At His Peak

An interview with the glam rock king of Israeli pop – Svika Pik.

By TAL LADO
svika pik (photo credit: Courtesy)
svika pik
(photo credit: Courtesy)
No music issue would be complete without some blast from the past. For this reason, we were very pleased to get a chance to talk to Svika Pik, a legend in his own right and an important presence in Israel’s current music scene.
Known to some as Israel’s David Bowie, Svika Pik has been a prominent pop singer and songwriter since the 1970s. Part glam rock, part hippie, and part cult icon, Svika Pik played a lead part in the Hebrew version of the musical Hair in the early 1970s. The movie is still so beloved that you can see showings of it today. During this period, he was also voted “Israeli Male Singer of the Year.”
Then, he became a prominent pop songwriter for many famous Israeli singers. In 1998, he wrote the song that Dana International sang and won at Eurovision, “Diva”. He also wrote songs for several other Israeli Eurovision contestants, including Sarit Hadad and Harel Skaat.
In 2002, Svika Pik received an usual form of flattery: A musical based on his old hits.
The national theater of Israel, Habima Theater, staged the musical, called Mary Lou. Eytan Fox, one of Israel’s leading film directors, even adapted it for a television version in 2011. After this, flamboyant Pik started to show up all over Israeli TV. He’s had a top spot in the Kochav Nolad judging panel, a reality show (Ha’Maestro) and a TV series (Tamid Oto Chalom).
Now, ten years after his last album came out, Pik is finally working on a new album for himself. With two new singles, “Roni Sheli” and “Eyna’aim Kchoolot”, rocking up the radio stations, a hit chart of all of his songs in Reshet Gimel, and a shiny new title from Variety under his belt, we thought it was a good time to talk to the maestro himself and hear what he has to say:
It’s your first album after almost ten years. Why now? I finished all of my other jobs, in Kochav Nolad, in Ha’Maestro and in the Eurovisions. I’m done with all these other things, and it just felt like the right time. Sometimes you want to do something, and sometimes you don’t, and now I feel like doing it. Now it’s the time to do something for me.
What is the new album going to sound like? It is very diverse. It was recorded in five different studios, with five musical producers, with a lot of talented musicians. It’s a fun pop album, and the songs are quite different from one another.
Where do you feel you express yourself the most? There are two places that I feel comfortable in. The first place is on stage, in front of the crowd. There are so many different kinds of people coming to the shows, and to stand on stage in front of them, and hear them sing every word and know every sound – it feels like home to me.
The other place is when I’m writing. It’s like two different careers to me. I love writing for other people, I’m really happy for them, I like to go with them to recordings, to see them work.
It’s a great experience for me, and it makes me happy when they do well.
Who would you like to work with? I worked with almost every artist in Israel. I wrote lyrics and composed, and my dream now is to work with Madonna or Lady Gaga. I really hope it will work out. I hope to write good enough songs to work with artists at their level.
You got great reviews on your work all over the world.The reviews are incredible, and it feels amazing. I do want to make it internationally, and get to a wider audience; it’s only a matter of whether they’d like to work with me. It’s very hard to succeed abroad. It’s hard to get to them.
You got the title of “Variety International Celebrity Ambassador” from the world president of Variety. How was the connection made? I’m active in a lot of places. I’m doing a lot of volunteer work, which is not talked about. The world president of Variety made me an ambassador, and it is very flattering. It’s a huge honor to be in the same list together with people like Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
Which do you prefer, singing new songs, or doing your more known and famous ones? I like singing my new songs on stage, but still, most of the songs I sing in shows are the old ones.
The audience sings, I sing, and it’s amazing. I really enjoy the fact that my songs can relate to so many people and to such a diverse crowd with people from all age groups. I’m never tired of singing the same known songs. It’s never boring.
From your experience, what would you say to a starting artist who wants to make it? There are no tips in these things. There are no magic solutions, no high way. You need a lot of luck, and brains, and you need to work hard all the time. It’s not easy.
And now, a few quick ones: What inspires you? Life in general.
What makes you mad? Liars.
What makes you happy? My family. Being on stage.
How do you relax? Sitting and resting at home.
Laura Rosbrow contributed reporting.