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EMOK
Interview with Itai

Emok's early days as a band were practicing inside an air raid shelter, where they could concentrate on writing without the outside noise of bombing raids and gunfire. These conditions must have been a big change from the seclusion of Amuka, the quiet northern Israel town where they grew up (that's said to be haunted). Moving to Tel Aviv, they built a local following, eventually playing larger fests and opening for the likes of Prodigy. In 1998, seeking to expand their reach to the United States, Emok moved to New York's Lower East Side and then to Brooklyn. 2002 saw the release of an EP Crumbs which was greeted with favorable press. Their debut full-length Shove Your Head Into the Ground and Feed It to the Earth is scheduled for release on February 22, 2005 by Wrong Records. Quoting comparisons from Kerrang! and Punk Planet between the band and Rage Against The Machine, Jane's Addiction & Helmet, Howlin' Wuelf Productions describes it as "a collision of composition and cacophony; intellect and emotion; heritage and progression." You can read a review of this album in the review section of this issue.

What is the meaning of the name Emok in relation to your music?
Emok originally comes from Arabic (where most of Israeli slang flourishes from), and if used in the correct syntax, is an expression of frustration and anger, which comes through in the music in different ways.

What would you say Emok has to offer metal as a new band?
We hope to offer flavors from our Middle Eastern roots – which can be extremely powerful, as well as sophisticated groves and an escape from traditional power-chords.

Describe the band's current lineup as of today. Has this lineup been steady since they got together? How much input does each member have in contributing to the band's sound?
The line up consists of Bul on drums and Electronics, Ofer on Guitar and Vox, and myself on Bass and Vox. Ofer and I have been playing together since ’94. Bul joined in on ’96 and we’ve been tightly together since. Everyone in the band is very active musically – which can make decision making not the easiest task in the world, but we’re a ‘democratic’ band (or ‘free’ as Bush would say), and being a trio, there’s usually a majority… We all contribute in writing the material, Ofer and I usually write the lyrics. One of us would bring an idea for a song in, and we would all just obliterate it, take it apart, put it back together again until we all feel it.

Emok originally hails from Israel. What made you relocate to Brooklyn? Since changing home bases how much headway has the band made gaining more of a following?
While in Israel – we had a great time playing in Tel-Aviv or other parts of the country and being apart of the heavy underground scene there, but Israel being such a small country – you can’t help but feeling chained down – like the runway is just too short… Most of our influences we’re American (we hardly even sang in Hebrew), and many people we’ve met have told us we should move to New York, where our music can take us much further. And that has been our main goal – to get our music out to as many people as possible. We’ve been fortunate enough to get a loyal following in the NY area, as well as making a lot of connections with local bands from around here and have had a great time – we’re now looking forward to expand our audience with our debut album, and our upcoming tours.

Before moving to Brooklyn, you lived in New York City's Lower East Side. While you were there, did you attend any shows? Which places did you get to check out?
The distance between the Lower East Side in Manhattan and where we live now in Brooklyn is really not more than a few miles, so there wasn’t really a difference as far as which venues and bands we checked out… There are a lot of great venues in the city – from the Melvins at the Knitting Factory, to Ministry at Roseland, to Lamb Of God at La’mour (deep in Brooklyn) – it’s really been inspirational to live in such a city.

Describe the metal underground in Israel. In what ways is the scene over there similar and different from the metal underground in the United States?
The metal scene in Israel is concentrated in the big cities such as Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Haifa. There are a lot of extremely talented bands out there, but the scene is quite different than in the US. Here, metal is more embedded into the American way of life – or at least a portion of it, Rock being such an integral part in the society. In Israel, there aren’t any radio stations to feed it to you with a spoon, or any zines that let you know what goes on. Instead you have to really look through things, order catalogs from abroad or American/European magazines. Of course now it’s a lot different with the internet – everything has become much closer and easier.

How many different subgenres of metal is there a scene for in Israel? Do these scenes get along well with each other? Which of these scenes are the most prominent as of today?
It’s hard to say – since the whole scene is so incredibly small, each band is almost it’s own subgenre… and it blends with hard-core and old school punk as well.

While you were living in Israel, your home base was a secluded island known as Amuka. How easy was it for the band to reflect on what was going on over there?
I think that it actually helped us reflect on ourselves and Israel – especially having Ofer and I moving around the country a lot with our families before getting there, including big cities (Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Be’er Sheva) – you often need to get away from something in order to get the whole picture, which to my opinion intensified with our departure from there. Being in a secluded spot also helped us experiment and find our own distinct style.

Is there any truth to the rumor that Amuka is haunted? If so, what's the story behind that?
Amuka is located just a few hundred yards from a very famous tomb to the Hasidic community in Israel (of a Tzadik named Yehonatan Ben Uziel), and is a popular destination for many believers. There was a time, where a ‘miracle making’ rabbi would go there – I think it was every full moon – and would heal people. It was a very big thing back then, and tons of people would go there to watch him cure people where modern-day science couldn’t help them. Our little town is also surrounded by woods, and we’re seen many things there at night – for example, Ofer and I were sitting in his car, while filming a video one night – and for no apparent reason, suddenly we felt a big ‘klunk’ on the car – like something hit it – and the radio went on, blasting Hasidic music in full volume…

What has contributed to your style, both musically and otherwise? What bands would you cite as having influenced you? Would you consider these bands major influences, or just acts that inspired you to create your own way of writing and composing your own material?
I think that for all of us, our biggest influences are the classics. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Black Sabbath and others. Beyond that – we got a lot of inspiration from bands like Shellac, Jesus Lizard, Primus, the Seattle scene, some old Metallica and Megadeath and later on Meshuggah and other more recent acts. There are some electronic music influences as well – but we never stopped evolving and being inspired from new things.

