We were very lucky enough to catch up with the superb Tel Aviv based artist and producer Yoav Landau (AKA The Gloom), for an interview. He has just released his infectious, and magical alternative rock single ‘Aeons’. Check out our interview below!
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Yoav Landau, I’m a 24 years old guitarist, musician, singer-songwriter and producer from Israel, and I currently lead the alternative rock project The Gloom.
What is your songwriting process?
Usually, It will start off with me finding a nice guitar riff, chord progression or a bassline. I’ll record it on a looper and start layer stuff on it. During this process, I’ll start humming a vocal melody, and I’ll basically form some sort of a primitive song. At that point, I’ll start writing my lyrics, and I’ll go to the pre-production work on my computer – I’ll lay down the guitar and bass tracks, and I’ll program drums, synths and other instruments in MIDI… and that’s it, you’ve got yourself a new song.
Tell us about your latest release?
I’ve just released a standalone single entitled Aeons. I like to describe it as an ‘apocalyptic love song’. It’s a bit of an abstract story about two young lovers standing together at the final moments of the human civilization, right before a meteor crashes into Earth. Its lyrical theme is loosely based on the movie Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Musically, it’s a dancy, shoegazy post-punk track with some prominent Solina synth pads, an effects-drenched Bass VI hook and an overall heavy wall-of-sound production. It revolves around a chopped-up, looped chord progression that was initially influenced by the writing style of the Pixies.
What message do you think your music conveys to your fans?
It’s not really for me to decide what the music conveys on my listeners, as each of them interprets it differently and draws different emotions from it. What I hope is that my music is able to take my listeners to a deeper emotional journey. I hope that the music draws them into a different, meaningful plain of consciousness and that it touches some deeper places in their hearts… I feel like it’s the kind of music that really needs to “sink in”.
Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
The main genres that I draw inspiration from are probably alternative rock, grunge, post-punk, shoegaze and art-rock. But I draw micro-influences from everything I listen to – and that’s a lot. If I have to be even more specific, I’ll say, John Frusciante, Kurt Cobain, Robert Smith, Kevin Shields and Brian Wilson are really up there for me in terms of musical idols I look up to, but that’s really the tip of the iceberg. Some so many other great musicians are really important to me.
As for my non-musical influences, I tend to draw them from a lot of different stuff – from mythologies, theologies and religion to historical events, movies and other forms of art. My first true idol was actually a movie director – Tim Burton. So I grew up with the concept of creativity and having a strong personal artistic signature being very important to me.
What’s the best gig that you have ever played?
The best gig we had was probably our first performance after the release of The Gloom [EP]. We’ve played better than we ever played, way better than our rehearsals! The energy was amazing, and the crowd was extremely engaging. Me and the band (Tal Eshel, Nitzan Oppenheimer, Yuval Guttman) are extremely self-critical. This was the first time that we ended a show and had nothing bad to say; we were really proud of ourselves.
What is your funniest gig moment?
Well, we don’t have something too funny that happened to us… is “upsetting every sound technician out there ’cause we’re too loud” considered funny? I don’t know; maybe we take the whole concept of live performances a bit too seriously!
What do you think are the biggest obstacles for bands/artists today?
Probably sticking out and being original. The internet gave musicians a lot of opportunities, but it also changed the whole market in a very drastic way. There’s just an inflation of new bands coming up today, and because the role of record labels is changing as well, it’s really difficult to get noticed out there and progress in the same organic fashion as it was back in the ’70s or the ’90s.
Also, because there are so many bands and artists; so many new micro-genres; and because new, innovative music gear is becoming more affordable each and every day, I feel like the challenge of being unique and innovative has become increasingly difficult. Especially in the context of guitar-driven rock music, which some people feel like might have already hit some evolutionary peak.
What advice would you give to other bands/artists starting out?
I’ll probably say – be unique, be original and especially be real. Have some musical integrity, don’t be a poser.
What are your hopes for the next two years?
I’m planning to go back to the studio in the next few months to record a new EP, so that’s happening for sure. I really hope to have a few more releases that will be heard by as many people around the world as possible. I also hope to embark on a tour outside of Israel finally. As a person, I’m not a big optimistic. But I do have a feeling that the next couple of years are going to be very important for The Gloom, and I hope some really great things will happen.
FVMusicBlog May 2020
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