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Feature/Interview
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Examiner - Los Angeles, Feature/Interview >>
Yemen Blues plays The Troubadour on Sunday 6 March
Yemen Blues is another band that you really have to hear because a description that it is a mixture of African music, blues, jazz, and funk is insufficient. After several failed attempts at a phone interview, Ravid Kahalani answered questions via e-mail about moments of the soul, leaving home, and the creative process for this band. You can experience your own moments of the soul when Yemen Blues plays The Troubadour on Sunday 6 March.
You strive to create moments of soul in your shows. Explain what that means.
I dont strive, I know people have this moment when they see a show that touches them. I hope more and more that people coming to Yemen Blues shows will have these moments. But not only this, they will understand this moment and will take the best of it, meaning that this "moment of the soul" is not only an emotion or something beautiful that you get from the music, it is a way of life, to make a big change in people. I think people need to base their every day life on this moment!
There are many gods, many politicians, and people are looking for the truth, the best way to live life or just something to be good at. But before all this we have a really important base that everyone can understand and feel like you feel it in a show that with out understanding any of the lyrics. It is opening your heart, and it's this "moment of the soul." This is very important for me that people will know as I say in my song, "It doesn't matter where you come from, your language is my language. It doesn't matter to which god you pray, the melody is always coming from the soul." All religion can be side to side, all politics can be side to side if we just let this moment be the base of our thoughts.
Describe when you feel a moment of soul in your performances.
Every time I sing! Every song I wrote for Yemen Blues came from this moment, and got stronger and stronger. I hope that my singing can touch people in the right place and I hope that I will learn to give it from the deepest and the most true place in me.
You left home when you were a teenager. How has that shaped your music?
I guess in a good way. In the time that I was trying to survive as a young teenager, I was open to many kinds of music and discovered beautiful things.
I was listening to lots of music, sitting at home in front of the speakers and listening without moving for hours and got amazed by the sounds. It was when I discovered jazz and American blues. I went almost every day to the record shop to talk to my friend from the shop about music and enjoyed every moment. I guess all this made my singing something from all of it together, my childhood and my influences. Describe the creative process with this band.
That's the beauty in Yemen Blues, we never said lets play a fusion of Yemenite music and jazz, or west African with American blues. I started with Omer to jam the music and then we called our good friends and top musicians to build the sound of Yemen Blues together. Each of the members (Omer Avital, Itamar Doari, Rony Iwryn, Itamar Borochov, Hadar Noiberg, Hilla Epstein, Galia Hai) of Yemen Blues is important to the sound. It was a magical time to make this music as we just played and talked about the music with out putting any rules or thoughts to make something specific. I came with my Yemenite roots and my music, Omer came with his arranging and leading the musical directing, and the sound of every one of the people got to the best place we could get. I think that's why Yemen Blues has it own musical language, and not really something that you can say this is a clear fusion of that and that.
What are you most looking forward to about touring the United States?
To see many people grooving to the music of Yemen Blues. To see people from all cultures dancing together in our shows. To play from the heart. To learn more important things, and spread the word. To get some truth in our actions! What would you be doing if you weren't making music? Spending more time with my family? I guess I'll never know. 03/03/11 >> go there
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