Kutiman ‚Dense EP’. Released 26th May on Siyal Music PRESALE LINK
Kutiman. Photo credit: Shai Franco
Can you remember when you first got interested in making music?
When I was six years old we moved to a new house and we had a neighbor that played the piano. It sounded like magic and I got obsessed with going over to listen to him, soon after I started taking piano lessons, and very soon started to hate it but that’s another story :)
Do you have musicians in your family or how did your love for music come about?
I don’t have any musicians in my family, both my parents are professors and music wasn’t a big deal in the house. It took them a moment to realise that I was serious and going all the way with it.
Have you ever explored different ways of expressing yourself or has it always been through music?
Growing up I was very into photography and I drew a lot, then I started video recording and editing and that led me to animation, experimental video art and 3d animation, so the visual side has always been side by side with the music.
As a teenager you studied jazz at the prestigious Rimon Music College. Can you tell us about that experience and how jazz music has influenced your music since?
I got into Rimon at a young age, and I didn’t know a lot about music or myself. Honestly I didn’t really understand what was happening, and all the scales and chords and how the hell to play jazz! To be honest I didn’t really like jazz, but later on in my life I realised it just wasn’t my kind of jazz and that probably an institution is not my way of learning. Thank god for youtube that came along a few years later and taught me so much more about music and life:)
Your upcoming EP Dense, released on Siyal Music on the 26th of May, is leaning more towards an electronic sound than any of your previous work. Have you always thought your sound was going to end up more electronic or is it something you have gotten into recently?
Well first of all I hope this is not the end of the road for me and that my sound will continue to evolve.. I always liked electronic music (preferably the dark kind) but never really got to do it myself as I had so many things I wanted to do. A few years back a good friend gave me an old russian drum synth to play with and that is what started this electronic faze.. I look forward to exploring more in that direction.
How would you say your musical influences have developed from your first release until now? Can you name any of your musical influences?
I was never a music digger..I don’t remember any of the artist names and I don’t own a single record. I grew up in a small village with no record shop or anything like that and the internet wasn’t around yet so I didn’t have any access to more than Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Beastie Boys and Michael Jackson – this is more or less what I’ve been listening to since I was 20!
Then I moved to TLV and met some musicians who introduced me to James Brown, Parliament, The Meters and Cymande. There was also a collage radio station that played Plastikman, Rhythm&Sound and Amon Tobin and stuff like that that just blew my mind. These days I don’t even know what I’m listening to, I just press play and on it goes! Usually it will be some kind of ambient music.
And do you have any non-musical influences that help you get inspired to create your music?
I don’t always know where my inspiration comes from, I mean I watch some movies and sometimes go to the museum and even eat a little mushroom from time to time. I guess it all adds up to “inspiration”.
You have previously said that this EP “expresses emotions from a dark period”. Have you gone through a different process when creating this EP, compared to your previous work or does your work usually come together after similar periods of strong emotions?
I’m working in the studio every day so I get to work with all kinds of emotions and for some reason sadness can be very creative but it’s not always the case.
In what ways has it been different and what was your inspiration when creating the new EP?
The gear was a bit different from the usual as I used a few drum machines and a few synths (that’s not new), but the process was different as most of the music was happening on the spot and I just had to turn some knobs to make the magic happen. It was a very refreshing and fun process as opposed to recording one instrument at a time like in all my other projects.
What can we expect for the future? Can you tell us about any more upcoming projects or what comes next after the release of the EP?
At the moment I have an EP with Dekel in the spirit of my album “Open” and I have another crazy kind of free jazz album waiting to be mixed, and I’m looking forward to exploring more of that electronic sound.
You have already come so far in your career and achieved lots of great things. Do you have any specific goals or dreams that you hope to achieve as a musician?
I wish for myself to always be curious and creative and to be able to make a living out of it
