The Tel Aviv superstars know what Time it is. Huge new album on Lost & Found
Interview by Dan Prince
Dudes – welcome to DMCWORLD – where on planet earth are you right now?
“Right now we are in Tel Aviv, working on the live show for our album tour shows, starting here in Tel Aviv on Thursday at the famous Cat & Dog Club and then two days after we travel to play in Argentina at Pacha in Buenos Aires and MDM in Rosario.”
What was the first piece of music you both heard today?
Sahar: “Khen’s upcoming release on Sudbeat – “Sweet Break Up” – a beautiful EP.”
Guy: “The new album by Pink Floyd.”
“Once in a while an album appears that is distinctly special and has the ability to captivate audiences on a global scale, breaking through simplistic genre boundaries and uniting people through its exploration of the psyche of modern electronic dance music, asking questions and tasting possibilities, forging ahead into the future.” Now that my friends is how to announce an album! ‘Small’ – 11 tracks of beauty…please give us a few words on each of your new musical babies…
Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/lostandfoundrec/time-album-preview/s-aesHy
01. In The Beginning
We knew we needed an intro for the album, something that can give the audience hints of what the album is all about and this is the kind of the track that you can make only when you make an album and that’s the beauty of it.
02. Small Heart Attack feat. Amir Darzi
The original idea was to create a proper song as the acoustic version, but then we were playing around in the studio and the urge took us also to make a second version. Working with Amir Darzi was an amazing experience for us, he is such a divine singer and when he started to sing in the studio he flooded it with his amazing personality.
03. Sliding Doors
As the name of the track suggests, the feeling of this track is like something that goes round and round, up and up and you always find something new behind the door.
04. Future Memories
Minilogue is in the house.
05. Time To Treasure
This was one of the first tracks we made and everybody that has heard it tells us that its one of the best tracks in the album. To be honest we never felt the same about it, but we fell in love with this track after we played it out and saw the crowd reactions.
06. Rewind Us
We are also big fans of techno and wanted to do on track that was based on grooves and bass.
07. Survivors Guilt
For us, this has some kind of magical moments inside that only some tracks have.
08. The Greenwich Tunnel
This is a special track that is based on the tunnel in the UK. We where crossing through it and we were bewitched by the sound that our footsteps made, so we recorded some of the echoes and put them in the track.
09. Our Foggy Trips
As musicians we are always looking for this special moment and vibes that connect us to our inner child, something fresh, without feelings of fear. These moments are something that should be treated with care and captured in a way that is deserved. This track is something that we were able to make only after 8 months of deep & long studio sessions. It feels like we had to go a long way to get to this point where we were able to express our emotions in such clarity
10. Floored
This was the first track we made. We did it 2 years ago and we hadn’t even thought about making an album and hadn’t talked to Guy J about releasing it on his Lost & Found label. It has a feel good vibe and it captures the crowd in the same groove.
11. Temporary Sanity
We made this track during the time that Tel Aviv was under missile attack, a few months ago. We where sitting in the shelter with the sounds of alarms and explosions, but we had a deadline for the album to be finished so we knew that we must keep on working. The name & the music says it all, working in this situation made us find our temporary sanity.
Can you please explain just how much of a talent Amir Darzi is for us all, “he is like a Lennon for our era” you gush…
Guy: “I’ve known Amir since he was 18 (he’s 32 now) and he is one of the best singers I have heard in my life. I’ve seen him live many times and in these times of so much plastic music around, his vocals and songs are something that excite me more and more.”
Sahar – a famous quote from you…“I think, for many people, melody is something that has been missing a lot lately in music. You can go to a party and when you get back home you can’t remember even one track!” There must be some DJs out there doing it for you though?
Sahar: “Yes sure, Guy J, Hernan Cattaneo, Carl Craig, Tale Of Us…”
And Guy – when was the last time you had one of those Kazantip Festival/Bookashade/Eric Prydz moments…?
Guy: “Hehehe…It’s funny you remember this!! It was at the last Awakening at ADE 2014, one month ago. Pan Pot started their set with Cirez D.”
