INTERVIEW - MEIR YANIV, ABUSED ROMANCE

 

By Todd Jolicouer

 

 

Toddstar: So first of all, let me say thank you for taking the time out for the Rockpit. We really appreciate a first crack at you guys.

Meir Yaniv: Of course buddy, of course man. I’m excited to do this. I’m talking to you from somewhere. I have no idea where I’m at even. So it’s perfect. (Laughing)

Toddstar: (Laughing) Well, I’m talking to you from Detroit but actually my base camp is out of Perth, Australia, so.

Meir Yaniv: Oh really? That’s pretty nice.

Toddstar: Yeah. Well, let’s jump into the band and the tour. How’s the tour going? You guys are opening for Egypt Central. How’s that working out?

Meir Yaniv: Yes, we’re touring with Egypt Central and it’s just awesome. Egypt Central is, ah, been super, super nice and they really give a fantastic show to the fans. Our first tour was with Egypt Central and we learned a lot from them. Right from the get-go on the first tour with Nonpoint and Egypt Central. It was just packed with energy and we really changed, in the form and it made us a lot more aggressive on stage. So now together us and Egypt Central, it’s an awesome night - just take the town hard. They do this thing you know. People are having a blast and their sponsor is great. The places are great and the people are coming to a show that is awesome. Plus, us and Egypt Central, we’re all really good friends, you know, like from the first tour.

Toddstar: Oh, ok.

Meir Yaniv: So, we’re very, very good friends. Actually they came to Los Angeles about 2 months ago. They came & had a show and I was hanging out with them there and I got to say hi to them and stuff. Then I started talking about the tour and they were like “Hey, you know, we should do this again.” So we responded to that and boom about 2 weeks after that we were together. So it’s just awesome.

Toddstar: Awesome. Last time I saw you (in Detroit) you were on the Trapt tour. How’s that dynamic of the crowd from Egypt Central different from Trapt?

Meir Yaniv: Very different. Egypt Centrals crowd is more of a hard rocking crowd. They’re more into the heavier stuff as crowds go, and they go to the heavier side of the stuff. More screaming, more half-time parts, heaviness, and the Trapt crowd is a little more mainstream. The Trapt crowd is not a hard rock crowd, you know they can go all the way to Katy Perry and Egypt Central crowds like Egypt Central and heavier. So it’s completely different when it comes to the crowds.

Toddstar: Well I was going to say, listening to your music - that was the first time I had seen you guys live, but if you just listen to the EP, which I listen to all the time, actually “Sound of Violence” on “Vaporizer” great for getting on the elliptical so….(Laughing)

Meir Yaniv: Thanks man. (Laughing) Glad you like it.

Toddstar: Yeah, but I find you guys are well suited for both of those crowds. Do you find that the heavier crowd is kinda getting into you guys because you’re not the typical screamo type metal band? Do you find that the crowd is still digging you guys?

Meir Yaniv: Yeah, yeah they’re totally involved because of what we do. We just know when this is the type of music the crowd is expecting. We’ll just come in and play heavier songs; you know what I’m saying? Add a little more and I’ll do a little more output so it’s just very, very rocking. The crowd that is listening to the heavier stuff is waiting for a particular sound and you know it’s an attitude, so we’ll just bring our attitude. So we’ll rock heavier, so we learned how to do that on the Nonpoint tour. You know, we came in and it was a very, very heavy tour, even heavier than this one when it comes to the crowd. We fit right in because we just come in and play really heavy, you know?

 

Toddstar: I’ve got no doubt that you guys pull that off. The EP is great and I know you guys have got the new album done. I think you guys are waiting to throw on a second disc. What can fans of the EP expect out of the full album?

