-By Stephen Centanni

Musical evolution is an amazing phenomenon. Recently, traditional Slavic, Arabic and Mediterranean has been hybridized with other genres such as reggae, punk, hip-hop and electronica. Artists such as Matisyahu and Gogol Bordello have brought this unique mixture to the public’s ears.

So have Balkan Beat Box. Playing shows at Bonnaroo, in Europe and the Middle East, these artists have created a unique sound, mixing Middle Eastern and Mediterranean sounds with electronica and hip-hop, complementing it with an electrifying stage show. I caught up with Balkan Beat Box’s Ori Kaplan to discuss their revolutionary sound and upcoming Port City visit.

SC: The Eastern European/Mediterranean /Middle Eastern sound has found a niche in other forms of music such as punk, reggae and electronica. Why do you think these styles compliment each other so much?

OK: I don’t know. Maybe it’s about food and spice and warm weather, for us at least. I don’t know if I can speak of the whole general genre that you’re trying to pin down, but for us, we feel that Arabic beat, Mediterranean beat and the warm weather fits really well with the Dance Hall, the Raga and the reggae. It fits well with Dub. In the long run, it depends on who the musicians are that are doing it. It could be good; it could be bad.

SC: When you were with Gogol Bordello, they tended to lean more towards the punk side of it. What made you decide to leave the band and concentrate more on the hip-hop/electronica aspect of it?

OK: Tamir Muskat is the other half of Balkan Beat Box, and he’s been experimenting for some time and been producing and being a ‘Beatboy’ sitting at his computer making beats. He produced and co-wrote J.U.F., which is an album of Jewish Ukrainian Freundschaft, which is Gogol Bordello Tamir and myself. It was an evolution of a style that started that. Then, later on, Tamir and I took it to another place to create a new sound that leans more towards the Middle East and where we come from. The beats are not Slavic, but they’re basically our various influences: Tamir’s electronic and hip-hop background as a drummer and beat master and my melodies which are a lot more North African, Klezmir, Arabic. So, this is an evolution, you know.

SC: When you’re in your song writing process, what comes to your mind first: the electronica or Middle Eastern sound?

OK: Hmm, that’s interesting. We really don’t have a traditional way of writing songs. Each song has its own story, in fact, on both the albums – the one that’s going to be released in a month ("Nu Med") and the previous one (Self-titled). For example, sometimes we get an acapella melody from a friend or a musician that we’re collaborating with. We just work the whole arrangement around it.

Sometimes, we start with a melody and then record it live acoustically with drums then do the electronics later one. Sometimes, it starts with the electronic beats, and then somebody comes on top of that, and we dress it up and write the melodies around that. Sometimes, we come with a completely acoustic style melody, and we just record it and it just stays pretty much. We might touch it a little bit on the computer, but not a lot. I would say each song is different, and the way Tamir is handling the computer, it’s like an instrument cause we come from an acoustic instrumentalist kind of perspective with this. So, for us, crossing those boundaries are very easy. We have one foot there and one foot here. We don’t worry about what foot we start on. We’re ambidextrous as well. We can start on the right leg or the left leg: acoustic, punk, electronica. The music is the sum of our parts.

SC: You said that you and Tamir are the main members of the group, but you have a wide range of musicians that you play with both in the studio and on the road. What’s the selection process like?

OK: First, I have to say that we are really three basic members of the band. Tomer Yusef, our M.C., has been participating in a lot of the work. Tomer Yusef is a big part of the three people who kinda made this. These are the leading three. Then, we have Jeremiah Lockwood and Uri Kinrut rotating on guitar.

When we’re in the U.S.A., we have Jeremiah. He’s a fantastic guitar player, who’s been playing in New York making his own career with his band Sway Machinery. We have Peter Hess on saxophone, who’s also playing with World Inferno and Barbez and other bands. Who else do we have? We have Itamar Ziegler on bass playing on this tour. Fantastic musicians!

SC: I hear that your live shows are awesome and one-of-a-kind. We can the crowd expect from your show?

OK: Food for the brain and the body also get drunk and party hard and jump around. Get ready to drink and sweat.

SC: I saw that you guys played in Israel a few months back. How did the Israelis react to your music?

OK: We played Goran Bregovic; it was a great show. Some were proud about what we are doing even though we immigrated from Israel and live in New York. We still present the voice of sanity coming from Israel. It’s the silent majority that is not expressed in the media and politics, the people who want peace, people who oppose the occupation, people who represent the golden age of Rabin’s dream in the ‘90s. Basically, we show people that Palestinians and Israelis can be on stage together as a party, and that really sends a strong message to people.

SC: You earlier mentioned your upcoming album "Nu Med." What can the fans expect off of that one?

OK: It’s a kick ass album! It’s more well-defined, a more solid band from playing two years and having the experience of the road and the spirit of the live show. It’s a more defined version of who we are. It’s just a more solid album. Again, it’s both for the mind and the body.

SC: What was it like in the studio making this one?

OK: It was fun. We have fun and always play around. We stay imaginative and childlike. We come up with different crazy ideas and make them work. It’s very much like a sandbox. There’s no rules; we can do whatever we want. We’re attracted to the sound, so it definitely has the signature of who we are and everything we do. It’s a fantastic album, and we’re really excited about it.

SC: Where do you want to see Balkan Beat Box a year from now? What does the future hold for Balkan Beat Box?

OK: We’re going to Mars, and we’re going to play a few shows there. Expect to hear more from us.