The Israeli Rock Duo’s first international album features four songs of diverse styles and musical direction, inspired by the history of the Duo’s origins. Meeting at Kindergarten at age five, and starting their first band together at age ten, Ran Zilca and Amir Shwartz proceeded to form the rock band “Inch”, that toured the Tel Aviv clubs and continued to record and perform locally in the late 1980s. Fast forward 30 years of career and family, they reunited as Cadence, working with iconic Israeli producer Gil Smetana, releasing a debut album in 2019.
While inspired by the sights and sounds impressed in the minds of two 1970s Israeli kids, The lyrics of the songs of The Big Wheel are a reflection of the personal journeys of the two artists, today an AI researcher and a real estate engineer/entrepreneur, and both family men. Musically, the styles vary from alternative/electronic rock to old-school ballads, with a recognizable influence of modern European prog metal.
EP “The Big Wheel”:
https://nanadisc.lnk.to/TheBigWheel
In this new interview, we talk with the band about their new release, inspiration, music influences and future plans. Check it out bellow:
What can you say about this new release, the ep? “The Big Wheel” is our first international album, recorded in English. We always start our writing with the lyrics, and then construct the music around the words, so the change in language is quite foundational. The four songs represent the different dimensions of music we like to make: it could be slow or fast, energetic or mellow, but at its core it?s rock music with a sense of underlying force of emotions. We?d like to think of the lyrics sharing some common humanistic themes like love, the admiration of nature, and the constant quest for meaning in life?s journey.
How was the recording process of the EP? We are very fortunate to work with Gil Smetana, who is a true iconic music producer here in Israel and responsible for much of the music we listened to growing up. The three of us normally start with the campfire guitar version of the song, then experiment with different musical directions, and really try to keep an open mind in the studio. When working on The Big Wheel, we?ve put a good deal of emphasis on the style of vocals and the type of emotions we?d like the singing to convey. In addition, we tried to keep the different layers of instruments simple, leaving enough “room” for the presence of drums and percussion, as we always do.
If you had to pick one song, which one would you pick? They are all near and dear to us, but if we had to pick one it may be “Headphones”, just because of the simple rock hook-line and its groove. It?s normally our second song in our live shows, and tends to get the energy of the audience going.
Did you know each other before the band was formed? Our relationship goes back almost half a century… We met at age five in kindergarten, and formed our first band at age 10. The depth of our friendship makes it really easy to work together creatively. We sometimes feel like brothers who shared a room growing up.
Each band member?s favourite band? Since age 12, Ran has had a soft spot for the raw hard rock of AC DC, and in recent years listening to a lot of nordic prog like Leprous, Katatonia, and Soen. Amir is also into big prog , as a drummer he is a Gavin Harrison fan and loves Porcupine Tree and The Pineapple Thief. Also listens a lot to Dream Theater.
Who or what inspires you to write songs? We humans share an underlying complexity of daily life that is sometimes hard to put into words and much easier to express in music. We both try to live a daily life full of meaningful experiences that evoke contemplation and reflection, which ends up finding its way to our songs.
What?s the meaning of the name “Cadence”? One half of our rock duo is a drummer 🙂 So percussion and rhythmic themes are a big part of our writing process. The name “Cadence” attempts to capture that. We love how this name rolls off one?s tongue. It really conveys a sense of speed and motion. In addition, it?s also representative of the pace of daily life nowadays, where so much happens so fast.
Can you give us a tip of great rock bands from your country? Growing Up we were fans of “Eifo Hayeled” and were very fortunate to host their lead singer Hemi Rudner as a guest in the debut show of one of our recent albums. Another tip is Berry Sakharof, possibly considered to be the great priest of Israeli rock in the past few decades.
How is the independent and underground scene in your country? There is a very vibrant indie music scene in Israel. The musical influences here are truly eclectic, so you can hear some very interesting music being made mixing elements of classic hip hop, rock, and pop, with Middle-Eastern and European themes. Both of us (as most guys of our generation) are children of immigrants, and our parents listened to very different types of music at home when we were growing up.
Is there new material coming soon? What can we expect? There?s a full pipeline of singles coming up, with lots of surprises in musical style, guest artists, and more. Our fans on Spotify should expect a new song alert every 6-8 weeks next year (so subscribe if you haven?t yet! 😉
Something to add? A word of deep gratitude to our fans around the world. Being able to reach the lives of many people through music is a childhood dream come true. Thank you.
