ISLAND RECORDS SIGNING YOAV performed and talked exclusively to the INSTITUTE

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance recently played host to yet another up and coming star. Yoav, who is signed to Island Records, is an incredible musician who has been described as "Damien Rice produced by the Neptunes, or an acoustic Nine Inch Nails, or Beck meets Buckley meets Björk".

The Institute was lucky enough to speak exclusively to Yoav after his performance, where he explained how he arrived at his unique sound and approach.

“I created the loops at home to write with, and they became so integral to the songs that we used them on the record”. However, this presented problems later on, he said: “it was a real ordeal working how to do it live…I had to remake the record to perform it live”. The result is that a few of the loops have to be pre-loaded, but he always builds upon them which adds an element of uncertainty and spontaneity. “I like the ones that keep you on your toes!” he commented.

This unique approach has grown out of his eclectic mix of influences. Yoav told the Institute: “I started listening to the classic singer/songwriters, Lennon and Simon, but as I got older I got into rock such as Soundgarden. Later, I was one of the first people in my town listening to Hip Hop”. Interestingly, Yoav also explored Indian music: “I took lessons on Tabla, but I realised that to play them properly, it’s such a commitment that I had to just do that or go back to guitar. It was worthwhile experience, as I took the idea of the twenty five different sounds that you can make on a Tabla and applied it to the guitar. I started to think like a DJ on a guitar. I was doing it before the loop pedals were available with a long echo; I was basically making techno beats on the guitar. I started banging on the guitar as a songwriting technique.”

Yoav is keen to avoid the classic guitarist singer/songwriter tag, explaining “Genre crossing is my thing. I want to be considered a self contained musical entity, such as Bjork or Beck.”

Yoav performed five tracks from his album for a full house of Institute students, and everyone present was enchanted and drawn into his musical world. Afterwards, he happily answered questions and chatted to the students before heading off to sound check for his evening gig at Camden’s Roundhouse. Keep your ears and eyes open for him, he’s going to be huge!