According to the band's biography from Howlin' Wuelf Media, your music is a reflection on the circumstances of your homeland. What exactly were the circumstances that had bearing on the songs that eventually made it onto your debut album? Since relocating, have you seen similar circumstances around the world that might have bearing on future albums?
Well, it’s hard to pin-point a certain event in Israel, because it was more of a life-style kind of thing. The big picture. We’ve all had friends, classmates, neighbors and people that we knew that were affected by the horrible things that are still going on in the region. The amount of racism, hatred and ignorance is unbelievable… From terror attacks in the streets of Tel-Aviv, through the assassination of Rabin to putting out fires caused by missiles hurled at us from Lebanon, it can really fuck you up, especially with the lack of education that the schools have on such topics. After relocating, we were pretty much in the same mind-set that we were in Israel, until 9/11 happened. That event completely through me against the wall. For me to see such a thing, unfolding before my eyes, as it did for millions of New Yorkers, hit me in a way that I didn’t know existed. And after a period of a few months of complete shock, it really opened my eyes for things that were in my blind spot, and songs like Peace Of Land, Hatred Grows Old or Bliss came out like avalanches. I began reading a lot and realized I was completely brained-washed by the so called ‘democratic’ society both in Israel and here – it literally plucked my head from the ground and enabled me to see things for what they really are.

Your bio says you incorporate Middle Eastern music in your songs. Does Middle Eastern music play a significant part in your style? How deeply ingrained is this in your work?
We’ve actually grown to like integrating Middle Eastern music into our music more since we’ve moved here. Maybe because we need the feel for our roots, or maybe some other reason – but it just comes naturally. These flavors are embedded in our deepest subconscious levels, but we tend to only incorporate them when we can express them in the intensity of our music.

In early 2002 the band released a five song EP. What was it titled and how did it display your potential to mature in later years? How successful was this EP after it came out?
The 2002 EP was titled Crumbs – which signified the drizzle we were putting out at the time, knowing that the full-on gush was yet to come. It was recorded after we had some great experiences working with different producers, and was a mile stone for us, on our way to finish our full-length album. The response to the EP, which we released independently on our own label, Spaff, was surprisingly warm. It had received great radio play – and got to many top 30 lists around the country, which is unusual for an EP, as well as very positive responses both in the States and in Europe.

Shove Your Head into the Ground and Feed It to the Earth was recorded and produced entirely by the band. Why did you decide to handle all these duties yourselves instead of working with a producer? How much more did this bring the band's own personality to the surface than it would have been unveiled if someone else handled your work?
We have worked with a few producers while in New York as well as in Israel, and have really learned a hell of a lot about energy flow, expressing our uniqueness and recording techniques. Especially working with producer Ron Saint-Germain (Bad Brains, Tool, Soundgarden) was an eye-opener, and a great experience. We decided to produce the record on our own because we didn’t have time to wait for all the bullshit politics of the record industry, and were planning on a completely independent release, until our mixes started raising some eye-brows. We also felt confident about our ability to be self-criticizing – Our manager, G, had helped us a lot in that area as well.

Describe some of the songs you think are the best Shove Your Head into the Ground... has to offer and how these songs came into being; what inspired you to write them, etc.
I can’t really say ‘this one is the best’ or that one song is the essence of the album. The title give a broad picture of what the album is about. Shove Your Head into the Ground and Feed It to the Earth is about living in isolation of what really goes on around you, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but once you take your head out of the ground, and look at things the way they really are, you’re like ‘holy shit’ and you just want to keep feeding the ‘earth’ – and go back to your life, where you need not doubt the ‘truth’ that is fed to you, and keep living your bubbled life. The album is about both worlds, the connection between them, and was inspired by everything from our anger/frustration at the media and governments to our most personal lives and experiences.

How soon are you going on tour to support the album and where will the tour take you? What bands will be joining you on the tour? Do you expect it to go well?
We’re starting our tour February 1st, starting in the North East. Then we’re going to Japan with Dillinger Escape Plan and Candiria for a few dates, and coming back to the US tour, including a show at SXSW… but it’s still in the works – we don’t know what to expect at all… so ask me about it in a couple of months…

If the tour does go well, what do the band plan for the future? Do you intend to stay in the States? If so, where would you most like to be?
We’re definitely here to stay. Who knows where the music will take us, but most likely we’ll stay in New York.

Would you work with a producer on future albums or do you prefer to continue to produce your albums on your own?
We will work with a producer that we click with, and that will share our vision – but are not afraid to do our sophomore release on our own.

Howlin' Wuelf Media
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http://howlinwuelf.com

- Dave Wolff

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