London-based solo musician Yoav is a singer/songwriter who works hard to go beyond the usual “man with a guitar” conventions. By looping beats created with his voice and acoustic guitar, his songs are often inflected with an unusual drum 'n' bass flavor. His debut album Charmed & Strange crystallizes this aesthetic with an effect he describes as “DJ-ing with my guitar.” Yoav plays Mercury Lounge Saturday night at 7:30; tickets cost $10.
You recently toured with Tori Amos. How did that go? Splendidly. I joined her for 48 shows all over the U.S. and had no idea what to expect as far as crowd response, but it was amazing. It was an honor for Tori to choose me.
Where are you from originally? I was born in Israel, but spent most of my childhood in South Africa
How did growing up in apartheid-era South Africa influence you? Well, I grew up in Cape Town, which is a liberal English speaking town, and I was fortunate enough to go to a private mixed race school in the apartheid years, but it was very interesting to see the media bias and school syllabuses change overnight with the downfall of apartheid. That taught me never to take anything for granted and to question everything. Growing up under a regime that you know is wrong but you can do nothing about is a frustrating thing.
Tell us what happened when you went to see Crowded House as a teenager. Crowded House were one of the first bands to come out to Cape Town after the cultural boycott. They were playing a concert for about 12,000 folks and the singer Neil Finn challenged the crowd to see if anyone thought they could sing a tune. I was a shy fifteen year old, but a bunch of people around me knew that I could sing and started pointing at me. Before I could protest I was being shoved up on stage. Anyway, I sang a rendition of Into Temptation that raised the roof and afterwards the South African media assumed that I was a secret member of the band that they brought on to pump up local audiences. I was so buzzed I couldn't sleep for days.
What happened to make you decide to drop out of college? I was in college while I was making some recordings in a local studio's spare time. Eventually I had to choose between the two if I was to make either one ever work and obviously I chose the music.
How did your parents feel about that? It took a while for my father in particular to trust that I wasn't like every other young whippersnapper chancing it in the pop music world. Technically I was anyway...
After that you relocated to London. What happened then? I was walking around London with no connections trying to get my music in the mailboxes of any music business people who had an address, but with zero success. Meanwhile, by a chain of crazy happenstance, my second cousin happened to have a copy in her bag in Long Island at a charity dinner where she was sitting next to a record executive at Columbia records. He listened to it on his way home and I got the call the next day to come to New York, which is where it all began.
Your bio mentions you “found” your sound in New York City? Please elaborate. In New York I was able to see every band I ever wanted to see, to hang out in various club scenes, check out every DJ, took great singing lessons, learned the tablas, basically dived into whatever music I could find. More and more I tried to take my guitar playing and songwriting into more unusual territory for an acoustic guitar by scratching out hip-hop beats, making dance rhythms and singing to them.
I started fooling around with being a DJ on a guitar after a mushroom trip in Central Park on the summer solstice. I was banging insane rhythms on my guitar and a bunch of passing young school kids started dancing in some sort of frenzy around me while I kept turning the beat around and used bizarre ways of getting sounds out of my guitar to keep building up the sound. The experience made me look at the guitar a different way.
My songs started to evolve rapidly. I was also writing all the time, trying to process everything that was happening and dealing with shadow stuff from the life I had left behind in South Africa.
Do you prefer the music scene in London over New York? I always reckon that if "Rockstar 101" was a computer game, London would be level 10. Both cities have an understandably jaded audience, but I find them warmer in New York now that the ball is rolling and people are more familiar with my sound. Having said that, London seems to be more open to new sounds and was the ideal place to make my record and create the first buzz.
What does 2008 hold for you? 2008 is the year. My record is coming out everywhere from the UK to the US to Canada to Japan and Australia and everything in between, so lots of traveling. Much in the way of festivals – I am really looking forward to Coachella. I think my head is going to be spinning with all I have seen and done by the year's end.
How long did you live in New York? I was in New York City for about six years. The city gave me and my music an edge and a darkness that living in beautiful Cape Town never could have done. I love the over the top pace and attitude of New York, but only when I am feeling on top of it. Sometimes it drives me mental and I have to find ways to escape.
Where was your first gig in New York and what do you remember about it? My first proper gig in New York was at Arlene's Grocery on the Lower East Side, not very well attended – just my lawyer, manager, A&R guy and a couple of stragglers. I remember an even earlier coffeehouse gig in Long Island where I had come in from the snow into a warm room and was snapping string after string.
Is there place you insist on going to when you’re in town? My favorite club evening on the planet when I used to live in New York was Deep Space at Cielo on Monday nights. The most eclectic tunes from Drum and Bass to Hip-hop to dance to pop to world... anything, in a gorgeous space. I never seem to be in New York on a Monday whenever I am in town these days, though.
Who gets the most play on your iPod or portable listening device these days? I have been another level of busy these last few weeks, so not much time to explore brand new stuff. Latest exciting albums for me were Kala by MIA and Neon Bible by Arcade Fire. I absolutely love Regina Spektor as well.
