ON the road on a world wide tour for the last two years, Israel born Amit Duvdevani and Erez Aizen are a fun-loving, wise cracking duo who sent the hard-partying music lovers in the Twin Cities into sheer frenzy. These guys, who share a passion for movies and love good food from around the world, chat with Expresso in an exclusive interview about music, improvisations and life on the road.
Why did you guys change over to live guitars and percussions on stage?
Well, to be honest, we were bored! Hunched over the console isn’t our idea of fun. Then we added the guitar and drums on stage and the crowd loved it. So we stuck to our guns, blending genres to get at our own sound, which again, evolved continuously.
What part of being a live band do you guys love the most?
Apart from being on the move constantly, we absolutely love the life on the road. Our main drive to making music is the way our music works with the audience; it’s about returning the energy back to the audience and driving them into a tizzy. It’s a lot of fun being on the road, this is what we do, and do best. Although we must admit that after two years of constant touring, we now look forward to returning home to our families.
Tell us a bit about the inception of the band, how did you guys meet up?
Well I went back to Israel after a trip to Goa and Met Erez there. Both of us grew up on a steady diet of music of varying genres, including bands like Metallica, as well as German Metal bands, whom we idolised. We also have had a bit of training in music as kids, gradually; the band came into being during the late 90’s.
How would you guys define your sound, considering that it has seen through many phases?
A good way to describe our music might be as crazy electronic music. We end up making a broad spectrum of tunes ranging from dancefriendly grooves, slow melodic passages to hiphop beats as well as crunchy metal riffs you could head bang to, and the sound keeps changing every time. As far as the current scene goes, we will continue to make some more crazy music for a long, long time.
After the completion of the tour, what’s on the cards for Infected Mushroom?
Well, we are working on a DVD that will hopefully see the light of day in a few days’ time. Until then, websites like youtube has a bunch of our videos, which fans have uploaded over time.
We would love to jam with some of the bands we have grown up with, and continue making great music for years to come.
Speaking of musical styles, who would you guys count as your main musical influences?
Having grown up to the sounds of punk and metal bands, we dig the sounds of Metallica, Pantera, Korn and Linkin Park. Among electronic artists we love the sounds of Hallucinogen and Chemical Brothers. Although we should tell you that we keep peering into newer sonic dimensions in order to make fresh music every time.
So Amit, is there an Indian connection you would want to share with our readers?
(Laughs) Just so you know, Amit happens to be a very common name in Israel. Though I’ve been in India couple of times, I’m as Israeli as they come.
What do you guys love most about India?
Well, from our earlier travels in the country, we really love the warm, affectionate nature of the people here, and the food, of course! We simply love the range of delicious desserts and the chicken tikka. We have loved India every time we have been here.
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