Chen “Moscoman” Moscovici is a musician, producer, and one of the pioneers of the electronic sound that currently rules the underground in Tel Aviv — even though he’s based in Berlin. He also runs an influential label called Disco Halal that mixes traditional electronic sounds with international flavors. We talked to Mosco about the multicultural mileu of modern Israel, the huge influence of New Wave on contemporary Israeli music, his take on Israeli’s place in the world of music.

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What he does:

Moscoman runs a label called Disco Halal that focuses on contemporary Israeli artists but that also includes artists like Simple Symmetry, from Moscow, and Turkish-Swiss house producer Mehmet Aslan. Much of the music on the label, a regular listener will notice, has a strong Middle Eastern influence.

“The Middle Eastern sound is embedded in [Israelis],” Moscoman says. “We were from Europe before our families came to Israel, but the more you’re in the Mediterranean, the more the Middle Eastern vibe sticks in you.”

The expatriat

Mosco — who was on vacation in Miami when we spoke — is based in Berlin, not Tel Aviv. Ironically, living in the world capital of electronic music may have driven him creatively closer to home. “These Middle Eastern edits — I don’t think I would have done it in Israel,” Moscoman says. “But in Berlin… I missed this kind of thing.”

“Israel is a very interesting place — it has the attributes of every country in the world, from the U.S. to Iran,” he adds.

For Moscoman, the Tel Aviv scene, despite the explosion of music in the last few years, is still a little too claustrophobic for comfort.”[In Israel] there is no place to grow,” he says. “I am part of the Tel Aviv scene, and I am one of its pillars and I do go there a lot, but I’m not part of the swamp of being in a small scene.”

The six-string secret

What gives the Israeli scene its special flavor? “Guitars,” Mosco says, without a beat. “[Guitars] weren’t used in a club kind of way [before].” He also cites the distinctive brand of New Wave music that overtook Israel in the ’80s — an influence we have heard cited by other Tel Aviv producers, too.

“If you listen to music like [’80s Israeli New Wave band] Minimum Compact, it was New Wave but in a Middle Eastern kind of way,” Moscoman says. “We were highly influenced by [that sound].”

Judaism and Israeli identity

We wondered, too, how Mosco perceived Jewish identity in relation to his everyday life as a working artist from Tel Aviv. “Everyone is Israeli — we don’t call each other Jews,” says Moscoman — even though, of course, Tel Aviv and Israel itself are about 75 percent Jewish. “I’m moderately conservative when it comes to Judiasm, I do celebrate high holidays, I do fast. But it’s a personal thing. It’s not about being a part of a big collective.”

Listen on for a conversation about Israeli identity, reggaeton, and Moscoman’s own serious love of Turkish music — plus a selection of some of Mosco’s favorite Israeli tunes.

Playlist:

Moscoman – Mexico Cola Bottle Baby
Rhetoric Band – Agenda
Red Axes – Dream Like a Tale
Autarkic – UFO
Matti Caspi – Lo Yadati SheTelchi Mimeni

 

MIX: