TripOutNY meets Dark Soho

By Ari Davidov via E-mail

Sagiv Boxer , Zeev Dukman , Omer (Rizo) Kadosh are Dark Soho, an outfit originally formed in Israel and now based out of London. Boxer is making a debut performance this weekend here in New York. Rizo and Boxer started out playing together in rock bands, and after a 3-4 year hiatus they met again, this time to produce electronic music. After working together for one year under the name Soho, they met their third member, Zeev, who at the time produced tracks as Dark Entity. After a successful test flight, a track called The Fusion, released on Shiva Space, they merged their creative energies into what became a household name to many infantry trance fans - DARK SOHO. Here is what Boxer had to say to the NYC Massive on behalf of the band:

1. How has the “Combustion” album been received worldwide and what makes it different for you from the previous album?

Well I think the main difference between the 2 albums is that the combustion is a bit more hard & got a bit of techno edge to it... the break bits r different & of course the production is much better then the Sunspot.... The thing is that with time u learn more & more about how u can make it sound better & to separate the frequencies so they wont be "screammy" to the ears & it will sound nice :) & actually ppl around the world seems to like it :p so that kewl :) heheh

2. How did you pick the artwork of “Combustion” album cover?

Nice 1 ... well a French guy name Cyril that lives in London did the art work for us..... he used to do stuff for metal bands & stuff like that so we thought it will fit to what we r looking for. The art work ended up looking like me actually :P although there was not interest in doing it that way :)

3. Who manages your group and for how long? Are you with a specific label right now?

We are signed now with Alchemy Records, a London based label that gained a lot of respect in the trance world in the last 2 years & is considered today as good as TIP Records & the other big labels around. The manager Shane Gobi is doing a great job for us & for the other artists on the label & the great thing about it is that most of the decisions we make together ... so that gives more respect for each other & we get good feeling like we have control on what’s going on & not just need to except it as THAT’S WHAT THERE IS! :) In the label what we try to do actually is to keep the music kewl funky groovy but different from what’s out there. The artists that singed in with us r Ground Zero, Fatali, Miraqulix, Rinkadink, Broken Toy & more. As I said .. keep it different :)

4. Who have you collaborated with lately and how do you like the experience of working with other artists?

Well in the last few months we’ve been working with a sitar player name ANUSHKA SHANKAR. We made 2 trx : 1 trance & 1 lounge chillout trc. It ended up VERY NICE & I really like the results. Maybe we gonna do an album together but we r not sure at the moment cause we both very busy... let’s see what will happen... all the doors r open :) We also made a track with Fatali when he was in London , we r good friends for long time (another kewl thing about alchemy... we all a bunch of friends) & we got some nice results as well.

5. What does each of you contribute creatively when working in the studio?

Well Dark Soho r 3 ppl working me (boxer) Rizo & Zeev now the work mainly done by all of us... but usually Zeev is the 1 that responsible for the production, sounds & all what’s got to do with the bloody computer :p Me & Rizo basically play the guitars & manage the flow of the tracks & stuff like that. When it comes to writing we all take part. Its not easy to work 3 ppl in the studio but I guess its part of the fun about it :P

6. You toured on the West Coast and in Canada at the end of last year, including a stop at Burning Man. How was that experience?

Well some was nice some was not so much .... Let me talk about the kewl things we had!! Guys the burning man festival ....MAN !! I dont know if I can say that in an interview but man.. This is FUCKIN HELL MAN !! The best festival I’ve ever been too !! For sure !! (well it took me like 3 days to recover from the shok :P heheh) but yeah fuckin great !! Also we had some good time in Oregon (that’s where the fun started actually, Canada was not so nice...) & we met some kewl friend there with Kevin on the lead. And then the trip ended with a bunch of friends (josh was on the lead) on a house boat private party ... Man, u guys know how to have fun around here !! I can never forget that boat trip. It was KILLLER !!! So I can say that mainly we had lots of fun coming here (I wish this time I was not alone & I could share the experience with my partners heheh)

7. How do you like New York? Are you planning a special Halloween set for our listening and dancing pleasure?

Well I didn’t see much of New York & to be honest big cities r not really my thing I’m more into nature & stuff.... much nicer so... I dono… but for the night I try to figure what I’m gonna do.... cause its Halloween & its supposed to be spooky but not boring... I guess I’ll make my set all the way through from the dark & creepy sound into the funky groovy full on sound (again I like to keep it special & not like the regular sound.... so in my set there won’t be any GMS, CPU & the sound we all know & got sick of :P)

8. You have played a lot in South America & Mexico lately, and are about to go on tour in Brazil. Is there a special connection you have with the fans there?

Well since I was a kid I had something like feeling for this place... I still don’t really know what it is but I can say that it is my favorite place on earth man... it’s killer there... parties r killer we got A LOT of fans there (I usually spend like 3 hours after each set signing T-shirts, body parts, taking pics & stuff like that... I love it there man the babes r killers the language is sooooooo sexy & the places man... the places... Caribbean beaches, jungles, springs & waterfalls nothing better man (except for the mosquitoes :P.... lol)

well anyway .. I love this place. Viva la Mexico!!

