Infected Mushroom rocked the stage in a unique way on Oct. 30. The Israeli techno band, now internationally famous, brought an energy that surpassed all of the other bands at Live 105's Subsonic Spookfest. Indeed, their music also stood out, diverging from "classical" techno by adding guitar, drums, and keyboards to their sound. Duvdev, their lead singer, enlivened the performance by adding both lyrics and a bounce-filled energy. The Mushroom maintains that they identify more strongly as musicians than as Israelis. They have said countless times that Israel is simply their country of origin, and that Judaism no more inspires their music than any other style or heritage. When I interviewed Duvdev, he explained that they would naturally be inspired by the music of their home country, both Jewish and Israeli. But the similarity was greater than that. Duvdev's role onstage revealed his substantial (if unintended) connection with his Jewish roots. In Klezmer (upbeat traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe), each band would include a Master of Ceremonies (MC). The musicians would play the music, and the MC would jump around, inspiring the audience to get up and dance, and interacting with the band members to keep them excited. This was...
Continue reading A Heritage Coupled with Drumbeats.
