to Europe and Israel and stuff like that so... what people call `Goa Trance` is also psy-trance music but it is more melodic, it is more happy, what people call `Psychedelic Trance` is more hard and more psychedelic sounding... to me, I don`t see a difference... even if Infected Mushroom is called `Psychedelic Trance` ...the word `psychedelic` is a very hard word, because I can see something as psychedelic which... another person would not see as psychedelic and vice versa... that`s why I don`t like the word `psychedelic trance`. I prefer to call our music a `fast-tempo beat dance floor trance.` that`s what we do. It`s dance floor music, never mind where the dance floor is. Psychedelic Trance, which is our genre, when you compare it to normal trance, is more psychedlic, yes, it`s more psychedelic for the normal people, you know? But for us, it`s not `psychedelic trance.`
(Erez)~The best way to explain is to give the guy a ticket, let him come to a show, listen. This is the best way to explain it.
Let them listen for themselves...
(Duvdev)~If you like it, cool, if not, then go somewhere else for your music... find your own musical taste. So if people come to the shows and they like it, they will continue with it.
Well that just about covers all of my questions. Thank you once again, it was a great opportunity... and than you once again as well...
(Erez)~You`re welcome and thank you as well.
|:| New Music And Photos Added!
The live set from Axis Mundi for the Bassic show has been chopped into three parts and hosted in our Audio section for your enjoyment. Accompanying pictures have also been added to Visuals... so check them out!
|:| Unis Mundi @ Jackyl & Hyde, Thurs. May 26 2005
Along with Regional support from:
J-Break
(AfterDark Records / Cyberian Knights / Tampa, FL)
Axis Mundi (Live P.A. // Ohmbience Studios)
Jungle Nerds (www.junglenerds.com)
ADDITIONAL SOUND AND LIGHTS WILL BE INSTALLED FOR THIS EVENT
along with
HALLUCINATION ON FILM
Click the above picture link for more details!
|:| new audio and talent!
Several new tracks have been added by ohmbience artists!
We would also like to welcome master DJ Hypothetikal onboard!
|:| Thank yous.
We want to thank everyone that helped out with Chrysanthemum. Teine, Lorax, and all the Touch Samhadi guys really worked hard to make it a great night!
|:| The Chrysanthemum - Nashville, TN, Jan. 21st, 2005
THE CHRYSANTHEMUM - Nashvilles FIRST all-psychedelic-trance event! :) This will be taking place at THE END on Jan. 21st. We are bringing artists from North Carolina and Mississippi, courtesy of TOUCH Samadhi, as well as locals, and we will be redecorating the venue with handmade psychedelic flouro blacklight mural art! POI DANCERS AND PERFORMANCE ARTISTS WELCOME! For further info such as directions, etc. Click on the flyers in our "Visuals" section under "Ohmbience Event Flyers". Hope to see many of you out there! :)
|:| Axis Mundi's Winter Bookings...
10/27/04 - This is the picture of the face of a Nile cat, whom the ancient Egyptians used to worship as Gods.
After the summer's "slow season" for bookings for me, I have been fortunate to recieve a busy winter full of travel and musical performance. My latest live PA psytrance set, "Liber Malevolentiae" (an excerpt is available for download in our "audio" section), is nearing ocmpletion and already I've had a huge demand for my performance in the Sutheast region. I will post more details after I receive them but as it stands, here they are:
Nov. 26th - Live PA booking - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - check www.euphoriaproject.org for more info.
Dec. 17th - 19th - Live PA booking - Secret Location, FL - more info TBA as details solidify.
Jan. 8th - Live PA booking - Asheville, NC - check out www.touchsamadhi.com for more info.
I want to thank everyone for their support of Ohmbience through thick and thin thus far. Keep on the lookout for an Ohmbience psytrance party in Nashville, TN sometime late January to honor the union of Shiva and Shakti. This will be Nashville's first psytrance event and Ohmbience will be bringing psytrance artists from Mississippi to North Carolina. keep checking with us as details for this event unfold!
|:| What a long strange trip it's been...
10/27/04 - Well, it's been a long summer for not only myself but most of our Ohmbience members as well. Events were largely put on hold as the more people in our group, myself, Anemone, and DJ Irie, have been relocating to say the least.
My news thus far...
Besides working and relocating to downtown Nashville, I've been producing a lot. Unfortunately I've been neglecting adding updates to the site save for new tracks and mixsets of mine that I've posted. Besides that... this summer has been very transformative. The hurricanes in Florida claimed the houses and belongings of my mother, sister, and grandparents. Fortunately FEMA has granted them temporary shelters while they wait on their insurance settlement, which may take a while since entire communities have been leveled. However... a week or so after my mother's house went to Oz, something extraordinary happened... my mother reunited with her firstborn son, my older brother, whom she had given up for adoption thirty years ago. She carried it as a burden ever since, and only now has it finally been lifted. She says despite everything she's lost, she is happier than she's ever been and it shows. My mother in a year has gone from a depressed, emotional wreck to the Zen Master with a tan. :) I've had a taste for how she feels... this is a great beginning for her, and for my sister and I too... when I was backpacking through Europe, I noticed how ironic it was that with the least amount of material possessions I had, I felt more free to do anything than ever and there was no need to look back. I actually talked to him for the first time the other day. He and I are a lot alike, and when I saw his picture, it was unnerving how much he resembled me. He is a total "head". :) I feel like I am blessed!
~Axis Mundi
|:| News
4/02/2004 Over the past week, we've added a total of 9 original tracks straight from the minds and machines of our musical artists. We hope you enjoy. :)
4/04/2004 Ohmbience Studios is looking for DJs, synth acts and producers who work with music in the direction of downtempo, lounge, trip hop, hip hop, IDM, turntablism, ambient, MAYBE house or breaks for some local summer plans of ours that you will no doubt be interested in. WE NEED DEMOS. Even if you're producing on the PC and want your stuff to be heard, let us know but again, WE NEED DEMOS to give to the people we're talking to right now. Sorry, but no trance, jungle, or "dance" style music (at least right now).
Please let us know because, while I have to keep it under my hat until things solidify, this is really going to benefit the local Nashville electronic scene and will give you something to do on Sunday while you're all tired from the new stuff on Fridays and Saturdays.