9. Do you like to do live PA or DJ better when playing at parties?

It depends..... the Dark Soho sound is not so easy to hear... I mean there r 2 option ... ether u love it or u don’t! So sometimes I like to play live but some time I like to play DJ set cause in live set its kind of ...mm.... u cant really change it if its not doing so good for the ppl... & DJ set.. If they don’t like this style u go to another direction until u find what they r after & then u play! But usually there is no problem with that :)

10. Where are you all from originally? What are the trance scene and the party scene in general like there these days? Any new producers/dj’s from there we should watch out for?

We all originally from Israel (Israeli artist rulz man !!) but we live in London... Israel is too hectic for us...& we got nothing to do with all the politics there.... I’m not sure about the trance scene in Israel these days cause we r not there but I know there r like 1000000 artists coming out every day from Israel... it seems like the situation makes ppl creative :P I don’t really know who will be the next star from Israel cause I stopped following a long time ago .. There r just too many of them... But I can say that Broken Toy from South Africa is KILLLLLER & 1 of my favorites today :p wait & listen... u gonna love him !

11. How old is each of you? Anyone married with children? Before you got your recognition, what did you all do for a living?

Well I’m 26, Rizo - 24 & Zeev 22, none are married (thank god :P) heheh, but Rizo is on his way I think... Well he got a really sweet girly & I believe it is the right thing to do though... no children for any of us.

b4 recognition ....mmmmm I was working in Dominos Pizza (LOL) while I went to college, Rizo was a light designer & travel for a while & Zeev.... lol well Zeev did nothing but music all his life (lucky bastard :P)

12. What else are you into besides the music?

mmmm

Traveling, music.... & I think that’s it.... that’s our life man. Nothing else will do it for us.... the feeling u get when u finish a killer track & the feeling u get when u play a kewl set on stage ....man .. there’s nothing like it !! that’s our drug & we r addicted !!

13. Do you think your style of metal-influenced psytrance has converted many rockers into trancers? Do you think more and more of them going in this new direction nowadays?

Well I can say that many ppl I know & met during the years came from metal back grounds & many of them found their way into trance cause there was something missing in the metal ... but actually there is something missing in the trance as well (that’s what we try to change) & if there is any 1 that got into trance from listening to Dark Soho then I achieved my goal! I think for the next album we gonna try another style that will include Dark Soho with some chick singers & me singing to try to get it to the next level of the mainstream sound after all if we will manage so there we have a new type of rock music with all the elements of the 22 century!! I wish us good luck!!

14. What is next for you? Tour, tour, tour? New release coming out soon?

Well at the moment tour tour tour ... I think the album will be ready for after the Summer .. We will finish it b4 for sure but this sound is not really a summer sound u know.... So after the summer it will be perfect to release it... about compilations.... I donno... I don’t like to release good guitar track for a compilation (after all, compilation is the second choice when it comes to releasing music... good tracks remain saved for the album) at the moment we got another project called Groud Zero & it combines us (Dark Soho) & DJ Shane Gobi, its mainly a full on project for fun & we might release an album b4 the summer… keep tuned :P

Questions from the Peanut Gallery…

from OggMod13@aol.com

Thanks for letting people ask you questions.

How do you feel about / are you into bands like Front 242, Apoptygma Berzerk, Covenant, KMFDM, Ministry, Sheep On drugs, My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult, Wumpscut, etc, Industrial, Electronic Beat Music = EBM; have any of these bands influenced your music?

Well my main influence comes from rock music mainly I like bands like Dream Theater (the GODS!!!) Iron Maiden, Cradle of Filth, Sirenia, Paradise Lost & stuff like that.... Actually I like it more then trance :p hehehe' I believe there’s nothing like a good guitar riff or a chiks vocals on top of the track to make it kickin as it should.... & to be honest trance is killer but there’s always something missing in it (for me anyway) so what we try to do as Dark Soho is to fill this gap with what we believe needs to be there to make it perfect (for us of course) & if u guys love it then we r MORE THEN HAPPY :) Mission accomplished!.

from Acid Trooper >

In ny, people like it rough and it is halloween so you have full approval

to drop slayer records and throw pigs blood at the crowd- Seriously. I

heard about this one hardcore dj in the midwest who fucks pieces of raw

meat while he spins. Emulate him.

Well I know its Halloween & all that but man .. I don think we shall scare ppl in this nasty way of throwing blood on them.... Don’t forget there is a psychologic effect to this kind of acts not to mention the shock that ordinary ppl can get from hearing " this DJ did something like that...” & man ... poor piglets... they did nothing to us..... I don’t mind to eat them but I don’t believe its nice to sucreligium it that way by playing with body parts.... so .. I’m NOT gonna do that! :p

10x alot

boxer

Thank you Boxer! Have a great time tonight and good luck with everything man!

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