Adar Alfandari stops by THEAUSSIEWORD.COM.
How and where did it all begin for you? What drew your interest to the music industry?
I began playing guitar when I was 9 yo, mainly copying my older brother who just started playing just because it looked cool. I kept playing and got pretty good for my age and it gave me motivation to play more and slowly build my personality as a teenager around it. When I was 13 I formed a rock band with my brother that eventually evolved to our band ‘Dor Hamabul’ and slowly started writing more on my own.
I think the freedom of expression for artists is what drew me first to the industry.
What motivates or influences you in your quest to make great music?
The most simple thing that motivates me right now is just the joy of playing and exploring. I feel like there are always more melodies, rhythms and progressions to discover and to make better stuff than the previous projects I finished.
And of course listening to new music that makes me want to create something at that level..
What are some of your biggest goals you hope to accomplish?
My biggest goals I hope to accomplish are to tour constantly, that feeds me more than anything else and I am a little addicted at this point to this feeling of connecting with an audience and creating those ‘one time’ versions of my songs on the spot.
And of course to reach a bigger audience and fanbase that will allow me to think less about the financial side and help me focus more and more on creating more music.
What can we expect from you in the coming months? Any plans to tour?
I am going to release more music from my upcoming second album which is going to be quite diverse in styles and genres.
And I plan a summer solo tour in July and August around Germany and Denmark, that I will share more information about soon!
Tell us a bit about your latest release and how would you best describe your music?
My latest release is called ‘Tracking Footsteps’, it’s a simple acoustic folk song. I wrote it during the pandemic while I was doing a sublet in a small village called ‘Mitzpe Ramon’ in the middle of the desert in Israel, to run away a little bit from the stress and the restrictions in the center.
While being there I used to go to the cliffs and watch the sunset and stars which are just magnificent to watch there. And in one of the evenings while doing so, this song was born fully in about 30 min. The text describes the appreciation for the sights and getting a little balance and proportions for my own struggles and concerns, as well as the constant search for a place I can call home.
I change the way I describe my music quite often because I just find it very hard framing it under a simple genre. I recently started writing ‘Playful alternative folk’ as the description of my style which works for me for now.
Give us an insight into your creative process. What gets you writing songs?
It almost always starts with a guitar riff (and recently also mandolin/oud). After messing up a bit around something, I find a progression that will probably include a main melody I like. Then I will play over it with a vocal melody and immediately look for another progression for the chorus or the B part, and then usually try to write a text in the energy of the melodies, if they’re dark probably something more sad, and the other way around, and usually I will also try to find a topic which will be inspired by the sounds.
Then I can either spiral with the text for a couple of months, writing bits and bits every couple of weeks, or write the whole text in less than an hour.
Everything makes me write songs, it can be boredom, it can be a melody that just jumps into my mind out of the blue, it can be people around me who inspire me, it can be nature, and many times it’s just random self reflections..
Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music?
I don’t think there is an inner meaning in my songs. I think my songs are trying to not teach you a specific value and more to just be a certain journey with an open end.
Success, what is the secret to it?
I don’t think I can answer that yet 🙂
But I feel that we for a reason hear so much about consistency and hard work. But personally I am more romantic about these things and always side honesty and love to the art above all, though it didn’t make me successful in pop industry levels yet.
What has been your biggest career highlight so far?
It’s difficult to put my finger on one thing, but I was immediately thinking about the release of my debut album. It has been a process of about 2 years, that felt so good to finally let go of, following this release I also reached numbers of streams and comments I never reached before, I was even placed in the homepage of apple music Israel, and got streamed in international radio stations and on Israeli TV, and eventually toured acoustically in Europe with this album for the first time.
Which stars of the music industry do you find inspiring?
I am a huge fan of Feist and Dan Aurbach, both of them did so many different projects that all just sound great. A crazy mix of great songwriting, hooky but unique melodies and the finest productions. I am a huge fan.
Are there any new projects in the pipeline?
For sure! I am currently finishing my second album and playing around at the same time with some other project ideas. My current favourite ideas that I think I will process with are forming a rock trio for my original songs that are a little more heavy and alternative for my solo project. And the other idea is doing an EP with a good Brazilian friend from Israel, mixing both our worlds in one specific project with a couple of tracks of mine and his.
The music industry is constantly changing, where do you see yourself a few years?
Practically with a few more albums out, exploring different genres and production styles while maintaining ‘my thing’ in some way in the process. And of course with more gigs in more locations, on a weekly basis hopefully because that’s just the thing I enjoy the most and think that’s the most honest way to spread my art.
What is your favourite and least favourite part about this line of work and why?
My favourite is certainly playing concerts and going to the studio to record, and my least favourite would be doing my own PR and pitching for coverages and playlists.
Name a few of your favourite Australian artists.
Angus Young would be my first name, I play a Gibson SG reissue 61’ as my main electric guitar since I’m 14 and I got this guitar because Angus plays it when I was a teenager who loved AC\DC. Even though I listen to other stuff now, his style of playing inspired me a lot as a guitar player. I also love Nick Cave and Matt Corby.
The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye?
I would say I do love the freedom we can have as artists in the modern music industry, and the fact the we don’t really need the help from a major label to reach out to our target audience, but this freedom is also problematic, because there are so many options and small services nowaday- from small labels, to PR services, radio plugging, booking, sync… and it is quite endless and confusing and gives the feeling that we as independent artists with a very limited budget should have a full team working for us. But of course that also makes us way stronger as individuals and artists and probably ready to face success better than in the past.
How will you continue appealing to the international market?
I will keep booking shows outside of Germany or Israel, reach out to blogs internationally just like yours, and keep releasing new music that will have the option to spread around the globe.
Do you collaborate with others? Who is on your wish-list?
I did some collaborations in my second upcoming album, I featured two amazing singers I met in Berlin in some songs. Lotta st. Joan, who I am personally a big fan of, sang harmonies in 3 of my songs. And Paula Klee from the band ‘Romie’ sang a duet with me in another unreleased track!
More exciting collaborations are planned for the near future but I will keep it a secret for now 🙂
What advice do you give for other artists wanting to follow in your footsteps?
I would suggest not overthinking musical projects and to just go to a studio with a certain plan, in which you can actually see an end. We always get better if we’re constantly in the releasing and writing process. And I am a big fan of letting songs go and keep going and improving.
A message for your fans. How do you best interact and respond with your followers and fans?
I really appreciate your support and that’s one of the main things that gives me the power and energy to keep doing this. I interact best over Instagram with my fans and followers probably so feel free to write to me anytime.
Any last words?
Thank you Brian for this lovely in depth interview and for the readers for getting through all my words and broken English. If you want to hear more and stay updated feel free to follow me on IG where I update more regularly or listen to my music on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and everywhere else.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adaralfa/
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