Meir Yaniv: The full album is a lot more diverse. It has, you know we got the mentality of “if the song is good, we’ll play it.” We won’t skip on a song because it’s too heavy, too soft, too personal, or very basic; we’ll go with whatever we are, whatever gets us excited. Naturally, the songs that come out are extremely, extremely diverse in their tone. On the EP, you get the same idea but it’s a very, very short version of the full album, so also on the full album we’ll have songs that are not like super, super hits. Some songs that are more like B sides stuff, but we just thought are awesome and people are going to enjoy them regardless if they will be on the radio or not. On the EP, the songs are more radio friendly type of vibe so we went for it but I think, I think it shows us in a more rounded way.

Toddstar: Ok, now who does most of the writing? Do you guys write this stuff as a band or do you find that because you’re the vocalist, you write more?

Meir Yaniv: Yes, I do most of the writing but it’s only because its vocals. Some writing you know is more is more of ah, of a passion. For example, somebody that plays an instrument is not necessarily always going to write the songs because they play the parts. I like to write songs more than I like to play guitar. I love guitar, but I love to write songs even more so. I started writing songs when I was 12, so naturally I keep on writing and writing and really have an input when it comes to the chords and instruments and the other thing is the majority of my music is from my soul.

Toddstar: Ok, well let’s talk about your homecoming show. That little stretch of tour that you did. How were the shows back in Israel?

Meir Yaniv: Amazing. It was incredible. We were in our hometown heroes, we were the biggest band ever to come out of Israel and it was really special because our families came, our friends came, people that saw us grow up. A lot of fans that we didn’t know who we are came to the show and we got a lot of love, you know. It was really cool and we used this time to re-group. I’m used to English. So it was funny to finish a song in English, speak in Hebrew in the middle then back to singing in English then talking Hebrew. (Laughing)

Toddstar: That’s cool.

Meir Yaniv: It was great. It was a really great show.

Toddstar: Good, good. Well I know you guys are busy, you’re on the road and I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I have a couple questions that I want to wrap up with. One, if you weren’t playing music today, what would you be doing with your life?

Meir Yaniv: So not doing music at all. I don’t know - maybe have an ice cream shop. (Laughing)

 

Toddstar: That’s good in my book. Next, in the history of music, if there’s one piece of music you could say you’d written or performed that isn’t yours. What would it be?

Meir Yaniv: Woodstock.

Toddstar: You would have liked to perform at Woodstock?

Meir Yaniv: Yeah, if I could play in any era, what era would I play in, right? Woodstock, the late 60’s early 70’s. You know it was ah, when live music was it. It’s still very big. I don’t know why, I just think it was wild. I’m in to that. Actually, I really like the era today because people today, they just come in to have a good time and they want it heavy. I like to play heavy, so for me it’s awesome, because people just want to come in and rock out. It’s working well for us, because we’re a band that likes to come and play hard. It would be a toss-up between this one and the Woodstock era.

Toddstar: Ok, last question before I let you go. What’s the meaning of life?

Meir Yaniv: Meaning of life? (can’t understand him - his phone is breaking up - gets disconnected)

Meir Yaniv: Hey, Todd sorry.

Toddstar: Hey. No problem, lost you somewhere in the middle.

Meir Yaniv: Yeah, the meaning of life. Sometimes it’s what did you leave behind when you left you know, when life is over what did you leave behind and who… (phone is breaking up again) Everybody has a purpose on this planet and in my case I believe that my purpose is to make music and you know, give people moments and so… (breaking up again - gets disconnected again)

Toddstar: Ok, let’s give it one more shot on the whole what is the meaning of life thing. (Laughing) I keep losing ya.

Meir Yaniv: I’ll give it a shot. I think that the purpose of life is affecting people and leaving something behind when you’re gone for everybody, for your families, for you know, the world, and the meaning of life is really what energy and what influence you leave on people after you’re gone. I feel that my life is about giving people music, giving people happiness, and moments with my music and how we have impacted their life so they can enjoy it, they can go thru some rough times and beautiful highs. My purpose, my purpose is to do the best that I can.

Toddstar: Oh cool. That’s a great answer. Well I know you guys are traveling thru some weird zones and stuff and I’ve got a day job to get back to, but I wanted to thank you so much for the time for the Rockpit today.

Meir Yaniv: Thank you so much brother. Take care man.