Long time no put our ears onto some atmospheric vibes. Both the summer and the recent release of Israeli singer/producer J.Viewz’s new album (the aptly called Muse Breaks) gives us the opportunity to discover a universe of chillin’ poppy soundabytes melted with a bunch of groovy progressive beats...

Coming from a country that has a very strong political agenda, do you feel influenced in any way to use you music as a voice ?

I try to stay as ignorant as possible when it comes to politics, but I think that in a way, not using your music as a political voice here has some sort of a statement by itself. There are many musicians in Israel who just prefer to stay in their bubble and simply make good music, because politics is all around you here and making music which has nothing to do with the everyday life here is crucial for your sanity, it's very easy to be drawn into it and use your music as a political tool, but I think that everything has been said and has been repeated so many times so I prefer to find something that hasn't been said within the music, and I believe that the crowd here finds the outlet from everyday life in my music same as I find it when I make it.

Is it hard to be a producer over there?

When your music is being released around the world I don't think it really matters where you actually create it. The production itself is very challenging, I learn new things all the time, so I wouldn't call it 'hard'. I imagine that there are many producers here that find it hard to get their music heard because there's very little coverage here for non mainstream music, but at the same time the underground scene is becoming bigger and more interesting so if you know where to go and who to ask you do get to hear new interesting stuff and get to know new talented producers, who by most aspire to reach a bigger market abroad, lately I hear about many producers who find their success out of Israel. There are high standards here when it comes to production and creativity, so I think Israel is a great place for the artistic and cultural content creator, but I'm not sure it's as great for consumers, it's just very hard to find interesting new music even though there's much of It here.

As an Israeli, have you found it harder to get signed to a record label ?

Not at all, I get to travel quite a lot so when I had my demo ready I took it with me to Barcelona, and I literally started to walk around the city trying to find some labels. I gave out many copies and that day I signed the first J.Viewz deal which was for the "Chillout Sessions" compilation, I was very excited about it because it happened much faster then I'd expected and this compilation featured some really big names, so my very first release was alongside Sinead O'Connor, Massive Attack, Paul Oakenfold, Mike Oldfield, etc.  A few days later I was in London, doing the same thing, walking around the city, knocking on doors, eventually, after seriously damaging my lags for not using the tube, I found another deal for a compilation and that same week some label in Greece took another tune for their compilation. So then when I had my little J.Viewz discography filling up I went back to Israel and sent my demo together with the discography to Deeplay and it went forward very quickly. I believe it wouldn't have gone any faster if I lived just next door to Deeplay, it would still be by email and fax and all that.

How has it been working with Swedish label Deeplay then ?

I'm in contact with many labels, some are based here in Israel and I realize that I communicate with Deeplay same as I communicate with any other label, it's pretty easy these days with emails, phones, all these chatting programs… I don't see much difference except that Deeplay specifically is very different from labels I worked with before by the style of music they release.

What has influenced you to produce an album of left of centre music, when your previous releases have been based around rock bands, as opposed to straight studio production ?

This is not quite accurate… My previous releases, which were released under the name Violet Vision were based mostly on studio production, it's a Breakbeat act which is based mostly on electronic grooves… so even though J.Viewz is based on studio production it combines more live instruments then other projects I've had. I used to play in many rock bands before I started working with Violet Vision, and the reason I wanted to make some projects that were based on studio work is that I found it a bit hard to work with a band, there was always the feel that we miss something, it was very hard to suggest some idea and to really hear it being played all the way through like you imagined it. My solution was to buy a sequencer so I could create a rough idea of how I imagine a certain song should sound like, the plan was to take it later to the band and play it live with them, but I got stuck in the process and now I'm still sitting with my sequencers and my rough ideas have become finished tunes…

So now with J.Viewz I try to combine the way I work with Violet Vision, which is making tunes based on studio production with the way I used to work with other musicians in the past, by this I try to maintain a vibrant feel in the electronic production.

Did you find it hard moving from live to studio productions?

Studio production is much easier for me, I can record a million takes until I find the right one, I have complete control over the mix and structure of a song and I don't pay for studio time… so I have the privilege to mess around with recorded material endlessly. Usually with live bands you record your stuff and then it's much harder to get into details and change things, rerecord things, and this privilege I have by making the music and produce it at the same time is becoming the essence of what I do and how I sound.    

Is there a scene for your music in your country ?

I think there is. The album is coming along very well here and most of our gigs are sold out, just a few days ago we had a gig here and I heard most of the audience singing the lyrics together with Noa our vocalist, so it made me realize that we do have listeners here, I'm not sure if people who listen to J.Viewz are a part of some scene that is going on here, and I'm not sure that there are enough people in this country to create major scenes for any sub genre, but I think that our crowd is a combination of people who listen to Jazz, trip hop, reggae, and other genres that we try to put together in our music which are more popular in Israel.   

What are your future plans in terms of productions ?

I plan to work on another J.Viewz album, I hope that like "Muse Breaks" the new album will feature many talents, we started to make some rough mixes of new tunes, trying new directions, new ideas, though I'm sure it'll take a long time till I have a finished album, when it comes to production and composition I basically plan not to plan too much, that way I'm always surprised by the outcome…

Any tour on the pipeline ?

We have a wonderful live act of J.Viewz, which combines electronic elements from the original tunes with live instruments on stage (Trumpet, Piano, Vocals, Turntables, Guitars).

We're checking some options these days, we hope that by early 2006 we'll be touring Europe, in the meantime we perform in Israel and next month in Portugal, probably also Greece and Japan soon, but a proper tour will happen later this year or early next year. Check our upcoming dates in jviewz.com

Who would you most like to work with ?

There are so many, I'd like to learn some recording a mixing techniques from producers like Arif Mardin and Tal Herzberg, a day in the studio with each would probably change the way I approach the technical side of music making. In the same field of producing I'd like to also spend a day in the studio with Basement Jaxx, just to understand how they combine so many elements in a perfect mix, I'm really amazed by their work, their sound is so unique and futuristic… on the more musical side, there are so many musicians that inspire me, like Emiliana Torrini, bobby McFerrin, Finley Quaye, Mark Knopfler - to name just a few… you can say I'd like to work with these guys… 

Have you anything you would like to add or promote ?

1. Muse Breaks – The new album out now ! 

2. jviewz.com  

J. VIEWZ Muse Breaks LP (Deeplay Music)

Words : Mouth kept secret