Ori was one of our discoveries at this year’s edition of Torstraßen Festival, which has become an important hub for Berlin underground music. His music just fit perfectly into the fresh vibe of the festival, we really liked his cover of “Archangel” by Burial. Most striking about Ori are his sense for great melodies and his voice. He also is a great songwriter. His style is equally nourished by folk and electronic and gains a lot through the samples and his voice arrangements. Ori originally is from Jerusalem, but has lived in Berlin for several years now. He has released one album so far called “Unwind” and is working on a new release. He will be opening tonight for Corrina Repp at ACUD Club. We asked him three questions about one of the samples he used, voice loops and his Burial cover.
On “Unwind” you were using a voice sample of a man that seems to speak Yiddish. Could u tell us where you found it?
This specific sample that you are talking about was recorded in my old apartment in Jerusalem. We had only one channel in our television (it was the local Israeli channel) and late at night they used to play a replay of some really old Israeli television series, so I just brought my mic and press record. The “yiddish” sample is actually half Yiddish half Hebrew and it was taking from a play about “The Book of Ester.”
Voice samples are a very prominent part of your live shows. How did you come up with the idea to use vocals that way?
Well, five years ago I got my first loop station as a birthday present from my friends, it had only one input and it felt natural to me to plug in my mic in there. When I think about it, this day has changed the way I feel, hear and create music.
After doing a lot of experiments I saw a live video of Peter Broderick looping one of his songs and he has blown my mind away. I have started to look at the loop station more as a machine that creates songs and less as music instrument that filled the songs.
At Torstraßen Festival you were covering “Archangel” by Burial. Could you tell us what the track means to you and what you like about it?
I discovered Burial’s music only one year ago and Archangel was the first track I’ve heard of him. This track is so beautiful, I just couldn’t get it out of my head – I just had to play it. I think this is usually what happens to me when I cover a song, the melody is stuck inside of me and I have to let it out.