So guys, your friendship began 15 years ago. What were your first thoughts on each other?
Sahar: “I heard about Guy’s music a lot, he was making trip hop and chill out music and I got one of his albums. It didn’t take long before we where having some studio time together and making some sessions.”
Guy: “Sahar was one of the best techno DJs I have ever heard in my life. I remember myself as a teenager going to the raves in Tel Aviv and waiting for Sahar to start playing. He always had a kind of magic in his sets.”
Describe each other’s best qualities as a producer…
Sahar: “I love the fact that Guy comes from a musical background and not only from programming, he always wants things to sound not obvious and knows how to make them sound unique in his magical way. Guy is full of emotions and I have issues with expressing mine, but when we are working together it makes my emotions burst out in a natural way.”
Guy: “Sahar is the one that can give you the idea that will make the track what it is. He can take a complete track that we have just finished, erase everything, leave only one of two channels and make us start all over again! It can be frustrating sometimes, but after you finish it you realize he knew what he was doing. He is the person that has the biggest musical knowledge I know and he never compromises in his creations. This is probably because he has a big respect for the music from the good old days.”
Label boss Guy J has given you completely free license to express yourselves freely on ‘Time’. How important was that trusting attitude to the overall result of the album?
Guy: “Getting this free reign from Guy J, who is an artist we really respect and love and also knowing the fact that we truly understand his vision for the label’s sound, all of this created a perfect base for creating this album.”
Sahar: “Guy J had some ideas and things he wanted us to change a bit, but they were all more technical editing issues and not things that affected the music.”
How soon into the process of your work on the ‘FOUND’ mini-album series was it that a five-track format wasn’t going to be enough?
Guy: “Really, really soon! I think we knew it on the second track we made!”
Sahar: “We got flooded with ideas that needed to be expressed.”
Your tune of 2014?
Guy J – “Dizzy Moments.”
Your DJ gig of 2014?
Guy: “We’re hoping that this weekend at Pacha in Buenos Aires will be the one.”
Come on be brave – I know you both have one. What is your favourite track on the album? no no please 😉
Sahar: “Temporary Sanity.”
Guy: “In The Beginning.”
What is the future for yourselves and the album…we hear rumours of a live tour?
Guy: “Yes, we have album tour dates starting to come our way and we have decided that we want to give the audience and ourselves something that is more than just a DJ set, so we will make it kind of live with DJ elements. We have synths, iPad, EFX and more. It’s our first time performing this way and we are really excited to see how it will be.”
And finally…what is coming out next from you musically?
Guy: “We’re working on an EP for Microcastle together.”
Sahar: “I’m making a remix for Guy’s label Plattenbank and I have a release coming in 2015 on Hernan’s Sudbeat label.”
Guy: “I have 2 remixes for my label, one is for Mike Griego (a beautiful track – “Sofia”) and the second is for Chicola. I’ve also collaborated on a track with Nick Warren that will be out also in 2015 and a created a remix for Dave Seaman as well.”
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Guy Mantzur & Sahar Z ‘Time’
01. In The Beginning
02. Small Heart Attack feat. Amir Darzi
03. Sliding Doors
04. Future Memories
05. Time To Treasure
06. Rewind Us
07. Survivors Guilt
08. The Greenwich Tunnel
09. Our Foggy Trips
10. Floored
11. Temporary Sanity
12. Small Heart Attack feat. Amir Darzi (Acoustic Mix)
Guy Mantzur & Sahar Z – Time (Lost & Found) LF017 is out now http://www.beatport.com/label/lost-and-found/27599
Don’t miss the Lost & Found Showcase Party featuring Guy J, Guy Mantzur & Sahar Z @ The Qube Project, London on Saturday 29th November 2014 http://thequbeproject.com/event/lostfound
Stay in touch with Guy Mantzur https://www.facebook.com/GuyMantzur.official & Sahar Z https://www.facebook.com/sa.zangilevitch
