Asaf Avidan… Israeli good, you know

Showcase: Asaf Avidan

Published on November 4th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

We’re digging the grace and beauty of Asaf Avidan’s debut UK single “Different Pulses”, and it turns out he’s headlining London’s prestigious Shepherd’s Bush Empire venue on November 12th.

Curiosity piqued, we winged our Showcase Q&A over to the Jerusalem singer/songwriter to find out more about him…

Are you signed to a label? If so, how did you come to their attention?

I’m currently signed with Polydor-Universal in most parts of Europe. I license my albums to them through a licensing deal, so I operate my own solo label for my own albums. We’re still looking for the right partner in the UK…

As to how I came to their attention… I was signed with Sony-Columbia before and had just finished my deal with them, and was shopping around for potential labels. I was lucky enough to be at a time, after I invested about three years into heavy touring of Europe, and I had a very good following already.

We were already filling big venues, and the labels were just needed to help us on a path already started. I think labels today need that proof.

Is there a full album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it? (Feel free to be as abstract as you like…)

The album is also named Different Pulses and goes a bit off the road that I travelled in my last albums… which were more generic rock, blues, folk… For this one I opened up to a lot of different influences of music and sounds, and went away from live recording, to a slow process of layers.

The album was recorded and mixed in a tiny studio with just me and my producer (Tamir Muskat) playing the instruments one by one… I think it’s a very conflicting album about hope, and loss of it, and the search for a new source of hope or love or whatever word you want to use.

{The full album was already released in some parts of Europe, going Platinum in France, and Gold in Israel. We were planning a release this year, but just hadn’t had the luck to find the help needed in the UK.}

Where can we hear your music online?

Pretty much anywhere…I think. YouTube is full of videos and stuff, but please don’t let the remix video get you thinking that that is my music. It obviously has a lot of views but it does not reflect my music…

Which have been your most exciting gigs and/or overall moments so far?

I think the last gig we did just now in Paris at the Zenith was a great one… It was the end of a very (very) long tour, and it accumulated to a beautiful end with a lot of warm energetic people. We had some great headline shows this summer in the festivals. I don’t really know. I had a lot of great moments on stage these last few years…to name one would be weird.

Got any more coming up? (Gigs, that is…)

We’re coming to London’s Shepherd Bush Empire on November 12th, and I’m really looking forward to it after the last gig in London at the Union Chapel. We had a great time there, and I can’t wait to get back.

Asaf Avidan, thank you.

“Different Pulses” is out now on Universal.

Asaf Avidan will headline the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on November 12th.

Artists: Asaf Avidan

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.