Friday is ‘Muzik Market’ day

Musicians from all over will be heading to Tel Aviv tomorrow for their annual gathering to make connections, compete for studio and radio time.

By DAVID BRINN
RONEN HERUTI 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
RONEN HERUTI 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
For many people, Friday is shuk day in preparation for Shabbat. But a different kind of shuk is taking place this Friday in Tel Aviv and there won’t be a vegetable in sight.
The annual Muzik Market at the Muzik School of Creation and Production is bringing together dozens of musicians and songwriters for five hours on Friday afternoon at their south Tel Aviv location. According to the school’s director, Ronen Heruti, the goal is to create connections for the musicians and students who spend most of their time holed up in their rehearsal spaces or bedrooms practicing and recording by themselves.
“The whole basis of our school is to help the students develop and cultivate their individual talents,” said Heruti who founded Muzik 14 years ago.
“But there’s a limit to what they can accomplish alone. On the one hand, today you have Myspace and Facebook and file sharing where musicians collaborate with each other, but it still doesn’t replace meeting each other face to face. That’s when other things happen.”
“The Musik Market, which is taking place for the third time, enables musicians to leave their virtual bubble for an afternoon and get exposed to what their colleagues are up to. And it can prove to be a catalyst for some musical matchmaking.”
According to singer/songwriter Alona Daniel, who has taught Performance at the school for the last two years, musicians and performers often are in search of different collaborators depending on the needs of the music.
“Musicians today, more so than in the past, work on lots of temporary projects. And they might need different musicians for each project – a particularly nuanced drummer for this song, a certain sound man for another project,’ she said.
“The Musik Market lets you meet them – and hear them and enables you to create your own impression.
It’s like everybody is auditioning for everyone else.”
“There are lots of phone numbers exchanged,” added Heruti.
The school’s auditorium, rehearsal rooms, classrooms and studios will be opened up from 11 am to 4 pm on Friday for the country’s biggest musical jamboree. One section will be devoted to performances by bands in need of either another member, someone to write material, a producer or a soundman. Another section has been coined the ‘singer-songwriter’ section, where solo acoustic performers who are also in the market for a helping hand will be performing their songs.
ALL THE performances will be recorded and uploaded to the school’s Myspace page and voted on, with the winning artists receiving studio time, distribution of the song on Linkton and ‘song of the week’ status on radio station Reshet Gimmel.
Additional exhibitions will be devoted to players looking to join bands in which they’ll be given the chance to strut their stuff, a meeting between rappers, DJs and electronic musicians, and a sound and production exhibition enabling artists to meet the masters who make them sound good.
It’s all part of Muzik’s effort to think out of the musical box, a philosophy which has attracted professionals like Daniel to its staff.
“I really connect to the school, it’s not only strong in music theory but also in practical performances. It gives you the chance to work on the tools that are most relevant and needed to be a musician today,” said Daniel, who attended the prestigious Rimon School of Music, graduating in its inaugural class along with colleagues like Eran Tsur and Etti Ankri.
“Rimon concentrated more on jazz and theory and composition, but Muzik is more current – you have people studying electronic music and DJs. – it offers something different.”
With 300-350 students attending the school each year, Muzik has expanded its curriculum to include courses on helping musicians learn the skills to advance themselves in the music business, and the Musik Market is one of those enablers.
Within the country’s tiny confines, one might surmise that every musician knows each other already, but according to Heruti, it’s not often the case.
“There is that feeling that we think we know every other musician in the country, but it’s not correct,” said Heruti.
“Music is often created alone and there’s a big degree of isolation.
At some stage, you’re going to need other people and other tools.”
Even if you’re not particular looking for a bass player, the Muzik Market – taking place at Rehov Ben Shemen 4 – will be a unique opportunity to hear some of the talent the local music scene has to offer – and best of all, it’s free. Even for the performers.
The performance slots may have been filled up by press time, but interested parties can email Eilatroller@muzik.co.il Just remember to go to the ‘other’ shuk beforehand.