Where are you based and how long have you been playing together?
Or- Four years.. Three of us are from Mitzpe Ramon in Israel, the other two are originally from Germany. They are now living as nomads in a van.
Jonas- It started up 4 years ago.
Or- We started off in the south of Israel and were all living together there for 3 years. Mirjam and Jonas then went back to Europe. Since then we are meeting every summer for a tour. We mainly meet in Europe.
It was the one year anniversary of your first release, the First Rain on May 29th. How do you feel about the record one year after and how was it received in the media and by the world in general.
Jonas- It was a long process. it was recorded in 2022. First of all, the way we played in 2022 and the way we play now has evolved a lot. When we listened to it on the release date, we were like, ok it is done but we do not feel like it represents us, because we evolved so much in the meantime. Many things like lost files, war delayed this album and it became a pain in the back part of the body.
Mirjam- Yes.. we had a good response. We actually did not promote this album that much for the reasons that Jonas explained. We are really excited to record a new album.
Please tell me about the lovely artwork cover..
Mirjam- The first album cover was painted by the beautiful girlfriend of our bassist. Maja. She is using pigments from the desert to paint. She is going out to the desert where we all lived and collecting up pigments from different kinds of rocks and sand. The motive is referring to our name. Tau, in German, means morning dew. The idea behind it is a bit like what we want to bring with our music. Something refreshing, something that comes from the silence. The drop on the cover, represents us creating something moving, something alive out of the stillness.
Jonas- Even in the desert where there is no water, there is dew!
Nadav- An ancient way of painting.
You are recording a new album right now. How do you feel the new material is different or a progression from your first album?
Jonas- It is a different world completely. The first album is much more earthy and grounded, gentle, meditative, friendly and now the new material is all opposite of it that. First of all we have new instruments like didgeridoo since we have a new bass player. Also electric guitar. I think the music is more wild and daring, more exploring. For me it is nice to have people to share these realms together.
Almog- We have more wilder parts and gave ourselves more space to explore and expand our genre. To discover new sounds for ourselves.
Almog- Like all the rivers go to the sea, all the recommendations go to Shahar!!
Miriam- If we look at what albums we listen to and like a lot, and the sound that we search for, who recorded it, Shahar, next album, oh Shahar..
Or- We have a weekly meeting on line and we asked each of us to choose 1 or 2 albums which we liked the sound and just exploring and 4 out of the 5 of us got the same, the albums were recorded by Shahar!
How has your studio experience been here in Portugal? How is it different to recording at home in Israel?
Everyone- Very peaceful!
Or- No sirens and bombs..
Nadav- The idea came up when we were in Croatia and just practicing in this beautiful house out in the nature, this view, this setting, where to record and we start to think about doing it as a retreat. We thought about doing it in a neutral country, where none of us have any projects, etc.. We were talking to Shahar and he was thinking about this space (my studio).
Mirjam- I think we are good at getting annoyed with each other and it is great to have a space where we can just run away and have some peace for a moment. The band is a relationship of five people.
What inspires you to make music?
Almog- It is individual. Music has been part of my life since I was a kid. I am kind of married to the music. I do not see myself not in a relationship with music. I really like to play in this band as it makes me create, gives me a space where I can express myself. I am inspired by the music that each one of us is bringing to the group like from Turkey, different traditions that we all come from.
Jonas- It was always in my life somehow. There was always a guitar in the house and friends of my Mom´s were musicians. It naturally happened. Music is a kind of space where you flow. It is a little bit like a spiritual factor. To make it nice and good you have to totally not care and it can also be really bad but it is a process of logic and practice and understanding what you do but when you actually play you have to trust that it is going to happen. I like this and to kind of bring them together with music.
Nadav- An inspiration, for me but it also connects us, is trying to explore traditions but create something that we didn´t hear before. There are parts of our music that sounds like something traditional but we are tying to do music that is a mix of a rhythm from here and instruments from there and create a new song, to bring something together.
Mirjam- I feel music, for people like us who deal with music all the time, it is like a mirror of life, everything. When you play you see how you deal with life. If you manage to stay in the moment. If you manage to enjoy what there is and share it with the world. There are a lot of lessons to be learned and I choose to learn them thru music. Also, to use music as a connection between people. We like instrumental music so people can take the music how they want. I am also trying with music to bring the change that I want to see in the world. I know it is a big expectation but we are at least trying. What is the change that we want to see, all five of us, what is the shared thing we can all put our energy into that we could wish future generations to live in this world. That inspires me.
Or- I came from a family where everyone is playing an instrument, not necessarily musicians. When we play, we can communicate, it is like a clean channel, my thoughts, political views, are forgotten, it is just pure. All the stuff that and mess that is happening around, this is one of the only places I can find this pure communication, is in music.
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