Asaf Avidan

Biography

Asaf Avidan was born in Jerusalem. His parents were diplomats for the Israeli Foreign Office, and he spent four years of his childhood in Jamaica and also grew up in New York. Avidan's grandparents emigrated from Romania to Israel.

He completed mandatory army service in the Israel Defense Forces, and studied animation at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. His final project short film, “Find Love Now”, won its category at the Haifa Film Festival that year.

Avidan moved to Tel Aviv and worked as an animator. In 2006, after breaking up with his long-time girlfriend he moved back to Jerusalem, quit his job and turned full-time to music. Six songs about the breakup and subsequent heartache would constitute his debut EP, Now That You're Leaving, which was released independently in 2006 to critical acclaim.

Band members

In late 2006, while playing solo acoustic tour across Israel, Avidan & Ran Nir put together the band, who would become the Mojos: Ran Nir – bass guitar, Yoni Sheleg (Johnny Snow) – drums, Roi Peled – guitar, backing vocals, Hadas Kleinman – cello and himself Asaf Avidan – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica The original name of the band was "Asaf Avidan & The Mojo Jive Cats" but it was shortened to make it easier to pronounce.

The group played extensively and became very famous in Israel, and even got out to a tour in New York City in 2007. There, they also took part in M.E.A.N.Y. Fest (Musicians & Emerging artists New York) advancing to the finals.

The band released three albums each year 2008, 2009 and 2010 and disbanded in July 2011.

The Reckoning (2008)

In 2007, Asaf Avidan & the Mojos went into the recording studio together for the first time, and recorded The Reckoning. The album’s 15 tracks blended rock, folk and blues with Avidan’s lyrics about relationships and betrayal.

The band had accumulated a huge live following in Israel and most record labels expressed interest. But Avidan decided to continue on the independent path, and with his brother and manager, Roie Avidan he founded Telmavar Records, on which The Reckoning was released in March 2008. It reached gold status in a year, platinum later, and would become the biggest selling independent record of all time in Israel. It was chosen as Album of the Year (2008) by various media, including Time Out Tel Aviv.

"Weak", the second single of the album, became a huge radio hit and its video was Video of the Year on Israel’s music channel. "Weak" would also be the title song of the film "L'Arbre" (English title The Tree) by Julie Bertuccelli, which starred Charlotte Gainsbourg and was the closing film at Cannes Film Festival 2010.

While several European labels put offers on the table, the band opted to embark on a self-funded summer tour in 2009, playing dozens of festivals and venues across Europe. By the end of that summer, Telmavar Records signed a licensing deal with Sony-Columbia in Europe, for "The Reckoning" and for the band's future second LP. The Reckoning was released in parts of Europe in 2009, to generally good reviews.

In 2012, the "Reckoning Song" of the album became popular in Germany by a remix of DJ Wankelmut. It was available on Soundcloud for months before it was released as a proper digital release named "One Day / Reckoning Song (Wankelmut Rmx)". The track charted on sales charts in June 2012 and reached number 1 in August. The "Reckoning Song" is played during the 2013 German movie "Hannas Reise".

Poor Boy / Lucky Man (2009)

Poor Boy / Lucky Man, the band's second album, was released in Israel on 9/9/09. The album's title song and main theme would revolve around a boy born with a hole instead of a heart. The album was originally released in two different names and covers, leaving it up to the audience to decide whether this figure was poor or lucky. It would reach gold status in Israel in 5 months, and garner ecstatic reviews. It was released in parts of Europe in April 2011. Among others, it was album of the month on France's national FIP radio, in the newspaper Libération, and in Germany's Eclipsed magazine.

The band continued to tour non-stop from 2009 all through 2011 (mostly in Israel and Europe but also in the US, Canada, China and India), building up a devoted following and a reputation for a legendary live show. Amongst the hundreds of shows, they played at Brandenburg Gate at The World Championship of Athletics in Berlin; at the closing event at Cannes Film Festival 2010; at China's biggest May 1 festivals; and at a tribute concert for The Who in Carnegie Hall, New York. They played at dozens of festivals across Europe including Solidays in France, Latitude Festival in the UK, Paleo Switzerland, Frequency Austria, and Haldern Pop in Germany, as well as a number of radio and TV shows including Taratata and One Shot Not in France, and two Rockpalast performances in Germany.

Through the Gale (2010)

On November 30, 2010 the band released their 3rd album in Israel, Through the Gale, a concept album telling the tale of the voyage of a blind and stubborn captain and his loyal crew in search of immortality, to the realms of the gods themselves, only to understand at the end that a voyage with no home, that a life without death, is meaningless.

Solo career

During their 2011 summer tour Asaf Avidan & the Mojos had shared the stage with Robert Plant, Ben Harper and Lou Reed among others. In July 2011, they announced that they would take an indefinite creative break. Avidan said it was "because we all wanted to experiment with new sounds and different genres that we couldn’t really do in our band because we were about rock, blues, and folk".

Avidan had continuously played solo and duo acoustic shows throughout the band's career, including "regular" venue shows as well as a TED Global Conference performance, supporting Bob Dylan, playing a tribute concert for The Who at Carnegie Hall and many radio and TV performances.

In 2012, Avidan announced that he was leaving Sony to join Polydor Records (Universal Music), and that he was abandoning the Mojos for a solo career. Avidan toured Israel with a guitar, harmonica and added vocals. The response of the crowds to his intimate, acoustic shows were tremendous. Encouraged by this, Avidan agreed to perform in a series of low key events spread on 48 hours renditions of some of his earlier stuff in a small rented space in south Tel Aviv. The sessions were done without rehearsals, with simple guitar accompaniment in the presence of a select few friends. His acoustic performances were recorded without much studio production resulted in the limited release Avidan in a Box.

On February 13, 2013 Avidan performed a piano vocal version of his hit "Reckoning Song" at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy.

At the beginning of 2014, he went on solo tour in the U.S.,"venues are smaller, I’m driving my own van again...my girlfriend is with me, and it’s going to be this romantic traveling again".

Different Pulses (2012)

In 2012, he released the track "Different Pulses" in preparation for a solo international album to be made available in Israel in September 2013. Different Pulses was his first single which Avidan released with a music video made by director Vania Heymann. It has been compared to be "as carnal as the best work of Johnny Adams, Marvin Gaye and Al Green". The Boston Globe described it as "steeped in minimal R&B not unlike Frank Ocean". The New York Times mentioned his use of a kazoo to push his vocals even further which were "in the androgynous zone of altos and countertenors". Different Pulses was Avidan´s first studio album after the break-up of his band. In 2012, he released Avidan in a Box, an acoustic live album which covers older songs by him, digital copies only.

Gold Shadow (2015)

On January 22, 2015, Gold Shadow was released on iTunes and Amazon. and in the spring of 2015 Avidan went on an international tour. During his performance at Paradise Rock Club in Boston, the majority of his setlist was drawn from "Gold Shadow" and he also performed older tracks released under Asaf Avidan & the Mojos.

About being Israeli

In a March 2015 interview of the French newspaper Le Monde Avidan stated: "I don't really feel Israeli. As Israelis, what unites us is the fear. We are always the persecuted, and that is why I am no longer interested in living in Israel, to not feel that fear". Those words sparked a lot of controversy and media attention in Israel. Avidan responded by saying: "In every interview I gave from the first second I always said I am not an Israeli artist, but an artist from Israel. I am not coming to represent Israel. I am not a politician. I am not a diplomat. And as a son to diplomats I never wanted to be one".

Albums

(Seventeen acoustic live renditions of earlier songs)