Israeli-band Ramzailech brings the sound of hip hop and distorted guitars fused with Yiddish sounds to this year’s edition of Għanafest. Vocalist Amit Peled talks to Michael Bugeja.
They’ve brought a new slant to klezmer music, one that pulls out all the stops while injecting hip hop and distorted guitars into Yiddish culture. Unusual as it may sound, Ramzailech’s music has been bringing in the masses wherever they perform; their shows brimming with energy and the sound that has been described by many as hardcore klezmer.
“Israel is a social melting pot and that’s reflected in our music,” Ramzailech guitarist and vocalist Amit Peled explained.
Ramzeilech is Gal Klein (clarinet, vocals), Amit Peled (guitars, vocals), Dekel Dvir (drums, percussion, vocals), Michael Guy (bass), Hod Moshonov (keyboards, keytar), Matan Gov-Ari (trumpet), Tal Ben-Rei (trombone) and Eyal Talmudi (tenor sax).
What was it that inspired three young students into heavy rock to form a band singing in Yiddish and playing klezmer music?
We never thought about our sound in advance, we just played what we liked. Luckily for us, the core of the band (Gal, Dekel and myself) grew up together so we had a lot of time to try out all of those ideas.
In commercial terms, singing in Yiddish and playing what we play is the worst idea you could come up with, but all we care about is making the music we want to play and hear.
Gal brought in the Yiddish singing and we just went along with it. We also sing in Hebrew, Arabic, English and even some Russian, simply because it’s fun to do. We’ve never felt language is a problem because music is universal, which is probably why our shows do well whether we’re playing in Taiwan or in St Petersburg.
Far from being purist, your music mixes traditional elements with any and every element that seems to take your fancy.
Music is music; if it’s good, then that’s the only thing that matters. That’s the way we approach it and that’s why it’s so natural for us to combine hip hop beats with Arab scales and grindcore chops in a klezmer song.
All these styles are in our collective identity, so we just use whatever we feel the music calls for. We respect the original traditions, but we prefer to take them to the next level, rather than repeating ourselves.
There’s a saying: musicians manage to do all the things that politicians never do. Making good music doesn’t depend on where you’re from or what religion you belong to. It’s about people creating something beautiful together, which in our case is very loud and full of distortion and noise. But that’s how we love it.
Music is for everyone and, whether you’re an orthodox Jew or a Polish metalhead, it’s all cool with us. We’ve been fortunate enough to make something that talks to a lot of people from different backgrounds, although we used to joke about it and say that everybody hates our music equally.
Why did it take six years to release your debut and three more to release a new single?
Music is for everyone and, whether you’re an orthodox Jew or a Polish metalhead, it’s all cool with us
The new album, Tsuzamen, was recorded in just six days; editing, mixing, mastering and artwork took up the rest of the time, so you could say that we work fast. But we’re also really lazy when it’s not about actually playing music. We were a bit worried before starting the recordings, as this is an ambitious album that requires a lot of time and attention. Luckily, we had Eyal Talmudi (of Malox, Oy Division, BBB) stepping in and helping with the production and that kept things in focus.
Do you see yourselves more as a live act than a recording act in terms of what Ramzeilech is about?
I love both sides, because being a musician, that’s where I feel at home – whether it’s jumping around onstage or locked away from the real world inside the studio for hours on end.
I think the trick is balancing the two and keeping things fresh. Having said that, I think people don’t really get to know us until they see us play live, because a live performance has something to it that you can’t reproduce in the studio. In our case, it’s an experience – somewhere between a rock show and a wedding – that you need to be present at to fully understand.
The presence of traditional elements in contemporary music seems to be on the rise, not least klezmer….
I think it was always there. Misirlou, for example, is a traditional Greek melody also played by Eastern European klezmer musicians that Dick Dale turned into rock ‘n roll in the 1960s. Tarantino rediscovered it in the 1990s and the Black Eyed Peas sampled it in the past decade, so music always finds a way to survive.
I feel this is always the case. You can’t make new music from scratch – you need to ‘steal’ or be inspired from something else, as they say. That’s how jazz, rock ‘n roll and techno were born.
On a personal level, it’s always a big deal for us when we show up at a country we’ve never been to and play for people who’ve never heard or seen us, and yet they somehow get it just by feeling the music. It’s something that surpasses cultural barriers and it’s probably why we still love doing this.
Do you have any expectations ahead of your first performance in Malta?
Every person we know who has heard we’re coming to play in Malta has told us it’s one of the prettiest places on earth. After music, the band’s second most favourite thing to do is eat, so we’re trying to find all of the tastiest places to check out in. If you know a place you think we should check out, send us a message on Facebook.
Ramzailech perform on Sunday at 10pm during the Għanafest at the Argotti Gardens, Floriana. Għanafest starts with a full programme on Friday.
http://www.maltafolkmusicfestival.org