43 So, Aviv hello, and welcome once again to our country. We are looking forward to the release of the “Blackfield IV” album on August 26. Can you tell us a bit more about it? Yes, on this album we got something like a dream team with great guests to Blackfield, such as Suede and Mercury Rev, who did a few songs in here. It’s still Blackfield sound, it’s me and Steven. I’ve written music and lyrics to all the songs of the album; Steven played his guitars… the old same Blackfield sound, in a way! What is the exact contribution of Steven Wilson to the album? He mixed the album, he played guitars and he sang on the album. Since our third album, “Welcome to my DNA,” I took control not only of music and lyrics, but of everything. I got more freedom. And because Steven quitted for the mid-time, I am still there with the orchestra and all the stuff. When do you express your feelings better, when composing your own mu-
sic, or when you’re writing the lyrics? Yes, you know, all Blackfield songs from the first album are mine, so it’s more or less the same feeling. For me it’s important to have something like messages in our songs. We talked about the “pills” problem, about your government and mine in a way, that still idiotic and lunatic people ruin and terrorize our lives; it’s about what the world will become. At that point we haven’t changed at all. Blackfield have been active for thirteen years now; plus, counting your solo career as well, you have released more than twenty albums. Do you ever feel tired of all that? Have you ever thought to stop? Not really, because when I have all these new songs for the Blackfield album, I go to studio, I go to Steven, we have the new album, we want to tour… Steven and I and all the band, we want to go on tour and play in Europe and in States, on February. And we are definitely coming to Athens. For me to come here, and
Athens to be the first place to give some interviews and talk about the new album is a very happy moment. I’m feeling loyal to the Greek audience, because they were the first ones to support me and I want to start from here. You have a special connection with the Greek audience… Tel Aviv and Athens are very similar because we are very close. Same people walking on the streets, same shops, same coffee bars, warm people… and, you know, people in Greece love the same music we love in Tel Aviv like Radiohead and Depeche Mode. Big, epic, sensitive... So you come from an artistic family. Your sister is an actress and a director and your father a writer and a poet. How all this artistic surrounding affected your personality and your choice to become an artist? I’m coming from something like a royal family in Israel. It started with Moshe Dayan, the Prime Minister; he was like an idol in Israel. And then all the
artists came after, my dad and my sister and me. Is it easy to pursuit and achieve a career in arts in Tel Aviv, and Israel in general? I think it’s like Greece, the country is too small and the market is very tiny. Tel Aviv is very big but I never wanted to lie on my ego, and be great in Aviv and popular. For me it’s more important to do this interview here, than stay only and do things in Tel Aviv. It’s a common thought here that an artist is at the most of the time someone who will succeed very difficult, and will never earn a lot of money... You’re right about that, but my love with Greece started from my mother. She got her B.A. in Philosophy. So when I was really young she told me about all these and I know it by heart, maybe better than you! So, your main themes in your lyrics are about philosophy, death, depression and darkness in general. Do you still feel the
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